Detailed graphics, full of suspense, but dull in other side
User Rating: 8 | Alarm fuer Cobra 11: Burning Wheels PC
Those who are experienced in Driver won't find any difficulties playing this game. Crash Time II's gameplay is like Driver 2. There are no shooting, but still, it's a nice game to try. This game is a sequel to the first Crash Time, and the base concept isn't changed: you play as cops (in this case: Semir Gerkhan and a new partner: Ben Jager) and placed in a variety of cars, solving various cases, from intercepting speeders who drive SUVs, arresting a ship captain whose about to dump toxic waste into the river, to intense cases, from cold-blooded bomb-carrying drone car whose threatening the police, going undercover and plunge into a street racer syndicate, and arresting a crazy man driving a racing car. There are about 35 drivable cars, from excavators, tour buses, police cruisers, MPV, panel vans, Japanese imports, a Ferrari-like targa top car, go-kart racer, dune buggy, big rigs, and one surprise (for those who didn't play the first installment): Armored personnel carriers! On to the missions, or "cases" as the game said, the cases are various, but they have one weakness: some cases are too long, others are too short. The game also features Patrol mode, a mode which enables you to roam two areas (City and Autobahn) freely (but if you haven't finished the game, a radio call will interfere your joyriding). Into graphics, the graphic is totally renewed with more detailing in every aspect, and the areas are wider. About the controls, they're pretty balanced. If you cruise slowly (for example: below 130 km/hour) the steering will feel 'flexible' and tight, and when you're going fast (above 150 km/hour for some cars) the steer will loosen, adds extra stability for your car. Back into cases, some cases are quite exciting to play, they offer various sub-missions, from trailblazing (finding way to a destination), shadowing (following opponent's car without suspicion from the baddies), stop a car (wrecking it), collide (pokes the opponent's body with mild touches), force opponent to stop (by bumping the opponent's car rear wheel arch), pursuits (this is the exciting one), capture the flag (in this case, make a temporary stop at a red stop mark), doing jumps, etc. There are lots of things to do in cases.
Into sounds, the cars have amazing sound. Japanese imports make lo-mid sound, the Ferrari makes a loud, high frequency voice, trucks and the APC make growling sounds, jeeps make V8 roars, the racing car (Ben B32 MadCop) makes a distinct, touring car noises. And for the soundtrack? Some are horrible! The theme song is rather cool (it's Eurobeat, I think), but a poorly-arranged rock music!? That's the biggest flaw. In several missions where there are explosions, I can't hear any boom sound. Just a blast of flame and black smoke, sound of disintegrating steel pieces, and that's it. The dubbings are also incommunicative (Semir's voice is like a gay). Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the single race mode: they're dull. If you play single race, it feels boring, not like NFS Underground or Gran Turismo. The AI is just.....toooooo easy. Even if you play the Hard difficulty, it's still feels toooo easy.
So, the conclusion is: this game is a twin-bladed knife. Exciting in one side, boring in the other side: Here are the numbers:
Story: 7/10
Gameplay: 8/10 (the single race is ruining everything)
Sound&Music: 7/10
Graphics: 9/10 (it has PS3-like quality)
Overall: 7,75 out of 10 (it's considerably good)