The Simpsons shows are enjoyable, but Road Rage is not just boring, it is a big ripoff from Crazy Taxi.
As you read this paragraph, you will notice the similarities to Crazy taxi, if you truly enjoy Crazy Taxi. If it just was not a rip-off or Taxi, or the same old lame gameplay, this game would be fresh fine. Pick up a passenger, and follow the arrow at the top of the screen. Drive over, around or through everything in your way, and drop them off at the right location, with a bonus for speed. You'll get a few more seconds on your clock every time you drop a passenger off, with the ultimate goal to rack up the highest score before your time runs out. You can learn the basics in 30 seconds, and get right to the gaming. You won't even have to learn the town, or follow a map... just slam through shortcuts and follow the arrow, and you'll be fine. That's the best part about the game, and its biggest fault. The pacing is fast, and it's as simple as Pac-Man to get into and master. Unfortunately, since you're constantly running back and forth through town, with little new to explore, you'll begin to feel more like a shuttle service that a dangerous, death-defying taxi service. The level design, which is more focused on humor than on gameplay, is also too spread out to serve a challenge, not to mention the fact that the cars drive a bit too slow to get you worried. Now, you do understand what I mean, do you, you great little Crazy Taxi fans!
Road Rage is not the only Simpsons game that has copied the plot and gameplay. The Simpsons Hit & Run (X-Box, PS2, GC and PC) has copied Grand Theft Auto, but just created it in the Simpsons Style. Same with The Simpsons Skating (PS2). A rip off of the Tony Hawk series, but, the game is pure Simpsons Style. Bleh! This game is not worthy of the Simpsons name and should be stripped of violating copyright. I am not saying that the Simpsons episodes are bad, I enjoy them. But the games? They're stale like raw meat, eh? Professional gamers shall agree with me on this.
The story plot , known as missions, are plain easy, unchallenging and dumb. I think that several games in the whole gaming library, from the first Game Boy to the last console or the X-Box 360 or the Nintendo Revolution, that there should be some games rated P for Pre-Schoolers. Or Pathetic Gamers. The story plot involves smashing lamps to crashing pedestrians or cars to tagging Mr. Burns and running into the Power Plant. BORING. Well, just imagine that. If you are reading the review right now, I bet you that you would be yawning to the boredom heaven. Just imagine the immense boredom, eh!? All of those missions finally leads to Homer versing Mister Burns. I will tell you next paragraph;
WARNING!! SPOILERS UP AHEAD FOR LAST LEVEL MISSION!
Yep, spoilers indeed. The last mission is summed up to Homer smashing 20 of Mr. Burns flowerpots. Time allocated: 1 minute and 45 seconds. This level is bad, and absolutely glitched. Can you possibly beat the game in 1min 45 seconds looking up from top view? No, you cant. Homers car spins and turns and goes out of control after smashing Mr. Burns limo or even smashing leaves. Ahem, ahem. Glitches, glitches and more glitches.
GOOD NEWS! END SPOILERS!
How do you make a game based on the Simpsons without making it look a bit, well, flat? It's tough, and while Radical does a great job of filling the game with pretty much every landmark ever mentioned in the series, it's still a pretty simplistic affair. Cars are made of a handful of polygons, and building are flat, one color affairs.
Games like Cel Damage have proven that you can still have a cartoony look while still adding more detail and lighting effects to the environment, however. Environments can still be simple without being feeling washed out. While Road Rage manages to deliver really nice detail in the player's cars themselves, the actual locations and objects are simple enough to make you think you're playing PlayStation port with cleaned up textures. Unfortunately, the physics don't help much either. While it's great to smash the world up, everything has the same reaction -- a mailbox floats and flips through the air the same way a billboard, a tree, and a fence do, making the carnage less satisfying. Crazy Taxi did a great job of creating some fantastic destruction without slowing down your Taxi too much, while Road Rage seems to sacrifice detail for overall speed.
The great, fantastic, incredible part about Road Rage -- and depending on how much you love the Simpsons, this could make the above criticism moot -- is its slavish devotion to delivering every detail of Springfield to the game. Every sign, every business, every movie theater marquee and object is a reference to a bit of Simpsons history, like a 3D encyclopedia of pop culture. The Sunday Drive option of the game is a must have addition, if for nothing else than to give you the time to discover all the jokes hidden away in the corners of each area. Virtual Springfield, a game devoted to putting you into the town, didn't even come close to delivering the density of Road Rage. The only density of Road Rage, that is. The graphics are the only good part of Road Rage, on the X-Box. I haven't played the PS2 version yet.
The music in Road Rage... who cares about the music? Yes it's nice, it's solid, it's got the Simpsons feel without annoying you on repeated play -- but the voices! That's what you're here for, that's what you've shelled out your money for. The game uses all new dialogue from nearly every character in the game, and like the Simpsons toys, they also react with one another. Pick up Moe with Marge, and you'll hear him apologize for "trying to hit on you that one time, Midge." Bart will have unique conversation with Homer, different from his reaction to his mom, or Lisa, and so on. You'll want to unlock the new vehicles as much to hear the new dialogue as you will to race around in Homer's Mr. Plow vehicle, or Apu's butt-rockin' sports car. This doesn't always work as well as it should, and you'll end up hearing repetition fairly quickly -- but give me a little of Simpsons for a landfill full of awkward video game voice acting any day.
The replay value is weak, even the multiplayer. But, if Road Rage is the only X-Box game that you have got, you will find multiplayer bullboring, but, the most fun part of Road Rage. Multiplayer involves tagging your friends car and winning passengers. You'll understand the concept once you get to know this game.
SO! Here is the real question. After reading this review, would you buy it, rent it or don't do anything. Well, I would recommend it for you to rent it for a party or something, I dunno. Just rent it first to try the immense boredom of the Gameplay. If you are not the Simpsons fan, and agree with me on this review, you should not even touch the box cover art for just a nanosecond or microsecond. Just don't have a cow man!
To sum it up, I think that Road Rage is stale and boring, with no fun concept of gameplay. If you choose th disagree with me, that is your choice. I don't even know you, for crying out loud. Thank our maker, the Lord that there is a good thing for this game, and that is the graphics. Ta-ta for now! ~....