Xbox

  News 
  Reviews
  Previews
  Hardware
  Interviews
  All Features

Areas

  3DS
  Android
  iPad
  iPhone
  Mac
  PC
  PlayStation 3
  PlayStation 4
  Switch
  Vita
  Wii U
  Xbox 360
  Xbox One
  Media
  Archives
  Search
  Contests

 

Test Drive: Eve of Destruction

Score: 92%
ESRB: Teen
Publisher: Atari
Developer: Monster Games, Inc.
Media: DVD/1
Players: 1 - 4
Genre: Racing/ RPG/ Simulation

Graphics & Sound:

Test Drive: Eve of Destruction provides a beautifully rendered look at a gritty and dirty sport. The car models look like good representations of vehicles that look like hell. Don’t expect to recognize any of the cars by name, though. Eve of Destruction conforms to the First Law of Racing Games; this one chose destructible vehicles over licensing. This was undoubtedly a wise choice, given the nature of the destruction derby genre. The visuals are nice, and the effects are special. Test Drive: Eve of Destruction is a nice looking game.

As for the sound, the sound effects are dead-on, reinforcing the submersive environment well. The music, on the other hand, while fast-paced, is a bit grittier than I would have hoped for. After a while, I found myself turning down the music. If you’re a head-banging type, you may find the music a bit more to your taste than it was to mine.


Gameplay:

Eve of Destruction provides a fresh look at destruction racing with 25 different events. There are more than 30 different vehicles to race around in, including cars, buses, hearses, and ambulances, and you can play in single races, Career mode, or split-screen multiplayer races; there’s bound to be something for anyone who would consider playing the game in the first place.

One interesting feature is the “menu” system. The way you choose to go to different activities, such as competing, buying a car, or getting your car upgraded, is to drive to the location where you’d do that activity, such as the track, a salvage yard, or the garage.

There are a whole lot of variations on the theme here, with one-on-one races, challenges, timed obstacle courses, Jump Races, Figure-8 Races, Figure-8 Jump Races, Suicide Races, Flagpole Races, Stop-and-Go Races, Forward-Backward Races, Whip Around Races, the Gauntlet, Last Man Race, School Bus Race, No-Rules Race, Demolition Derby, Wrangling, Push Off / Knock-Out, Red Rover, Detention, Point-to-Point Races, Trailer Races, Chain Races, Soccer, Capture the Flag, and Battle. With this many different variations, there should be something for anyone who’s interested in trying the game.


Difficulty:

The Career mode has some easy events and some difficult events. There are a few things to consider when playing in the Career mode. First, if a particular race / event isn’t going well, you can pause and restart that race. This doesn’t seem to have any adverse effect on scoring, so use it as you see fit. Second, if you complete an Eve and don’t like your standings, choose not to save. You can reload your game and your score won’t reflect that Eve. By the same token, if you do really well or paint your car, etc., and you’re happy with your current situation, you may want to (carefully) drive home and choose to save your game. I say carefully because you can actually take damage while driving home in Test Drive: Eve of Destruction’s “menu” system, and then you’ll be saving that damage along with your game. Finally, if there’s any particular event that you are having problems with, you can practice in the Action mode, and return and try to advance in the Career mode later. Do be warned, however, if you’re looking at a car and its handling capabilities look low, expect it to be really difficult to control. The control is loose on all of these cars to begin with.

Game Mechanics:

I don’t have too many complaints about Test Drive: Eve of Destruction, but it does have some minor inconveniences. There are five views to view from: three first person views, and two third person views. However, when you choose one that you like, you can expect that the game will change it to a third person view when you start something new. I prefer first person views, so I wound up changing my view a whole lot of times. My other gripe would be the control configuration. Something just feels wrong about using what amounts to a trigger button as the gas pedal. I’m more partial to the bottom button being the gas pedal; perhaps it’s just habit, but it seems to be easier to play that way.

All-in-all, Test Drive: Eve of Destruction delivers a fun destruction derby game with a lot of polish. A definite must-have, if you’re into twisted steel and metal.


-Geck0, GameVortex Communications
AKA Robert Perkins

Sony PSOne Armored Core: Master of Arena Microsoft Xbox SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos

 
Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated