Genre : Action
Developer: Terminal Reality
Publisher: Midway
Release Date : October 14 ,2003
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Roadkill came along at a good time. I was just starting to think that my hobbies had become too socially acceptable, between Knights of the Old Republic and Soul Calibur II. Everyone understands the attraction of being a dashing swordsman type, or of becoming a crusading Jedi Knight.
Deliberately running over entire streetsful of old people and prostitutes, though? Discussing that will get you kicked out of a restaurant, and that’s the flavor I’ve been missing.
Roadkill is a post-apocalyptic driving game; it’s Carmageddon with more of a point, or Twisted Metal in a more sprawling environment. If a game involves deliberate vehicular manslaughter for fun and profit, a little of its flavor is in here, making Roadkill a sort of delicious automotive homicide stew.
You’re Mason, a guy who rolls into the community of Lava Falls with little more than a customized GTO, some secondhand machine guns, and a dream of one day reaching a place called Paradise City.
That kind of thing costs money, though, and a guy named Cabe is in a position to hook you up with work. Cabe’s missions will send you all over the city, gathering weapons, picking up vehicles, and getting into a lot of trouble. Lava Falls’s population is one part prostitutes and one part old people to about sixteen thousand parts warring gang members, and Cabe seems to be in the mood to get you into trouble with all of them simultaneously.
When you’re not running errands for Cabe, you can just cruise. The bleak post-apocalyptic future boasts a pretty decent classic-rock radio station, which pauses occasionally for news updates. In this build, the radio gets repititive very, very quickly, but that’s something that’ll be fixed in the final build. (Hopefully, that final build will also feature the option of adding a custom soundtrack. I find it hard to get my hit-and-run on to the dulcet strains of Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl.” )
The city features warring gang members, who’ll occasionally be wiping each other out before you blunder into the middle of it. You can also search Lava Falls for blueprints and parts to new weapons, participate in full-throttle street racing, pick up and drop off packages in timed missions, play demolition derby with other drivers, or simply take aim at whoever’s stupid enough to be a pedestrian. If you cause enough mayhem, you’ll eventually be able to start a riot, where the gangs run wild in the streets.
It’s arguable that there isn’t enough just plain stress-killing gratuitous violence these days, on any console. Roadkill will help you remedy that. Keep your eyes open for it.