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Cars 2
For
a movie based game, Cars 2 is actually quite a decent game and it seems
that Disney have broken the movie game curse, especially considering
their entertaining Toy Story 3 release last year.
Developed by
Avalanche, Cars 2 reunites players to the wonderful world of talking
cars in this game that seems to be taking its queues from Mario Kart
which is definitely a good idea in out books as opposed to creating a
direct movie tie-in.
In terms of story, Cars
2 revolves around Lightning McQueen who races in the World Grand Prix
but he is drawn into the world of spies, thanks to bumping into the
agents from Command Headquarters for Recon Operations & Motorized
Espionage (C.H.R.O.M.E).
From there, you are to be trained to become a C.H.R.O.M.E agent as
you are put you through all sorts of tests and more
specifically races and other driving orientated situations. Consider it
the Pixar version Gran Turismo but definitely more exciting.
Supporting both single
player and multiplayer modes (up to four players), there are various
races that you will engage and just like Mario Karts, you will have a
variety of kid friendly weapons at your disposal in order to ensure that
you remain number one.
As opposed to the racing games, there are certain
tasks that must be completed as well such as capturing an enemy and even
a racing version of capture the flag. The best aspect of multiplayer is
the death match mode which basically allows you to drive around and blow
your friends to smithereens.
With that said, racing plays a key role in
Cars 2 and the traditional racing mechanics come into play here like
turbo boosts and getting from A to B with lots of interesting goodies in
between.
Where Cars 2 differs
from other titles is that your
cars can also do a few little tricks that does add to the overall
enjoyment factor of this game. Tricks are definitely useful when you are
playing with friends as they help avoid some weapons like racing on two
weeks for example. All in all, it's quite a good game that comes
together with its sturdy gameplay and good control system on the 360.
Graphically, Cars 2 on
the XBox 360 looks like the movie itself and is very well animated. The
cars look like their movie counterparts and even relay a sense of
emotion to their mechanical faces. The backgrounds look great as well
and I was expecting something a little more lacklustre but this title
does do justice to the movie series.
To compliment the graphical engine, the
game contains the music from the film and even some of the actors lend their voices to these characters. Add in all the sound effects of
racing from screeching tyres to weapons and smashes and Cars 2 comes
together well.
In conclusion, Cars 2 is
a fun game that pays homage to Mario Karts and is definitely a great
multiplayer experience on the XBox 360. The downside to the game is that
it does not contain access to the XBox Live network which is a shame.
Apart from this, the game has a sturdy gaming interface and some well
designed levels that pays homage to the Pixar franchise. It may be
a kid friendly title but adults will also get a blast of playing this
game, especially in four player local mode.
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