The thug
lifestyle is being well represented nowadays in the gaming world; in fact there
doesn‘t seem to be an end to all the games featuring urban gangsters and rap
stars. Now Ubisoft is tossing in their own brand of hip-hop styled action with
187 Ride or Die, a driving-and-shooting action game that has you and a
partner attempt to win races by blasting busters and pushing the pedal until you
leave these playas in the dust.
The story, while
paper thin as it is, revolves around a young man named Buck who is called upon
by his street father, O.G. Dupree, to defend his territory against rival street
gangs. You see, the Los Angeles kingpin was shot nine times by his chief rival,
a Mexican gangster named Cortez, and Dupree is out for revenge and the only one
able to carry out the task is Buck who knows a thing or two about driving and
shooting. How do they defend Dupree’s territory from Cortez’s gang as well as
other gangs out to grab said territory? Well, they race through the streets of
Los Angeles in sharp-looking cars while the passenger shoots at opponents with
various different guns and explosives devices. Think of it as Burnout
meets Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Ok, so the main
story won’t hook you, considering that the game doesn’t push any plot twists or
is interested in giving gamers a peek at just who Buck is or why we should care
if Dupree regains his territory and respect. It’s all about the arcade-styled
driving and shooting, and 187 Ride or Die immediately places you behind
the wheel. With the aide of a beautiful girl behind the wheel and Buck is the
shooter you won’t only be driving but you’ll also be doing the shooting. The
racetrack itself is the streets of Los Angeles so you’ll be zipping through
streets resembling South Central or East LA and it comes off well enough despite
the fact that there are no side streets and very few shortcuts.
Scattered
throughout the short race courses are weapons as well as power-ups for each
weapon. You start each race armed with a pistol that hardly does much damage but
you’ll come across weapons like AK-47s, sub-machine guns, shotguns and rocket
launchers. The power-up items give your weapons that extra punch for more damage
or more ammo. The opponents also fire back so you’ll be doing a lot of defensive
driving. Ah, welcome to Los Angeles, home of the defensive driver with a gun.
Unfortunately
driving your “pimped out” ride isn’t as smooth as it should be thanks to the
clumsy controls. Forget the fact that you have a race to win, even the blasting
away at enemies can be an awkward act but with a little practice you’ll get the
hang of the driving and shooting. When you do get the hang of the poor controls
the game can actually be fun at times since you’ll get to blow up rivals (the
game treats you to a quick animated sequence of your enemy’s vehicle blowing up
with the shattered remains falling apart in slow motion just like in Burnout
3).
While the
majority of the races are straightforward events, there are different variations
that, thankfully, keep the game from being way too dull. There’s the Po-Po
Chase that has you racing against the police that are hot on your trail and
there’s the Minefield where all the weapons are replaced by mines. You’ll even
participate in an arena Deathmatch while going up against multiple opponents and
there’s a game mode that has you protecting a certain vehicle in the game’s
Escort mode. The Hit has you attempting to destroy a targeted vehicle being
escorted while Bomb has you driving at a certain speed or the bomb in your
vehicle explodes. Finally there’s Survival mode that’s similar to the Deathmatch
mode only all vehicles must be eliminated and The Lot has you attempting to
escape the world’s most brutal parking lot.
While the
various game modes have a lot to offer you’ll be disappointed by the opponent AI
that hardly poses much of a threat. Occasionally they do a good job of fighting
back but oftentimes you’ll be driving up besides them and blasting away at them
without even a hint of wanting to move out of the way. It seems that the
computer-controlled opponents are more interested in winning the race than
getting out of the way of your line of fire. The lack of intelligent AI is
remedied by going up against real opponents (up to four) online or using a
System Link connection. You can also play with (one does the driving and the
other does the shooting) or against a friend (playing through any of the various
game modes).
Graphically
speaking, 187 Ride or Die is a good-looking Xbox game that shows off some
sharp textures, good lighting and so-so visual effects. The cutscenes are nicely
detailed and although there’s not much of a story the expressions do a great job
of conveying emotion. There are cars aplenty and watching your shooter lean out
or sit up on a convertible to start shooting looks cool. The environments are
ripe with LA flavor so you’ll get a taste of what South Central is like as well
as its surrounding neighborhoods. What the game does wrong visually, though, is
speed but the brief animation of your opponent eating it Burnout-style
more than makes up for it.
It wouldn’t be a
hip-hop driving game without the hip-hop and there are a nice number of Guerilla
Black tunes here that do justice to the game’s gangster theme. Even the sound
effects are filled to the brim with great explosions, gunfire and the twisting
or scraping of metal when you crash against something. What doesn’t work despite
a decent cast of voice actors is the dialogue that is trying too hard to sound
“street.” In fact the dialogue is entirely composed of hip-hop slang and while
other games use it sparingly it comes off as annoying here. It’s too bad too
since the game features the voice acting of talented actor Larenz Tate (of “Dead
Presidents” fame) and rapper Guerilla Black
In the end,
187 Ride or Die had all the makings of a pretty good driving-and-shooting
action game but the overall result is an action game with very little to offer.
Sure there are plenty of cars, weapons and race modes but with wheels like this
you’ll feel frustrated by the awkward driving and the uneven shooting. Sorry
Ubisoft, but this one just doesn’t cut it.
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Gameplay: 5.5
The driving
and the shooting aren’t as smooth as it should be considering this is a
driving-and-shooting game. The poorly designed racetracks and uneven opponent AI
adds to the uninteresting single-player mode. What fun there is in this game
comes from the Minefield and Escort missions.
Graphics: 7.5
The visuals
are actually quite decent with some sharp-looking cars; good animated cutscenes
and solid effects that make explosions and gunfire flashy. Buck certainly
resembles actor Larenz Tate and Dupree looks just like Guerilla Black. The
environments look great as well, although the sense of speed is missing.
Sound: 7.5
The dialogue
is badly riddled with hip-hop slang that you’ll laugh at how hard it’s trying to
sound gangster. Even with the top acting talent of Larenz Tate doesn’t make the
dialogue seem as good as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. At least the
soundtrack is thumping with good hip-hop from Guerilla Black.
Difficulty:
Medium
There are
times when your opponent puts up a good fight and manages to squeeze past you in
a race but then again there are times when your enemy won’t make an attempt to
get out of the way of your line of fire. The only real challenge comes from the
Po-Po Chase and The Lot where you try to escape from a parking lot.
Concept: 6.0
Driving and
shooting go together like peanut butter and jelly when it’s done right but
that’s not the case here. There are some pretty fun race types but with an
uninteresting story and very little in terms of unlockable bonuses, we’re left
with very little to like. At least there’s Xbox Live and System Link support.
Multiplayer:
6.9
This is
certainly the case of a so-so single-player experience and a somewhat better
multiplayer one. For one thing, the poor opponent AI is replaced by gamers that
can respond 10 times better to somebody shooting directly at them and can make
better defensive decisions. There’s two-player action on a single Xbox and up to
four gangstas using System Link and Xbox Live.
Overall: 5.9
187 Ride or
Die lacks a
number of things that could have made this a worthwhile action game so all we’re
left with is a disappointing racing game with a gangster flavor. Aside from the
poor controls and the limited choices in racetracks, gamers will quickly get
tired of the game’s repetitiveness and lack of an interesting story. Rent this
one for its online and offline multiplayer otherwise steer clear of this one.
