Genre : Racing
Developer: Monster Games
Publisher: Atari
Release Date: August 25, 2004

Buy 'TEST DRIVE: Eve of Destruction':
Xbox | PlayStation 2

Test Drive: Eve of Destruction is the latest and greatest of the Test Drive series. The game, produced by Atari and Developed by Monster Games, focuses on the world of local low end “stock car” racing.

An ‘Eve of Destruction’ is an event from a local speedway where people take their cars, usually compacts, and beat the holy gee whiz heck out of each other with them. It is not a demolition derby per se, but a demolition derby is sometimes, habitually, but not always part of these events. Been in the South, I took the chance to visit one of these things for ‘research purposes’. They are a blast to watch.

The concept of this game ties around the three major modes of playing: Career, Action, and Dare. Each of the modes’ names describes that way of playing pretty well. The only event that allows multiplayer is the Action mode.

The Action Mode is just a quick pickup Eve of Destruction. The player can select which track that they race on out of the unlocked tracks. In addition, they can select their car. The reputation from these events is saved and cumulates to unlocking features of the game. The Action Mode has two subdivisions, Single and Multi. The Single is the standard Eve. Multi allows other players to join in on the fun and mayhem. There is no Xbox Live or Link support; so, all players (up to 4) must play on the same screen, divided up ala Halo Style. The Multi Version also has two events that are in no other mode. These are the Capture the Flag event and the Battle event. Multi is a blast, even if it is a split screen mode.

Dare Mode is a strange animal. It is a challenge mode requires the player to beat a predefined event on a predefined track with a predefined car. It makes the events more challenging then Action Mode, since the player can not select one of the all around ‘ideal’ muscle cars for the event, but is stuck with whatever the developers felt like. Each one of them is beatable, but some take a few tries.

Career Mode is based off the fictional life of a driver. The player starts at his single wide trailer and the car that he inherited from his grandmother. The chickens run around on the property and it needs severe grounds maintenance. The only issue with the stereo type is that the flag on the flag pole is wrong. It needs to be the Stars and Bars, also known as the Battle Flag of the Army of Virginia (the Rebel Flag).

Gameplay in Career Mode is the most difficult part of the whole game. The events are the same between all three modes, but the cars keep damage that was sustained in each event and need to be repaired. This is different from the Action Mode. In addition, the player needs to purchase cars, but they can change cars between events at an Eve. Cars can be repaired at the player’s single wide and during the event. It is cheaper to repair them at the trailer though.

Buying, selling, and trading cars are done at the junk yard. The cars at ‘the yard’ change from time to time, so keep in touch to see if something sweet has shown up. The purchase of cars is essential, since some cars might perform well in one event but might not in another. Also, cars can sustain permanent damage and eventually will be essentially worthless in events. For the derbies, get the cars with the =D=, they take and give damage very well.

The Auto Shop allows the player to modify their cars. The player must be ranked 80 or better to use the Auto Shop. They can re-enforce the car, improve the speed, improve the suspension, and other sorts of upgrades. The car can be painted at the Paint Shop section of the Auto Shop. Did these guys hear of spray paint?

There is some illegal racing to be had around the county. Look for easy marks around TJ’s and make some easy money. Watch out for the mark’s friends though. These boys do not play fair and the races can be ruff. Fortunately, the Sheriff seems to be away and there are no deputies to chase the player. Must be busy trying to stop the moonshine.

The events at the Eves’ are the same as any of the other modes, with the aforementioned differences in damage. The player earns money and reputation at the Eves. The events are predetermined, but any event can be skipped.

The player can participate in 25 events. Some are fictional and some are not. There are four types of events: Race, Arena, Venue, and Multiplayer Only.

The Race Events are the events where the goal is to be faster then everyone else. The races have rules variations that make them more or less difficult. A good example of how weird/fun these things get is the Whip Around Race, where the cars must change directions every lap. The lap line becomes a major wreck choke point in the Whip Around Race. There are 13 race events and they are Jump, Figure-8, Figure-8 Jump, Suicide, Flagpole, Stop-and-Go, Forward-Backward, Whip Around, Gauntlet, Last Man, School Bus, No-Rules, and Shortcut. My favorite of these is the Whip Around Race.

Arena is another term for Demolition Derby. The object of these races is to beat the snot out of someone else. Red Rover is probably the wildest, where the cars must race over to the other side of the Arena to sit in a large box painted on the ground. The cars must stay in the box until the horn blows, or they are out. Last car to the box is out. This continues until there is only one car left. Remember that the concept of all of the Arena Events is that ‘there can only be one’. Four is the number of the events and they are named Demolition Derby, Wrangling, Push Off / Knock-Out, and Red Rover. I love Red Rover and Wrangling equally.

A Venue Event is some type of special event design to be a novelty. Detention is a prime example of this. There are cars and there is the bus. The cars must finish the race while the bus must prevent that from happening. Do the math. The number of Venue events is five. They are Detention, Point-to Point, Trailer, Chain, and Soccer. Detention is so evil. Needless to say, it is my favorite.

The Multiplayer Events are optimized for multiple players. (DUH!) They are the standard Capture the Flag and Battle. Battle is the weirdest of the weird. The players try to destroy the other players the best way possible, either by the standard smack with the ol’ car or lobbing an exploding chicken. Each player can respawn and the one with the most kills wins.

The graphics of the game are wonderful and support high definition at 480p. The high definition is definitely sweet. Damage shows up on cars realistically. The scenery is amazing, with a good attention to detail. I lost a race because I stopped to watch a crop duster off in the distance. If I want to beat my wife, I pick the track with the amusement park. The rides distract her.

Controls of the game make sense. The acceleration is the right trigger and brake is the left. This just makes sense. The handbrake is the A button and reverse is the B button. These four controls, plus the left thumbstick for steering, are the controls that are used all the time. It does not take any hand yoga to control the game. The hard part is learning to push right on the left thumbstick to turn left in reverse. Hits to the rear of the car do less damage, so in Arena Events; the play spends most of the time in reverse. Took me 5 minutes to figure it out, so it is not an issue.

The game allows custom soundtracks to be played. Nevertheless, the game’s score rocks so much, why bother.

Test Drive: Eve of Destruction is the best of the Test Drive series and a personal favorite. The game is realistic in execution (even though some of the events are fictional). The music rocks. The gameplay is a blast. The only thing that is missing is Xbox Live and Link capabilities, but I did not miss them that much.

Score : 9.2/10