Spy hunter

Reviewed By: Phillip Herrero
VOLUNTEER GUEST REVIEWER

GAME TECH INFO

Computer Platform: Game Cube (Nintendo)
Produced by: Midway
Price Range: $11-20
Learning curve time: 1-2 hrs.
Age level: Teens
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Genre: Action/adventure
Christian Rating: 4 of 5
   (slightly offensive)
Gameplay: 4 of 5
   (good)
Violence: 3 of 5
   (mild)
Adult Content: 5 of 5
   (none)

Spy Hunter on Gamecube is a port of the critically acclaimed PS2 game. The two are not exactly the same and you will have to read the rest of the review to see what I mean. Of course before I do that let me explain what Spy Hunter is to those who are reading a Spy hunter review for the first time. (that thought kind of makes me nervous writing the review) Spy Hunter is about an evil corporation called Nostra trying to steal all the energy on the Earth and they sent a spy to stop them. The spy is you but you are equipped with a highly advanced vehicle called the G-6155 Interceptor. As you play the game longer your vehicle gets better weapons. This is no ordinary car either, it can transform into a boat when necessary and when you take too much damage your parts will fall off and your car will turn into a motorcycle on land or water.

First I will get into detail with the gameplay. At first it is kind of fun, especially the training missions for some reason I liked those ones the most. When you play it after those missions though it doesn't really seem fun. This is a game that goes with the saying "you get as much as much as you put in." Once you learn all the tricks and get better weapons its hard to put down. In the middle of playing this game I was considering giving it a 3 out of 5 gameplay but after really getting extensive time it has become more enjoyable. This game is pretty difficult so I enjoyed having a challenge for once. If you don't have much patience then this game isn't going to do much for you but if you are then you will learn the joys of this game gradually. Some kids may look at the cover and say "hey that game looks cool can you buy it for me?" well this game is difficult like I said since they make you play the level perfectly to move on and some kids won't understand how to do some of the tricks so I wouldn't really recommend it for kids.

After a paragraph of nice things to say I have to talk about the games biggest flaws the next two though but I promise to end things in a good note. The graphics in this game complete;y well how do you say this kindly? Well they blow put it that way. When the car explodes messy textures fly everywhere and overall its not a pretty sight in the first place. The frame rate can jump a little if you pay attention to it. For me I could bear the graphics but imagine the look in my face when I saw my sister play XG3 after playing Spy Hunter all day I was like wow I never knew XG3 had such good graphics. When I first bought it didn't really impress me too much but after playing Spy Hunter all day I was shocked. Then there are the cut scenes. Boy have they really took a hit with the port from PS2 to Gamecube. The first time I watched them it was so blurry I thought I accidently turned my PSone on! They really messed up the compression on the GCN version. Blame it on GCN's smaller disc size but the problem still remains. Now there are a couple of good things about the graphics. The car looks nice and shiny as you can see the reflection off the top of the hood and all the nice detail of the car and everything around there is never an empty space in Spy Hunter. Also they draw distance isn't that bad either but overall the bad unfortunately outweigh the good.

This game takes about 5 hours at best to beat. Not a very long game at all. You will enjoy most of the levels but they are just too short. They have lots of objectives for you to complete as incentive to go back and play as you will have to complete every objective in the single player game each level to unlock the multiplayer mode. At first I just tried to unlock one level to see if it had good multiplayer and it was at the time where I really wasn't that hooked on Spy Hunter yet. It was okay but I thought it wouldn't be worth finishing all the objectives. Then by chance I unlocked another multiplayer game for that level and I decided that it might be more fun than the last level. Well to my surprise you get a different multiplayer game for different levels. Now not all the levels have different objectives in multiplayer but its better than just having vs. race on all of them. Even with multiplayer options the game's value is still pretty low as you will play a couple of rounds and then be done and play a different game. There are also cheats if you beat the levels in different times but so far it doesn't look that great. The only cheats I unlocked so far was rainbow HUD, (wow it changes color I beat the course record for this?) a music video of the improved theme song, and a hovercar that is basically the same thing as riding the boat on land. If you have a huge library like me having a game like this would be fine as you could just pick your favorite level and play this once your bored with it but if your short on cash this game is only $20 but you may want to rent it if you just want to see everything.

The sound in this game is average. They brought back the original Spy Hunter theme from the 83 game and it helps pump the gameplay. The sound is nothing special though its just a small part in this game.

This game isn't terribly violent but I can't say that its barely present. You run over people sometimes but their your enemies but still that's kind of violent. You blow up lots of things in this game but there is no blood or anything like that. There is also no adult content in this game your just a spy doing his missions not like Metal Gear Solid where they have to add so much more. The reason I give this game a 4 out of 5 in the christian rating is for one reason actually. You may never notice this if you rent it or just skip everything but when you read the manual it says that the evil corporation you fight is based in Israel. More though is that people in the game believe that he is the messiah but he is trying to take over the world using the “4 horseman” to do it. Some may find that offensive but to me its slightly offensive since they only mention it in the manual and its not really important if you just play the game.

Overall I could recommend this game to anyone who wants a challenge or wants to relive the 83 classic in 3D. I got this game for $20 so I couldn't refuse but if it was $50 then I don't think I would have taken that so think before you buy this game. You need to make that decision by going over this review to see if its your kind of game. If you beat games and aren't a completist like I am sort of and you just beat a game and then never touch it then I can't say its for you but if you put in a lot you will get a lot out of this game.

Year of Release—2001

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this Christian Spotlight review are those of the reviewer (both ratings and recommendations), and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Films for Christ or the Christian Answers Network.