Exploding barrels!
Packed with 10 game modes and 60 career event modes, Full Auto offers a certain degree of variety that may tempt racing fans to pick up a copy of the latest combat racer from Sega. Comparisons to the Burnout series will obviously be made and, although Full Auto lacks the graphical sheen, fluidity and style of EA's polished racer, it does offer something new in the form of weaponry. In Full Auto you not only race around the streets a blistering speeds but, with your car laden with a variety of weapons, you'll need to take out the opposition in order to win.
The Xbox live demo is now available for download via the Xbox live marketplace, you'll get one track to race around and a choice of two cars, the Vulcan, equipped with missiles and machine guns, and the Python, loaded with a shotgun and grenades. The demo objective will see you pitted against other drivers in a fierce battle around the streets, your goal is to finish in the top three.
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Click for larger imageLike any racing game on the Xbox or Xbox 360 the game controls follow a similar pattern, left and right trigger to accelerate and break, and A and B buttons to fire. The game offers a limited boost function and a handy 'Unwreck' option which reverses the action should you get blown to shreds. By pressing down on the d-pad at any point in the race, the action rewinds and replays your last crash, jump or take-out.
The two cars offered on the demo handle poorly. They glide around corners like a mechanical ice-skater, it's not hard to quickly master cornering but it doesn't feel like you're handlng a car, I felt more like a racer in Super Mario Kart. However, that is where similarities with Mario Kart end, the weaponry equipped on your car take the game to a new level. Driving plays second fiddle to shooting your team mates off the streets, in the most spectacular fashion. The targeting system is simple and enables you to take out enemies with relative ease. Sit in the middle of the pack however and you'll find yourself being pummeled by your pursuing foe, this will ultimately end with your car hurtling high in the air and coming down to earth with one hell of a thud. In the demo, the fairly entertaining combat isn't enough to keep you going back for more, there's only so many ways you can take an opponent out without becoming increasingly bored.
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