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Stuntman: Ignition
360 Review
And so, having spent the princely sum of £13.99, I fired up the 360 (still not broken) and prepared myself to be completely underwhelmed once again. Within five minutes I had the distinct impression that I was going to be proved wrong by Ignition.This made me happy (contrary to popular belief I actually like being proved wrong, as that normally means something I thought was going to be rubbish has turned out to be decent. That is a good thing).
The immediate thing that strikes you when starting the game is that the levels are chaotic. Eventually you will learn the routes and what skill needs to be performed at what point, but the initial attempts will just be an exercise on staying alive until the end of the level. There really is a hell of a lot going on, both visually and sonically, and although this can occasionally lead to confusion it generally just results in the player racing from stunt to stunt with a big smile on their face. Everything gets thrown at you from exploding buildings, to people. Oil tankers, helicopters and monster trucks all play a part and you can destroy pretty much anything that is in the active playing area. The areas can be restrictive though. At times you can be free to go off and explore (within the time limit, naturally) but in some places an over zealous power-slide will see you inching off the given path and the level ending instantaneously. This can prove frustrating at times and the linear nature of a few of levels means that there is only one possible route to get from a to b and pick up the points.
The vehicles that you are given to use are varied. In terms of size they range from motorbikes, right up to huge trucks laden with scud missiles. And they do respond accordingly to your directions. A minor crash with the motorbike will have you off the vehicle and face down in the dirt, whereas a truck will plough through pretty much anything in its path. Each vehicle has different stunts it can pull as well and there are brief tutorials before the specific levels where these are called into action.
As for the levels themselves, your performance is rated in stars, with three required to progress to the next scene. To get the higher scores you will need to chain your stunts together into a continuous loop. To do this you will need to drive close to other vehicles, hit boxes, or powerslide between the set pieces racking the points up and ultimately leading to that elusive five star rating. This can prove quite tough, especially when it comes to the later scenes where numerous jumps are required. Attempting to keep a powerslide going or veering close to traffic, whilst also lining up a succession of jumps can prove very tricky and it will take numerous attempts before you have found the perfect route. The more stars you get, the more vehicles, levels and extras you unlock. You can also unlock different replay modes so you can save your best action scenes, and at the end of each set of levels (between five and seven scenes per film) you will be rewarded with a trailer for the upcoming film. You can also obtain various items that can be used to create your own stunt scene, an alternative method of play that will keep many people entertained well after they are done with the core part of Ignition.
All in all, Stuntman: Ignition is a decent package. The voice-acting is professional, the levels are varied and good to look at and there is a decent challenge should you wish to hit five stars on each level. It could (and perhaps should) be longer, and a bit more freedom to make your own way through the levels would have been nice, so at full price it perhaps would have been more of a rental title. A year after release though, and generally available at sub £20, it's a game that is well worth your time.
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Stuntman: Ignition
Xbox 360
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