Test Drive: Eve of Destruction is a rare driving game where you are in a
Destruction Derby. Got to say that it gets points on that alone. I mean with all
of the other racing games either out or coming out they needed to do something
to stand out. While EoD may not stand out in the way a supermodel would in a
Wal-Mart, it’s not a complete embarrassment to itself either.
One thing EoD certainly has is an abundance of events…25 actually. These
include: Jump Race where the tracks has tons of jumps, Figure 8 race where you
will naturally cross paths with the other drives, Suicide Race where race the
cars go around the track one way and the other half take off in the other
direction, and Forward-Backward race where you drive one lap going forward and
another lap going backwards. Basically the events just try and figure out the
most dangerous way you can drive and then tell you to go out and do it. And the
scary part if that these events are based on actual real-life races! Oh, and
don’t forget to try the School Bus race!
 |
| Smash it up!. |
There are two basic game modes to EoD: Action and Career. Within the Action
is where you can just jump behind the wheel and start doing some damage. EoD
does have multiplayer action but only for Multitap, not online play. What’s up
with that? It seems kind of silly to me for there not to be online play. Come on
people, get with the program!
The more involved mode is of course, Career. You play the role of an
up-and-coming driver that starts with a humble singlewide trailer you call home
and your car. Naturally your goal is to start winning races so you can either
modify your current ride or get a new one. You drive around your neighborhood
and make stops to places like the Auto Shop where you can buy upgrades like
turbo or a better suspension, or Sweeny’s Salvage Yard so you can trade-in your
old car or buy a “new” one. You find that it’s a better bet to hang out at
Sweeny’s than to make modifications to your current car. You have to keep
visiting Sweeny’s because the cars available there are fairly random.
You compete in “eves”, which are series of races, (is destruction really
racing?) where you earn not only price money but also the chance to increase
your reputation which will unlock bonus materials. Basically you enter races,
try to finish well and move on. Rinse and repeat as necessary. Really there
isn’t anything new happening in the career mode. If you’ve play any type of
racing game with a career mode you’ve seen this…well except this one probably
has a little more “redneck” feel to it and probably isn’t a good as the others
you’ve seen.
The most entertaining part of EoD is the fun you have crashing your car into
anyone and everyone you can find. If they’re on the track, ram them! The
graphics or the vehicles seem simple until you start to see the level of detail
that goes into the damage. There is just a strange thrill to be had crashing
into things. Not sure where we get this primal urge, but this game will help you
feed it. One bizarre detail about the car is that you can give your car a custom
paint job, but not to the whole car, only parts of it. Not sure what that’s all
about.
The biggest drawback to EoD is unfortunately the most important part of the
game…controls. I never got the feel for the action. The cars always seemed just
a bit out of my control and they always seem to be sliding or floating. Granted
this isn’t suppose to be a realistic game, but even so it would have been nice
to feel better about how the cars felt.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
71%. Test Drive: Eve of Destruction is a somewhat entertaining
diversion from the onslaught of current street racing games, but it does not
take home any checked flags because of its lack of online play and questionable
control.
