Full Auto

Guns and racing are the corner stone of gaming for many.  A lot of Xbox 360 owners are likely to be excited by the idea of a combination of the two in Sega’s combat racer ‘Full Auto’, exclusive to the console.  Unfortunately the title’s depth compares better to that of an emptying gas tank than the size of the scars some of the big-ass weapons make, despite some ‘innovations’.

The best way to describe Full Auto is Burnout with a table spoon of weaponry and a hint of Prince of Persia.  Clearly the developers at Pseudo Interactive didn’t think there was quite enough carnage in the already insanely chaotic Burnout and thought some guns and time travel would spice up the action.  Unfortunately, despite their efforts to bring in some originality, Full Auto lacks a cutting edge to boost it ahead of the pack, detonating rivals in its wake; and instead the game finds itself off the pace.

In the over-populated genre that is arcade racing something extra is needed to make the leap from repetitive and shallow to frantic, fun and addictive.  Full Auto could so nearly have had that spark, and at first it will probably deceive you into thinking it does. However, Sega’s effort doesn’t pace itself well, and soon falls back into the pack.  Don’t get me wrong though, Full Auto will provide you with some great fun.  The vehicles handle well and the racing is pretty solid but more importantly, shooting stuff is fun!

Most of your time will be spent in career mode, which should provide you with 6 or more hours of gameplay, and more if you’re determined to get that achievement for all ‘Full Auto’ medals.  The campaign starts off with a somewhat needlessly long tutorial, taking you step by step through every aspect of the game.  Basically, the premise of the game is to win races but instead of just winning on driving ability, you battle it out with a variety of weapons as you drive in an attempt to blow your opponents up, which is obviously quite a hindrance to their prospects.  At the start of each level you choose your car and car colour, though unfortunately you car choice is often limited to just one!  Following this, you choose your ‘insurance’ (I think that’s what gangster types call it, perhaps I should leave that to them…), a primary and secondary weapon.  In the beginning this choice is limited but progression opens up new ‘companions’ (I’ll stop now.) and in the end you’ll have a range from machine guns to cannons.  You can choose your weapons before each race, but set combinations are bestowed, they can then be tuned on a basic level by sacrificing the power of one to beef up the other.  The likes of the machine gun and shotgun can be placed on the front or back but some weapons, such as the mines are designed specifically for one side.  It’s best generally to have a one on both sides so you can shoot down leaders while fending off tailgaters.  It isn’t all mindless as I found myself using the rear-view mirror more on this game than any other in attempts to drop mines straight into the paths of those behind.  Players have to think tactically too in the case of mines as with many courses having several laps, dropping mines could cause your own downfall if you’re not careful, plus the pros and cons of each weapon must be considered too, for example the shotgun is very powerful at close range but poor from a distance and takes time to reload.

Next, you’ll learn about Full Auto’s innovation.  Named ‘unwreck’, this is basically a rewind feature.  Players fill their unwreck meter by causing damage and can rewind time for a certain amount of time depending upon how long the button is held at how much is available.  This means crashing or getting hit by a weapon is not the end of the world as you can rewind for another try.  While the developers must be credited for their attempt to try something new (in a racing game at least), it really adds little to the game.  That’s not to say it’s a forgotten gimmick as it does prove an essential part of the game, but it is indeed a gimmick and in all honesty, it sort of feels cheap.  If you mess up, it’s your own fault and by avoiding the consequences of your wrong-doings it feels like cheating, and at times you’ll undoubtedly feel the dis-approving glare of the gaming Gods and your Mother as you cheekily rewind.  As is now seemingly expected of arcade racers, a boost bar is also present that is filled up by drifting or by performing big jumps up ramps.