L.A.
Rush (PS2)
There seem to be a lot of street racing games out these days,
and
this one offers you the maximum realism of L.A., but is it any good?
Gameplay: 86%
In LA Rush
you play a character named Trikz, a famous LA street racer who has a huge
car collection. Unfortunately a rival named Lidell has nicked all of your
cars and hidden them around the city. This sets up the main storyline as you
make your way up the ranks, win races and find your missing cars.
Given that gameplay is the main point of any game, this game has no trouble
here, and is great because of how straightforward the game is, and for all
the shortcuts that you can take. There are around 50 rides to go through as
you aim to get back all your cars, and they are all fun. The driving itself
is very good, and after getting used to them, you can control the cars well
enough to dodge through the traffic while keeping up a good speed.
Overall, the gameplay is pretty good, although I think that the story is
fairly similar to Need For Speed Underground 2. There is also quick race
mode where you can contest all the races you have completed. The main thing
the gameplay lacked was the ability to customize your own cars.
Graphics:
87%
The Graphics
of the game are very good especially the souped up cars that look tremendous
after a west coast customs upgrade. The graphics of the trees, roads and
buildings are quite good but could do with a bit more detail. The game is
based on five locations, Hollywood, Santa Monica, South Central, South
Bay
and Downtown. Non upgraded cars are very basic but after being souped up
they look great.
Sound: 90%
It’s very
hard to find a game with good sound but L.A Rush has just that. The engine
and race sounds as you drive around L.A. are all excellent, from the sound
of screeching tyres to the car crashes. The voice acting from the different
characters isn’t brilliant, but the game’s music is varied with three
categories that are based on R&B, Rock and Techno. I prefer Techno
personally.
Value:
85%
The game’s
lifespan is pretty good with a long storyline but I feel like they could
have accomplished much more from the game if they had made a little more
effort.
Conclusion:
Overall I
think that L.A Rush is a tremendous game. The L.A street life is good fun
and they seem to have recreated it superbly well (even though I’ve never
been there!). With the realistic driving, hundreds of short cuts, and a
decent story line, this game is worth trying if you like driving games,
especially street racing ones.
Overall Score: 87%