Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012

• Release Date: October 01, 1998
• Genre: Shooter
• Style: Vehicle Shooter
• Similar Games: Critical Depth (PlayStation), Twisted Metal (PlayStation), Twisted Metal 2 (PlayStation), Twisted Metal 2 (IBM PC Compatible), Twisted Metal (IBM PC Compatible)

Game Description

In a world destroyed by pollution, nuclear war and poverty, vacationers have become hot property. They feel the need to escape from their everyday existence and go on vacations! Big Daddy is the vacation king at the moment, and he's provided some really fabulous getaways for these people. But who's going to get paid for taking the vacationers to luxurious landmarks and resorts? Well, you are!

The "not-right" folks at Singletrac are at it again with Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012, the "spiritual successor" to Twisted Metal 2. In it, you chose one of 16 wacky, down-right sick "automercenaries" and compete with your enemies to pick up the tourists and take them to photo-ops. Doing this gets you lots of money, which can be used buy weapon upgrades and health. But your enemies really don't want you to have the money -- and they shoot back.

Fortunately, you've got some powerful weaponry at your hands. There's the meteor shower, stinger missiles, flame-throwers, and of course, your vehicle's own special weapon. With 12 high profile vacation spots, a soundtrack from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, powerful weapons of destruction, and two- to four-player deathmatches, Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012 takes car combat on vacation.

Roots & Influences

Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012 could be considered a "spiritual successor" to Twisted Metal 2. It uses the same basic game engine and features the same fast-paced car combat. The game also includes elements seen in Critical Depth, in which the player has to pick up and transport pods.

Review: Overall

Singletrac's Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012 is very much like Twisted Metal 2. It's a car combat game with lots of zany characters, powerful yet weird weapons and big chaotic levels. But does this "spiritual successor" have what it takes to nab the car combat crown from Vigilante 8 (or Twisted Metal 2 depending on your viewpoint)? Frankly, no, but it does take you on a pretty fun and interesting trip.

Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012 does have some pretty good things going for it. One is that there's lots of stuff crammed in this one little disc. The amount of different vacation spots, or levels, is pretty impressive -- 12 in all. Among the "tourist traps" is The Maul, based on the Mall in Washington D.C., Area 51, Southern California, Nuke York and wealth of others. In each of these levels, the main objective is to grab the one tourist running around, drive him to 6 photo-ops, get money and kill your enemies. But this isn't easy to do because when you have the tourist, you're a marked target. Your enemies furiously try to steal the tourist away from you, which brings me to my next point. There's 16 characters to chose from (including some hidden ones) -- a pretty amazing total. And like Twisted Metal, these guys are nutcases. You've got Dick Biggs who drives the Meat Wagon (a weenie mobile); a nun turned dominatrix who drives a school bus; Pyro and his flammable truck; and Elvis D. Kang, an Elvis impersonator who drives a '57 Chevy. All of these guys have their own back-story as well as different car attributes. The sheer amount of playable characters and levels really gives this game an edge in replayability.

And what good car combat game would be complete without a set of whacked out weapons? You can pick up devastating meteor showers, Stingers that hone in on your enemies, the flame-throwing Scorcher and a rather foul named weapon that ejects tourists out of other cars. And with the right amount of money, you can upgrade all your weapons in the Upgrade Stand. This is located in each level and all you have to do is drive through it. Doing this gives your weapons new attributes and specialties, which is pretty useful. And you can also find First Aid stands to replenish your health (you must buy your health as well).

There are only two things really holding this game back. For one, the graphics are pretty rough. They've improved only a little bit over Twisted Metal 2 and still retain a grungy look. And when compared to Vigilante 8, this game is down right ugly. The control hasn't been improved either. It still feels exactly like Twisted Metal 2 and sometimes getting turned around can be frustrating.

Still, Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012 is a very fun game. If you love the Twisted Metal franchise, you will probably find yourself losing hours with this one. Just don't expect anything terribly new or groundbreaking.

Review: Enjoyment

Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012 is a pretty fun and challenging game. With zany weapons, sick characters and the strategy of taking a tourist to a photo-op, the action gets pretty chaotic which is a good thing!

Review: Graphics

The graphics are a bit rough and some of the textures are ugly. On the other hand, there's some pretty good computer animation in this game and the movies are all pretty funny.

Review: Sound

The soundtrack is provided by ska-punkers The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. They jam out some pretty good tracks. Also, the voice acting is very decent and the sound effects are nicely done.

Review: Replay Value

There's lots of replay here. You've got 16 characters to choose from plus a very nice amount of levels. The 2 to 4 player deathmatch will provide endless hours of fun as you annihilate your friends and laugh in their face about it!

Review: Documentation

The instruction manual is nicely done and tells you everything about the weapons, combos and characters.

Production Credits

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