365//365: Day 346 – Vigilante 8 Arcade (360) [PP]

"When a genre dies, it should stay dead."

Vehicular combat titles have turned from a flood to a trickle in two console generations. One of the two main franchises during the 32 bit days was Vigilante 8, a series that started off as the Twisted Metal killer with its first installment, only to drown its self into mediocrity with its sequel. With Vigilante 8 Arcade, the series return to form was apparently derailed.There’s literally nothing going for this game on any end of the spectrum. The poor sound effects and porno beat musical performance add nothing of value to the experience. Vehicular controls manage to defy common sense, as they are both stiff, as well as slippery. It’s as if you’re trying to drive the Technodrome across an ice skating ring, while wearing rollerskates. Attacks, both vehicle exclusive and shared pick up ones, seem to have little to no accuracy, with even the homing weapons managing to be dodged more often than not. While the lighting and shading is done well, the rest of the visual package lacks any definitive detail, and comes off as generic at best. Worst of all, firing once at any enemy will cause them to hunt you down without mercy, ignoring any kind of onslaught the other CPU opponents are unleashing on them. With the wealth of exciting and replayable titles on Xbox Live Arcade, purchasing Vigilante 8 Arcade is as accurate a thought as the homing weapons in it.

Bland, bland blanb bland bland. Everything about Vigilante 8 Arcade screams bland....and mediocre....and failure....and waste of money....

Rating: 2.8