Stuntman Platinum (PS2)

The graphics are good enough, but not startling. It's likely that they're constrained by the ability to replay your stunts after every attempt. The replay option is not just good for showing off your talents, but it provides huge amusement when viewing horrendous crashes and freak accidents. Sound is average. The music is nothing special, but is decent enough not to grate after listening to it for the umpteenth time as you struggle to complete a scene. The control system is standard Driver fare, and once you're used to it it's pretty solid, if a tad oversensitive.

The trailers you get to see when you complete each film are a nice touch, and are amusing skits on the various genres of film used throughout the game. The "Toothless in Wapping" trailer, a send up of Lock Stock, is particularly fun, and all the trailers include excerpts from your stunts.

There are also 15 mini-games, testing your speed, precision and stunt ability, 10 of which are locked until you complete the Career Mode. A stunt arena is also included, allowing you to design and build your own stunts to try and replay, with cars, ramps and obstacles becoming unlocked depending on the accuracy with which you complete scenes in the Career Mode. This gives you an extra incentive to do well in the main game.

The Career Mode is the main feature of Stuntman, requiring you to guide a stunt driver through his career spanning 6 films, each of which involves completing 3 to 4 complex scenes incorporating several stunts. You will not be asked to merely do one jump. Instead, each scene, or "level", requires you to string together a series of manoeuvres and jumps within a strict time limit. So for example, in the last scene of the second film ("A Whoopin' and a Hollerin'", a send up of the Dukes of Hazzard) you must overtake a truck, drive off a bridge onto a moving train, drive down the train onto a flatbed carriage, off the train onto the platform, through a narrow gap between parked cars, smash through a sign and a picnic table, squeeze through a gap between moving cars, through a car wash avoiding the drainage ditch, cross the railway track before a train arrives (and smashes you to smithereens!), drive through trees, then back onto the track and drive between 2 trains, drive across a single track bridge and get off the other side before another train gets there, and speed to the finish (having passed through a number of checkpoints throughout within the time limit). Phew! That's the scene in it's entirety, and I recalled all that from memory, despite having completed that level ages ago, because it took me at least a hundred attempts!

Stuntman is a very hard game. This is partly due to the level design, which is very unforgiving, with lots of narrow gaps, tight turns and deviously placed obstacles, and partly due to the lack of clear instruction given to you. The director instructs you in the style of Nicky Grist (Colin McRae's co-driver), but is usually so late that you've overshot or driven the wrong way by the time he's begun to speak. There are arrows and symbols to mark the way, but they can be a bit vague, and due the camera angle they're not always particularly visible if you're coming round a corner sideways. It's often impossible to know where you're supposed to go, or what you're supposed to do next. In fact, I feel it's safe to say that it's absolutely impossible to complete a scene at the first attempt, because the first 5 attempts are needed to get a handle on what you're supposed to be doing. A walkthrough, a free ride mode, or a map would have improved the game significantly. As it is, you have to learn the level over a number of failed attempts to be able to complete it.

This sounds like a severe negative, but in fact it can add to the experience, bringing "eureka!" moments when you find the best way of approaching each section. The fact that Stuntman has been created by the Driver team is evident; those games too had that "one more try" aspect. And that's the crux of the matter: if you liked Driver and Driver 2, you'll probably enjoy Stuntman. I love it, which is why I've given it 4 stars, but then I don't mind doing the same scene over and over again to get it right. In fact, even if it's taken me an age just to get the 80% accuracy mark you need to get to the next scene, I'll go back and try for 100%. Stuntman is an incredibly challenging game, but the sense of achievement derived from completing a difficult scene, and your anticipation of the next, makes it worthwhile. Moreover, the difficulty adds to the game's longevity, which is considerable. Even if you do manage to leave the game alone for a while (those "one more tries" can go on into the small hours!) you can always come back for a quick 5 minute attempt at the scene that's been bugging you.

If you have no patience and like quick results, don't buy this game. If you want a challenge, and you think your controller can take being pounded against the wall, then get Stuntman today. It's bags of stunt-addled fun.