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Games: Stuntman - Ignition

By Mriceguy | 12 May, 2008

Game: Stuntman: Ignition
Genre: Action Racer
Developer: Paradigm Entertainment
Publisher: THQ

Stuntman: Ignition is the sequel to the stunt driving game, Stuntman released on the PS2. It does try to improve the formula but that still isn’t enough to save this title from being left alone on store shelves.

This is quite different to the usual racer where you play as a vehicle stuntman in Hollywood. In the Career mode there are six fictional films where you take part in six fast action scenes. Each film is a take on an actual film or a stereotype of the genre: First starting off in Aftershock a volcano disaster movie, taking control of a variety of vehicles like a motorbike and fire truck among the rubble and flowing lava. Whoopin and a Hollerin’ II is a take on The Dukes of Hazard, the definite highlight is crushing cop cars with a monster truck! Strike Force Omega is a straight up action movie in the desert. Overdrive is a Starsky and Hutch clone, set in the 70’s. Never Kill Me Again is obvious even in the title that of the James Bond film Die Another Day. Night Avenger pretends to be Batman and lets you perform the craziest stunts in the game.

Stunts have to be achieved near perfectly, fail several and you have to restart. At the end you are given a score and a star rating out of five. It’s near impossible to get 5 stars as you need to link each stunt together to create a chain. The trial and error is the most frustrating part of Stuntman: Ignition. You will find yourself repeating scenes over and over to perfection, so depending on your patience will make or break this game for you.

The Stunt Constructor was a nice gesture but ends up being a bit messy and especially irritating when you need to unlock items in the Career to actually start building anything. Online Multiplayer doesn’t really suit a game of this type and is not even worth playing unless you’re an achievement whore, good luck finding a match though!

If you’re looking for something new in the driving action space it may be worth a rental but it’s safe to say you probably won’t miss this game. Earlier this year THQ have confirmed that there will not be any more sequels to Stuntman or THQ’s street racing game, Juiced, another indicator of the game’s failure to please the masses.