[Perfect Stu]

-NOTE- Sit down for a while...this is long

February 14, 2002 - You can generally tell how successful a development house has been by the quality of its office. The cars parked outside are a good secondary barometer, too, but the building where Reflections resides has an underground garage, so no use checking that end. Anyway, it wasn't necessary to check. The developers of the Driver series have a very, very nice office.
Nice enough that it's hard to say what the potential success of Stuntman, the company's next-generation debut, might buy. Maybe walk-in humidors to put next to each desk. Whatever the proceeds go towards, though, it looks like the game will be a sucess. It doesn't quite have the same instant hook as Driver -- the cops vs. robbers concept is one of entertainment's most enduring -- but Stuntman shares plenty of the gameplay and design elements that made that series a hit. After all, half the fun of Driver was making your own movie. Why not go all the way this time?

The basic design of Stuntman should be familiar from earlier previews -- it's a series of scripted driving challenges based on the stunts of six different movie genres. If it's the sort of movie that features car chases, it's probably here:

Toothless In Wapping: A parody of a parody, really, a play on the Guy Ritchie sort of low-budget bumbling British crime comedy. Ask someone from England where Wapping is, because we haven't any idea. The balance of Toothless' action takes place in muscle cars and police cruisers around the London docks.

A Whooping and a Hollering: Yes, this game was made in England -- how could you tell? The second film switches to redneck crime comedy, a la Dukes of Hazzard or Smokey and the Bandit. The environments are patterned after the countryside around Shreveport, Louisiana, with stunt jumps over rivers and through boxcars.

Blood Oath: This one's done in the John Woo style of Hong Kong action, but it's actually set in Bangkok, Thailand. Some of the stunt chases actually bring to mind the cult classic Diva, though, as the hero pilots a little three-wheeled minicab (called a "tuk-tuk") through buildings and over rooftops. The finesse level required seems to ratchet up a fair bit at this point.

Conspiracy: A political thriller set in the Swiss Alps (perhaps like The Eiger Sanction), with several stunts on a snowmobile. Motorcycles and other two-wheeled vehicles evidently don't work with the game's physics model, but anything with four appendages is ready to go. Bike fans are also advised that a sidecar-equipped model does appear in the game.

Scarab of the Lost Souls: At this point in the game, you're closing in on the big time, working on the new Dakota Scott picture (m'ha-ha). This involves plenty of action in an old Willy's jeep, dodging Nazi armor and crashing through the classic Roger Ebert fruit carts of an Egyptian city.

Live Twice For Tomorrow: And now, the pinnacle, standing in for super-spy Simon Crowne. Set in Monaco, this film has scenes set on seaside roads and the famous urban Fomula One circuit, with a wide selection of Bond-car-alikes (there are remarkable likenesses of the Lotus Esprit, Aston Martin DB7, Fiat 500, and so on).

...to be continued in next post