While Midway created a rather inventive and relatively fun game with Hydro Thunder, they decided to take the same format, add in a couple of tricks, place the game in a snow setting and try to cash in on the franchise. What ended up happening is a game was created that took the fun of Hydro Thunder and added too much into the action department, resulting in a game that takes more patience than skill to play! With games such as this, you would figure that the fun and excitement that you had experienced in Hydro Thunder would return in this version of Arctic Thunder. Alas, you’re left with a game that offers you four different modes, but doesn’t present itself in a way that you would hope and expect out of a Play Station 2 title.
The game play is basically race from start to finish while trying to beat out your opponents with different weapons and course path selections. Again, much like Hydro Thunder, there are instances of speed, action and mayhem, but even with the different modes that you can play through, you still have a rather used racing game format that doesn’t quite hit the mark! The different modes include an Arcade Mode that allows you to play the game as it was originally featured in the arcade, right down to the originally selectable riders. In this mode, it is your stripped down racing with the different power ups and trick ramps but doesn’t offer you any of the secret characters or extra options that the Race Mode does. What Arctic Thunder seems to drive down is the game play fun, in which you have to unlock the attributes of the game such as difficulty and otherwise that would normally be found in a regular racing game. Probably the best mode that can be found in the game is the Points Mode, in which you earn points for racing effectively, performing tricks, blowing up your competition and finishing in a top spot. Through this mode, you can buy other riders, tracks, weapons and many different in-game features that weren’t available before. However, what you’ll find through all of the aforementioned modes is that the game really doesn’t change much in the way that you have to race and even with the different paths, you’ll find that the game still doesn’t offer much variation after a couple of times through.
Controlling Arctic Thunder is little more than knowing just how to use the analog sticks and how to get through the course twists and turns. Anyone with any racing game experience will find that the game has nothing new to offer other than the different weapon selections and otherwise, so veterans to this type of genre will find that the game is easy enough to pick up and learn. Beginners on the other hand may do well to learn all of the controls through a couple of practice rounds before trying to tackle all of the different actions that the game has to offer. Tricks and otherwise are pretty much automatic, so there is nothing in that aspect that you’ll have to learn or stress out over! All in all, the game control is about par for the course, with just the slightest need to learn how to control your character and just what attributes said character portrays.
Visually, the game suffers horribly from extreme jerking. If you add into this that all of the detail in the game seems muted as well as the colors and otherwise that you would expect in a game of this type, you’ll find that the game just doesn’t seem to have the extreme frame rate that most Play Station 2 games present! The environments that you ride through are pretty much what you would expect with the snow and caves, but there isn’t any sort of extra detail added in that you would expect after having played Hydro Thunder. All in all, you’ll find that there is a poor usage of the Play Station 2 hardware capabilities and even if you’re a true PS2 die hard fan, there is just too much in this department that is wrong to really overlook the short comings.
Audio wise, the game tries hard to offer the feel and excitement of arctic combat and racing, but seems to be muted in the way that it is presented, much like the visuals. The game music does change from stage to stage, which is a definite plus, but the music itself just doesn’t have all of the feeling that you would hope for with an action game such as this! The sound effects also seem to fall along the wayside with the explosions and racing engines seeming to be more of the same action game generic stuff that you would hear in any other game. Putting this altogether into one title and tacking it onto the audio/visual aspect of the game, this is another truly disappointing aspect of the game that I didn’t expect to find.
Arctic Thunder is a racing game that tries to cash in on the overall success of Hydro Thunder, but with the Play Station 2, it doesn’t seem to have the same grab and feel that the previous success had! With decent control and a relatively familiar game play, there is enough here in the title to warrant renting the game for a weekend if nothing else. However, for those of you who are looking for a spectacular game that features all of the power that the Play Station 2 has to offer, lets take a look at the bad points for a moment. The visuals just aren’t up to par with the lack of detail and overall frame rate slow down. Tack this onto the audio aspects that are less that stellar with music that is rather forgettable and your generic sound effects and you’ll have a rather disappointing title. If you’re a fan of the game in the Arcade, then you may find this to either be a blessing or a curse. As always, the choice is up to you, but offering you some advice in this case, spend a couple of bucks to rent it first before dropping a part of your paycheck on something that just isn’t spendworthy!
6/10
