Rockstar changed the videogame world in 2001 when they released a little game called Grand Theft Auto III on the Playstation 2.  The game was cool to gamers (it was fun), cool to non-gaming adults (it had style and mature themes), and cool to young kids (they were playing a "mature" game).  Needless to say, GTA3 sold like hotcakes.  When its sequel launched a year later, it enjoyed some very nice sales.  And finally this month, an Xbox version of the two games (bundled on one disc!) is going to be available, undoubtedly set for some high sales figures as well.

All these sales mean that copycats were right around the corner.  So I can imagine one day Midway executives were holding a meeting, and they decided that they needed their own super-violent car-driving game.  Roadkill is the result.

The game is violent, loud, and in-your-face.  Guns, explosions, and inevitable blood are extremely common sights while driving down the street.  Constant cursing and especially strong use of a friendly four-lettered word are here in full form.  There are cutscenes that are so politically incorrect that if any raging mothers might get their hands on this title, it would shoot right up there with GTA on their hate-list. 

Roadkill actually plays less like GTA3 than it does like another violent car-based game.  Its gameplay is largely based on combat which is reminiscent of the Twisted Metal series.  You actually never leave a vehicle at any one time; though it's possible to change cars at certain points, you always are in the driver's seat of one car or another.  There are your basic acceleration and braking controls, and you can fire a gun or use some secondary weapons, like a proximity mine.  It's also possible (and not uncommon) to carry around a man in the back of your truck who controls a large gun turret.  It seems that all of the cars were designed to take advantage of this kind of gun, which I suppose bodes well for defense.

You'll take part in a number of missions, then watch a cutscene or two, and go on to do some more missions.  After a while you'll move on to the next level.  This is essentially how the entire game is set up.  There are missions where you need to find certain goods and retrieve/destroy them, destroy other cars, run over a number of pedestrians, or race other vehicles, among others.  Some of the missions are optional and others are required, and while the developers have done a fair job of mixing the objectives up, I still got pretty tired of performing these tasks in a short time.  They just aren't original enough - it feels like I've been here and done that countless times before.  And since most of the tasks are fairly simplistic, they don't require a lot of skill or finesse - generally, if you want to blow up a car, you approach it and jam on the fire button.  You usually have enough health to keep from dying yourself, and if you do happen to get low, it's not hard to lose the bad guys and find a power-up to fix your car up.

All three of the levels actually are quite expansive.  While they don't dwarf most other games by comparison, there are a fair amount of things to see.  It takes a good few minutes to get from one end of the map to the other, and the landscape is littered with side streets and multiple paths.  It's also easy to reach high ground via parking garages, airport runways, and so on.  There are even a good number of angled ramps, which can lead to some fun jumping.  Unfortunately, it's not always very easy to find your way around; though the game employs an onscreen map like that of GTA3's, it is too hard to make out separate streets and determine the best way to get to your destination.  Sometimes there is only one road which will get you to your target, and it can be tough to find that road on the map.

The graphics are not stunning, but they get the job done.  Models are a bit rough around the edges, but they do animate fairly nicely.  The environments are also okay, with a few interesting spots to investigate.  Pedestrians really don't look that good, though; they animate in a stiff fashion, and don't really look realistic.  In other bad news, the frame-rate could stand to be a bit better, too.  It's not that it's unstable or ever makes the game unplayable, but next to other car games, it is not as smooth.  Explosions, on the other hand, are actually pretty cool and satisfying to watch.

The sound in the game is also a mixed bag.  Sound effects are okay, and generally appropriate with the action onscreen.  The voice-acting is generally convincing, and while not ground-breaking, it works well.  Though often unfunny, I heard a few humorous lines here and there while playing.  The music element nods to GTA3, again, as it features a radio-station setup.  There are a few stations that play music, and a few stations that feature talk-shows and the like.  I found a few okay tunes, but as it consists of mainly rock and rap songs, I wished I could import custom soundtracks to spice things up.  The talk shows come off as cheesy and fake, which wouldn't be bad, except they really aren't written that well - so I found myself avoiding those stations when I could.

All in all, Roadkill is a game that tries to mix a few popular games together in order to come up with something good.  The problem is that the developers really didn't add anything we haven't seen elsewhere.  The gameplay becomes tiresome within a few hours, and frankly, it just doesn't offer new material.  It's not that there's anything terribly wrong with the game as a whole; in fact, I can see one having a fairly good time with it - for a while.  This is the sort of game that makes for a good rental, but perhaps not a purchase.  If you're interested, give it a rent.  You might have some good fun with it.

Gameplay: 6.0

Roadkill plays a lot like Twisted Metal, with definite GTA influence.  If you've played Twisted Metal, you know what to expect: this essentially plays exactly the same.  That isn't always a bad thing - I had some fun playing, but it wears thin quickly.

Graphics: 6.5

The graphics have their high and low points.  On the bad side, pedestrians look cruddy, the framerate could be smoother, and generally, car models aren't impressive.  On the other hand, explosions really look cool, and the environments have their neat points.

Sound: 7.0

Voice-acting is solid, and there's a lot of it - but the writing is hit or miss, and it doesn't hit quite as much as one might like.  The music here is generally rap and rock - nothing too exciting, and there were a couple of tracks I did like, but I did wish there was custom soundtrack support.

Concept: 5.0

Here's where the game could have used a lot more work.  Most of the things in it are solid, but it really doesn't push the car combat genre to any new heights, nor does it even add any interesting features.

Difficulty: Medium

Most of the objectives can be completed with a little practice.  Once you know what you're doing, you shouldn't have much trouble completing all of the tasks.

Multiplayer: 7.0

There are a couple of multiplayer modes included; nothing groundbreaking by any means, but the few modes might help a few buddies kill a couple hours' worth of time.

Overall: 6.5

Roadkill is the sort of game that one might play as an alternative to the other games it is being compared to, or for fans of those games that want more of the same.  If you're looking for original content, you aren't going to find much here. If you're interested in seeing what it's all about, give it a rent.