I Never Figured Crushing Cars Would Be So Fun

Last month, I played the demo of a game called Demolition Racer: No Exit. All of my friends that played the game didn’t care for it. In fact, they hated it. I on the other hand, loved it. I found out when it was going to be released, and I bought it with some of my birthday money. I excitingly ran home and popped it in my Sega Dreamcast. At first, I was disappointed because of its lack of game modes. Then as I progressed through the game by beating the various circuits, I unlocked more cars, game modes, tracks and mini-games. For the past four weeks now, I have been playing this game at least a half-hour a day, hoping to beat the next race. This is a game for people that love to bust up cars and race.

Demolition Racer: No Exit

This is a rather low profile game. Meaning that not too many people know about it. Those that have played it, did not buy it. The original version of this game was already out for Sony Playstation. Although I have never played the first version of the game, I can only gather from the reviews I read online that it was not all that great. The new version features new tracks, cars, and modes. The new version is a lot of fun to play. I started off on the demolition derby mode. This is when you are locked in an arena with 15 other cars. Your job is to survive and to get the most points. Points are obtained by hitting other cars. If you hit them at a perpendicular angle, it is considered a T-Bone. This counts for 250 points. Death from above is 500. This is when you land directly on top of a car causing it to be destroyed. But watch out, because you have a health meter, once it’s gone, you’re dead.

Race mode is a lot of fun as well. I first played it on one player. Your objective to win is to get as many points as you can, and place the highest you can in the race. If you get in first place, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you won because points matter too. Whoever has the best average of points and placement wins the race. I have to admit that two-player race is not nearly as much fun as the one player is of racing. When it comes to demolition derby,, two players is more fun simply because I get a rush from smashing metal from someone else’s car onto mine. It gives me a feeling of domination.

To unlock new modes such as suicide, chicken, mini-games, new cars, and tracks, you must win the one-player circuits. I like the fact that the game keeps track of how much you unlocked by showing a percentage on the main menu screen. Even though I have been playing the game for a good four weeks, it is so challenging that I only made it 59% through. The game starts off easy, but the later circuits demand you to place higher to advance. This gets extremely hard to a point that you won’t do anything else but play this game until its beaten.

So maybe this review will persuade you to give this game a chance. I believe that it is underrated and most people don’t like the idea of a battle racing game. You can call it an exact replica of Destruction Derby except much better graphics, better track design, and better game modes with plenty to unlock that will make you play this game for weeks. To this day, I am still playing it. So how does Demolition Racer: No Exit stack up? Ratings are from one to five stars.

Here’s The Breakdown

Graphics
****

Absolutely beautiful and smooth textures that made my jaw drop. Driving in the dark is best because you can see the realistic lights that bounce off the hood of the car. My only complaint is some of the backgrounds lack in detail, and some of the road hazards such as hay bails look like small Twinkies. Other than that, these graphics are simply beautiful. My eyes are jealous.

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Controls
****

The first circuit once you get started is easy to control. There are easy tracks to race through. As the circuits get harder, they have more sharp turns. This is a killer when you want to keep your car straight. The driving physics are weird and hard to get used to. I guess when you have a racing game where you fight as you race, you would not totally focus on the way you race. I guess it is not that big of a deal. Nevertheless, you’ll have fun.

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Music
**

I have to put up the music rating because you must read this. They actually brag about the following bands being on this soundtrack, Cirrus, Fear Factory, Empirion and, The Coffee Boys. Now I don’t know about you, but I have never heard of any of these bands before. After listening to the music in this game, I started to appreciate the radio. I suggest turning the music down, and listen to your own music while playing. This music is just plain terrible. Although some beats do go with the demolition derby.

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Overall
****

Despite the bad music and weird driving physics, I loved this game. I feel that it was extremely underrated and was not advertised properly. I’m sure if more people played it, it would get more sales. I loved the car designs, and track designs. You can even change the paint job of your car; this is a lot of fun. You can even add a logo to your car. This is a game that I will continue to play until I beat it. Even then I will still play two-player demolition with my friends. All I ask of you is to please rent this game and give it a shot. I promise that most of you will enjoy it, and even might consider buying it because it is so much fun.

Bottom Line: Rent if not buy this game today.

VMU Space 8 Blocks

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