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AtomMy time playing Calling All Cars!
I can’t tell you how badly I wanted to write a fantastic review for this game. I’ve always been a big fan of David Jaffe’s and to see such a high profile guy go to work on a downloadable game really lends some credibility to buying games directly over the consoles. But sadly Calling All Cars! suffers from enough problems that I just can’t give it the full thumbs up that I’d like to. Of course that’s not to say it’s not worth it, it’s just not all I was hoping for.
When I first powered it up the art style instantly reminded me of Jet Set Radio, cel shaded and comic book like. It works, and it works well. The game is cartoony to begin with so it’s made better by the fact that they went with an exaggerated art style. After choosing a level, in this case level 1 since I have no idea what I’m doing, I move on to picking a car. I suppose all the cars are the same since I’m not given stats or pros/cons of each. I select the cop car (the psycho 5-0) and jump in.
Then comes what I suppose passes for the "how-to". The game starts and the most stereotypical Irish cop voice yells "Pick up the crooks an’ take ‘em to jail!" That’s it. So it’s a mad dash to both drive towards the criminal in question and try out all the buttons to find out what does what. I both boost and then brake at the worst possible moments, but hey I’m still learning.
For the next few minutes I don’t think I got anywhere near the action and seemed to spend more time driving in circles. This game has a higher learning curve than I would’ve expected. Not that it’s difficult, it really only took about 5-10 minutes before I was comfortable, but it was more than I expected. After I got comfortable it’s about 5 minutes of seeing who can earn the most points for cleaning up the streets. It feels a little long and I think it might’ve helped if the rounds were a bit shorter, but that’s really just personal preference.
After playing a few rounds I noticed my attention wandering so I decided to jump online and play some multiplayer. I can honestly say the multiplayer is vastly superior to the single player. When you’re playing against the computer you feel cheated sometimes because the computer always seems to know exactly what to do next. With the human element, that isn’t a problem. You’re all just as confused as everyone else.
While I had a much better time playing the multiplayer than the single player, after awhile I did notice my attention seemed to be drawn elsewhere. I don’t know how long I’ll be into Calling All Cars! but I suspect it won’t be for as long as I would’ve hoped. It’s probably much better if you have friends to play against in person, though I don’t really have any way to test that out.
In the end, I realize it’s supposed to be a small game, and at only 10 bucks they’re not asking much. But I think I would’ve liked a little more meat in this meal, as it stands it’s just a tad too thin.
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3 Responses to “My time playing Calling All Cars!”
May 13th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
Bla bla stop whining about typos and comment on the review instead..
If i had a PS3 this is a game i thought about getting pretty instantly.. and thats just after seeing some videos of it.. after this review i am more sure that when/if i buy me a PS3 this is something i will try out 
Good review, thanx
Gaming Map
May 13th, 2007 at 11:22 am
“badly I wanted to writer some fantastic review for this game”
If you’re going to slag a game at least proof read your post.