While I can't speak for everyone, there's
nothing quite like a great car chase scene
in a film. Aside from the child-like glee
that comes from watching the action and destruction
inherent in these scenes, there's another
exciting level of knowing you're watching
man and machine working in a perfect ballet
for the camera. Reckless Getaway by Polarbit
and Pixelbite (the developers behind Reckless
Racing) have put aside any sense of reality
in an attempt to create a madcap, slapstick
point-scoring racer.
As much as it's nice to have a choice between
touch and tilt controls, Reckless Getaway
doesn't really take off until you start to
master the deceptively basic touch controls
that only allow you to move left and right
and activate any special abilities you may
have picked up. It's deceptive because the
game initially presents itself as a fairly
standard racing title, but after weaving back
and forth a few times you start to notice
the extremely odd floaty physics that keep
you airborne just a little too long or moving
forward despite being completely sideways.
However, this complete lack of reality feeds
in to the game perfectly as everything else
is subject to the same rules making it easy
to shake off a conga line of cop cars chasing
you.
If you haven't worked it out by now, the premise
of Reckless Getaway is a simple one - make
a getaway with the cash stuffed away in your
vehicle. You'll travel up each stage in the
surprisingly detailed 3D world the game inhabits
while also collecting coins; blowing up other
vehicles; and performing stunts (such as large
jumps) to add to your overall score. Should
you get enough points while jumping over bridges,
invading farms or crushing vehicles in to
trains you'll be rewarded with 'stars' (up
to four), however there's a catch. Points
can also be lost for blowing up or taking
'detours' and not keeping up with the camera.
Stars are also made unavailable for each of
your deaths on the level, though damage taken
can be regenerated if you can manage not to
smack in to something for more than a few
seconds.
The real point of contention is just how difficult
the game can be at times, with so many ways
to potentially ruin a run, getting four-stars
or even three can seem like a monumental task.
Replays will eventually net you the progress
you're after, mostly thanks to learning the
ins-and-outs of each level, but it still feels
like a steep hill to climb.
There's a real old-school feel of developer
versus the player going on in Reckless Getaway,
though instead of the challenge consisting
of cheap tricks to catch out the player it's
up to the player to rise up to the occasion
by mastering the quirky physics and detailed
levels. As such if you're looking for a casual
or otherwise easy game to conquer, you might
be out of luck, but if you want a challenge
or something straight-up over the top, check
out this title.
