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Rating: Crappy
After all these years of one great Road Rash game after
another, Electronic Arts just had to release a stinker.
And what a stinker Road Rash 3D is. The "3D" in the title
is only reflected in the game by the graphics, which are now
polygonal. Whoop-de-freakin-do! Other than much less
draw-in taking place in the background, the graphics in Road
Rash 3D are not noticeably better than the first Road Rash
on the PlayStation. In addition, the game's music is the
same basic style as Gran Turismo's music (alternative), but
there's one big difference: Gran Turismo's music rocks,
Road Rash 3D's music is annoying. Maybe it's just me, but I
didn't care for Road Rash 3D's music one bit. This, coupled
with the annoying squealing of the bikes' engines, was more
than enough to convince me to turn off the sound. Still, I
could have lived with the same old graphics and the horrible
sound turned off, but unfortunately EA managed to screw up
the gameplay, too. The gimmick this time around is that
depending on what bike you buy, you automatically become a
member of one of four different rival gangs. Sure, it's
baffling logic, but it could have lead to some interesting
Artificial Intelligence with rival gang members ganging up
on you. However, all of this promise is meangingless once
you get into the game because the combat is almost non-
existent. You whiz past other bikes so fast (or vice-versa)
that you rarely have a chance to engage in some combat, and
even when you do it is only in brief spurts. This prevents
the game from feeling like Road Rash, and thus the game is
not worthy of carrying the Road Rash name. The control has
also taken a major turn for the worse. The d-pad control in
this game is very loose to say the least, and using the dual
analog controller doesn't help much since you have to use
one joystick to control speed and the other to control
movement (which is much less comfortable than it sounds).
The slightest movement out of the path of a straight line
can easily send you skidding all over the track, at which
point you usually go flying off your bike. Which brings me
to the crashes. EA has also managed to ruin the crashes.
First of all, it takes too little for a crash to take place
in this game, which leads to some very unbalanced gameplay.
Sometimes just slightly nudging a car in front of you will
send you flying across the level as if you had just been
shot out of a cannon. And the crashing animations
themselves are now in slow-motion for some reason, which
dramatically lessens their impact. Also, regardless of
where you and your bike land, they both teleport back onto
the road instead of making you walk to your bike as in past
games (which is a bad thing since it prevents you from
exploring the level at will like you could in previous Road
Rash games). Even the usual quality presentation from EA is
missing, with long load times and some truly pathetic Full
Motion Video sequences. If you want a good Road Rash
experience, check out the first Road Rash on the PlayStation
and stay far, far away from Road Rash 3D.
© 2001 ivan@mastergamer.com