auto-destruct

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• Release Date: January 01, 1998
• Genre: Racing
• Style: Demolition/Combat
• Similar Games: Die Hard Trilogy (Sega Saturn), Die Hard Trilogy (PlayStation), Twisted Metal (PlayStation), CrimeWave (Sega Saturn), Crime Killer (PlayStation), Die Hard Trilogy (IBM PC Compatible), Crime Killer (IBM PC Compatible), Twisted Metal (IBM PC Compatible)

Game Description

It's the near future and Los Angeles is about to be ravaged by an evil terrorist group known only as the Cult of Lazarus. An underground agency hired by the United States government has requested your assistance as an expert driver. It's also a personal matter to you as Lazarus killed your wife and child. Payback and government service -- what could be better?

In Auto Destruct you take control of a pumped-up sports car, out to foil Lazarus' plans before they get too out of hand. You'll cruise the streets of Los Angeles, searching for bomb specialists and mobile terrorists. Find new weapons, secrets, hidden areas, and maybe the right operative to help you out in 25 missions that range from Los Angeles to New York and all the way to Tokyo. Objectives include various search and destroy missions, escorting, defending, and racing to the death.

The game incorporates 3D sceneries full of pedestrians and cross-traffic from multiple camera angles, including an overhead view. Manage resources such as fuel, ammunition, and armor while utilizing 12 deadly weapons including machine guns, missiles, plasma cannons, smokescreens, oil slicks, and more!

Onscreen indicators will aid in finding your next target, and a rotating camera view will display mission-related footage via hidden surveillance cameras throughout each city. The Garage and Repair Shop will allow you to refuel and repair your damaged vehicle. You can select a Time Trial mode to help refine your skills and become familiar with the cities.

Auto Destruct requires two blocks of memory card data for saving game progress.

Review: Overall

Auto Destruct is an astoundingly mediocre game. While it doesn't really do anything wrong, it just seems uninspired and run of the mill. You play as a guy whose wife and kid were killed by a terrorist group known as Lazarus. The government has hired you to stop the terrorists and exact a bit of vengeance for your family. They strap you into a high-powered sports car with some higher-powered weaponry and set you off, first in Los Angeles and later around the world.

The graphics throughout this game are unbelievably average. The textures, design, and use of buildings and structures give the game the overall feel of something from 1995, when the PlayStation debuted. Still, there are no real problems with the graphics; they're just nothing special to look at and are a bit uninspired.

The 25 missions are also uninspired, featuring standard "hunt down and destroy this vehicle" type of stuff, though the game does throw in an occasional "find a specificitem" and "defend this vehicle" scenario from time to time. Still, most of the missions all meld together into one big hunt for small, usually black, vans, trucks, cars, and tanks.

The control is nice and effective and should give you no troubles getting into the game. Every possible control has its own button, and the controls are customizable as well. The music and effects are your average hard rock soundtrack that mumbles along in the background as the sound effects clink, blast, and pop; not bad, but just your standard audible effects.

What Auto Destruct boils down to is a lot of racing and blasting that quickly melds into one big mission with little to get excited about, and even less to come back to. There is nothing horribly wrong with the game, but only fanatical racing/combat fans should check this one out.

Review: Enjoyment

The missions all amount to lots of blasting at cars and vans. Nothing to get extremely happy or excited about.

Review: Graphics

Decent variety with a consistently smooth frame rate, but nothing really impressive.

Review: Sound

Decent tunes and effects with nice and continuous voiceovers.

Review: Replay Value

While there are large open-ended cities to explore, there's rarely anything worthwhile to come back to.

Review: Documentation

Typical manual with story, options, and controls.

Production Credits