Spy Hunter
A remake of an old school classic that not only lives up to the name, it whoops the old game's booty.
Published: October 20, 2001
Holy crap. I mean, holy freakin' crap. A remake of one of the most beloved classics in the annals of gaming not only manages to capture the fun that made the original so great, but it actually improves on it. Granted games back in the early 80's weren't exactly deep. Hell, most of them didn't even have real endings (a trend that sadly continues even to this day). What they lacked in things like plot and depth, they made up for in classic gaming fun. With the nanosecond-short attention spans of kids these days, it's doubtful that those classic games will even hold their interest, but it's fun for us "old-timers" to think back and let a thick layer of nostalgia settle over us. But I digress.
I won't bore you with the details of the original Spy Hunter. Since about 30 minutes of searching for an emulator and a ROM will bring you up to speed, plus let you see how far the remake has come, I don't need to toss in a lengthy back story. Which starts us at the intro to the 128-bit version of Spy Hunter. Yes, there is a story to link the 15 levels of explosion-stuffed goodness, but it's not exactly epic. The gist of the story is this: an evil assembly of assorted baddies calling themselves NOSTRA has plans to plunge the world into a new dark age, literally, by hitting the earth with beams from a few conveniently placed satellites, effectively destroying all electric power sources. Of course, there's one small problem: a particular spy (that'd be you) armed to the teeth with his uber-swanky G-6155 Interceptor. The Interceptor, let's call it... Pimp Car, has the ability to cover land and sea, so when you make the transition from roads to rivers or canals, Pimp Car can morph in a decidedly slick set of Transformers-style animations into a boat, and back again when you decide to leave your aquatic path behind.
Spy Hunter takes you through 15 missions, each designed to bring down a separate part of NOSTRA's operation, thus defusing the threat of worldwide attack. You'll usually start out somewhere deep in the middle of NOSRTA's operations centers, and it'll be your job to blast your way out, hitting necessary targets like prototype cars much like your own or armed-to-the-teeth choppers. While you'll be charged with taking out a strategic target, there are always smaller tertiary objectives too, like activating satcoms scattered throughout the level. The extra objectives almost always require you to make a detour or two to hit them, and it's near impossible to hit all your secondary objectives along with the primary one on the first run through the mission. All of these objectives, however, are your key to advancing in missions, since completing them successfully along with the primary goal or goals will nab you a few points. Once you reach the required number of points, the next mission opens up. This is great way of adding depth, but unfortunately it's all but necessary to complete each and every objective on all the missions to unlock the latter levels. Still, if you're going to make sure the game lasts, that's certainly one way to do it.
All of the classic weapons have been carried over, plus a handful of new ones. Oldies but goodies like oil slicks and smoke screens can be used to throw attackers off your tail, but a couple of upgrades to your Interceptor/Pimp Car allow it to track hidden targets or see lasers that aren't normally visible to the naked eye. Weapons like heat-seeking missiles and EMP pulses help neutralize targets that may be out of reach or susceptible to damage from your normal guns. As you progress through the missions, you earn upgrades to your existing weapons, and the aforementioned weapons will be added to your complement. Halfway through the game, you'll even get a supped-up black version of Interceptor/Pimp Car that gives you more speed, and of course the unstoppable good looks and super spy status that only a black car can earn you.
Spy Hunter's graphics are fantastic, mixing plenty of speed with a framerate that very, very rarely dips below that magical buttery number 60. Sure, there's not a TON happening on screen at once, since the tracks are confined to a rather limited space, giving the level an "on rails" feel, but that doesn't lessen the experience in any way. Every level has a great, quasi-authentic feel to it, so things like the swampy Florida Keys and the canals of Venice make up the bulk of the surroundings. Little details like leaves the scatter as your race over them or the aforementioned transformation of the Interceptor/Pimp Car from supped-up street machine to jet engine-propelled boat show that Paradigm sweated the small stuff.
It's funny, but this may be the first game where I honestly thought high-res textures wouldn't matter all that much. There's an incredible sense of speed, and for the most part, road- or sea-side details are all but imperceptible, whizzing by in a blur. Luckily for those that do care, however, the texture work is indeed high-res, and pulled off with plenty of punch. The modeling, even on vehicles that usually serve as nothing but a big metal catcher's mitt for your bullets, is great, and seeing your car become slowly deformed until eventually it sheds its sleek concept car lines to become a more nimble motorcycle is a treat to watch. When passing through explosions and over oil slicks, the car's finish becomes slicked with thick black burn marks. It's just cool to watch your Interceptor/Pimp Car take a beating.
I've always said you can't go wrong with the Peter Gunn theme. Okay, I've never said that, but I might as well have. Just like the original, Spy Hunter borrows the infamous spy anthem, tweaked with a modern-day electronic slant. It sounds great, and of course helps add to the whole spy mystique. For that matter all of the music in the game conjures up images of split-second escapes and midnight rendezvous. Brassy horns and splashes of electric guitar provide a thick aural backdrop to the on-screen action. Despite a bit of repetition (especially since you'll be playing through the latter missions many, many times), the music never really falters.
Much like the music the effects are incredibly well done. They do feel a little pushed back, as if the emphasis was on melding the music with the sound effects rather than have one on top of the other, but I suppose that's a good thing. Explosions resound with the appropriate claps and booms, and details like tire squeals and splashes in the water are spot-on. Even the sexy computerized voice that gives you details on you mission sounds perfect. Paradigm literally captured all the glamorous parts of every spy movie and injected them into a game.
Well, chalk up another must-have PS2 game for action fans. (Is anyone even keeping track of all the must-have titles anymore?) With the exception of Spy Hunter's requirement of nailing every single mission objective (even the ones that are listed as secondary and optional), I can't find a single gripe with the game. The control is absolutely perfect (wait till you feel the transition from road to water, it's awesome), the sound is great, the interface is clean and gorgeous. This game just rocks on all fronts. If you've got $50 burning a hole in your pocket, head on out to your nearest video game store and pick up a copy, you won't be disappointed.
I won't bore you with the details of the original Spy Hunter. Since about 30 minutes of searching for an emulator and a ROM will bring you up to speed, plus let you see how far the remake has come, I don't need to toss in a lengthy back story. Which starts us at the intro to the 128-bit version of Spy Hunter. Yes, there is a story to link the 15 levels of explosion-stuffed goodness, but it's not exactly epic. The gist of the story is this: an evil assembly of assorted baddies calling themselves NOSTRA has plans to plunge the world into a new dark age, literally, by hitting the earth with beams from a few conveniently placed satellites, effectively destroying all electric power sources. Of course, there's one small problem: a particular spy (that'd be you) armed to the teeth with his uber-swanky G-6155 Interceptor. The Interceptor, let's call it... Pimp Car, has the ability to cover land and sea, so when you make the transition from roads to rivers or canals, Pimp Car can morph in a decidedly slick set of Transformers-style animations into a boat, and back again when you decide to leave your aquatic path behind.
Spy Hunter takes you through 15 missions, each designed to bring down a separate part of NOSTRA's operation, thus defusing the threat of worldwide attack. You'll usually start out somewhere deep in the middle of NOSRTA's operations centers, and it'll be your job to blast your way out, hitting necessary targets like prototype cars much like your own or armed-to-the-teeth choppers. While you'll be charged with taking out a strategic target, there are always smaller tertiary objectives too, like activating satcoms scattered throughout the level. The extra objectives almost always require you to make a detour or two to hit them, and it's near impossible to hit all your secondary objectives along with the primary one on the first run through the mission. All of these objectives, however, are your key to advancing in missions, since completing them successfully along with the primary goal or goals will nab you a few points. Once you reach the required number of points, the next mission opens up. This is great way of adding depth, but unfortunately it's all but necessary to complete each and every objective on all the missions to unlock the latter levels. Still, if you're going to make sure the game lasts, that's certainly one way to do it.
All of the classic weapons have been carried over, plus a handful of new ones. Oldies but goodies like oil slicks and smoke screens can be used to throw attackers off your tail, but a couple of upgrades to your Interceptor/Pimp Car allow it to track hidden targets or see lasers that aren't normally visible to the naked eye. Weapons like heat-seeking missiles and EMP pulses help neutralize targets that may be out of reach or susceptible to damage from your normal guns. As you progress through the missions, you earn upgrades to your existing weapons, and the aforementioned weapons will be added to your complement. Halfway through the game, you'll even get a supped-up black version of Interceptor/Pimp Car that gives you more speed, and of course the unstoppable good looks and super spy status that only a black car can earn you.
Spy Hunter's graphics are fantastic, mixing plenty of speed with a framerate that very, very rarely dips below that magical buttery number 60. Sure, there's not a TON happening on screen at once, since the tracks are confined to a rather limited space, giving the level an "on rails" feel, but that doesn't lessen the experience in any way. Every level has a great, quasi-authentic feel to it, so things like the swampy Florida Keys and the canals of Venice make up the bulk of the surroundings. Little details like leaves the scatter as your race over them or the aforementioned transformation of the Interceptor/Pimp Car from supped-up street machine to jet engine-propelled boat show that Paradigm sweated the small stuff.
It's funny, but this may be the first game where I honestly thought high-res textures wouldn't matter all that much. There's an incredible sense of speed, and for the most part, road- or sea-side details are all but imperceptible, whizzing by in a blur. Luckily for those that do care, however, the texture work is indeed high-res, and pulled off with plenty of punch. The modeling, even on vehicles that usually serve as nothing but a big metal catcher's mitt for your bullets, is great, and seeing your car become slowly deformed until eventually it sheds its sleek concept car lines to become a more nimble motorcycle is a treat to watch. When passing through explosions and over oil slicks, the car's finish becomes slicked with thick black burn marks. It's just cool to watch your Interceptor/Pimp Car take a beating.
I've always said you can't go wrong with the Peter Gunn theme. Okay, I've never said that, but I might as well have. Just like the original, Spy Hunter borrows the infamous spy anthem, tweaked with a modern-day electronic slant. It sounds great, and of course helps add to the whole spy mystique. For that matter all of the music in the game conjures up images of split-second escapes and midnight rendezvous. Brassy horns and splashes of electric guitar provide a thick aural backdrop to the on-screen action. Despite a bit of repetition (especially since you'll be playing through the latter missions many, many times), the music never really falters.
Much like the music the effects are incredibly well done. They do feel a little pushed back, as if the emphasis was on melding the music with the sound effects rather than have one on top of the other, but I suppose that's a good thing. Explosions resound with the appropriate claps and booms, and details like tire squeals and splashes in the water are spot-on. Even the sexy computerized voice that gives you details on you mission sounds perfect. Paradigm literally captured all the glamorous parts of every spy movie and injected them into a game.
Well, chalk up another must-have PS2 game for action fans. (Is anyone even keeping track of all the must-have titles anymore?) With the exception of Spy Hunter's requirement of nailing every single mission objective (even the ones that are listed as secondary and optional), I can't find a single gripe with the game. The control is absolutely perfect (wait till you feel the transition from road to water, it's awesome), the sound is great, the interface is clean and gorgeous. This game just rocks on all fronts. If you've got $50 burning a hole in your pocket, head on out to your nearest video game store and pick up a copy, you won't be disappointed.