Articles
By Q Dog Sah
Published: Mar. 4, 2007 9:54 AM
Full Auto. Never has a game been less-ambiguously named. Its about cars, its about guns, its about cars with guns on them. What could be simpler? It is quite obvious, even from reading this brief description, that Pseudo Interactive have gone for a no-brainer action fest with fast cars, big guns, loud noises and lots of pretty, shiny things. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing either, when its done right this formula can lead to a truly exciting game. Complicated doesn’t always mean the best, and Full Auto is anything but complicated. I guess the question here is, have Pseudo Interactive managed to find the 11 secret herbs and spices of the combat racing game? Or are we left with a pale imitation that leaves a bad taste in your mouth, forcing you to reach for the closest Mountain Dew or Crab Juice to wash it out again. With this question in my mind, I popped my freshly opened copy of Full Auto in my 360 eager to be entertained, though with a can of Crab Juice at the ready just in case.
Gameplay
Full Auto is first and foremost a racing game, so whilst the car-combat is all part of it, the racing is still the main focus of every event you compete in. Full Auto falls squarely into the realm of arcade racing. Don’t expect any sort of sophisticated driving engine here, this is as basic as it comes.
The cars really don’t have any feeling of weight to them; they hold the road easily to the point where you sometimes feel as though you’re driving on rails. You don’t really need to follow any sort of racing line, and it is possible just to hand break your way around each and every corner, which in this game doesn’t require any degree of skill at all. In fact, driving in this game feels almost exactly like driving around in Grand Theft Auto, there really isn’t much to it. The only difference here is the option of different camera angles, so if you have any sort of trouble picking up this game and driving around, chances are you’ve never played a racing game before in your life.
Its not all doom and gloom though, there are one or two little additions that make driving in Full Auto a little bit more compelling. First of all is the now obligatory boost meter, which seems to have become the standard in pretty much every arcade racing game. You fill up this meter by sliding around corners and getting crazy air. One disappointing thing about this meter is that you can only use it when it completely full, but then if you only decide to use a little bit of it once it is full, you then have to build it back up to full again before you can use the rest of it. This pretty much makes the boost more of a gimmick rather then something you can strategically use to win a race.
The second addition, however, is something that has yet to be seen in a racing game. Sure, it has been seen in games like Prince of Persia, Viewtiful Joe and countless other action/adventure games recently, but time manipulation is certainly a new feature to racers. Basically, this time control manifests itself in the “Unwreck” meter in Full Auto. You build it up by causing damage to buildings, fellow races and other cars on the streets, and it allows you to wind back the clock for a few seconds, giving you the chance to take that corner again, or avoid that obstacle that you managed to crash into the first time. It is a nice addition, and unlike the boost meter, it is also available for use as you build it up. It does take a while to get used to though, as you sometimes forget that it is actually there. Other times you may use it, only to find you don't have enough available and just end up crashing again anyway. Still, it is a worthy addition and does bring some depth to the racing, which Full Auto desperately needs.
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