When the
original Pursuit Force was released on the PSP a long while ago, it was
considered a fresh take on the Hollywood blockbuster-inspired action genre and
praised for its cool action sequences. I mean, who wouldn’t like to drive a fast
police car and take the bad guys down by jumping off your sleek squad car and
landing on the hood of a criminal’s moving vehicle to lay some justice? The
Pursuit Force squad is back in action in Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice –
a sequel that brings more of the same as well as some added extras.
Much like the
first game, Extreme Justice takes its cue from Hollywood action flicks …
the kind that tends to end up out of the big screen and on to a small screen.
The game’s main mode contains a story that pushes the action from start to
finish. In the beginning of the game, the hunky rookie from the first game is
now a respected Commander of the Pursuit Force squad and is about to get married
with a fellow squad member when the wedding is interrupted by a gang of wild
hillbillies. Oh yeah, the chase is on but in the middle of the high-speed
pursuit another police squad takes the credit. Who are these officers called
Viper Squad and why do they want to shut down the Pursuit Force program?
Wild and wacky
villains make their return so you will be chasing down five unusual street gangs
such as the Syndicate (that come straight out of the UK) as well as the Raiders
(a band of modern pirates that sound like they belong in a different era). This
is half the fun of the original game, being able to take on a slew of crazy
gangs and it’s what makes Extreme Justice a blast. Thankfully, Capitol
City has no shortage of gangs and you’ll battle your share of them in a variety
of different environment types that range from the highways to the bayou.
The novelty of
the series has always been your character’s ability to jump out of your vehicle
if it took too much damage during the course of a high-speed pursuit and “jack”
an enemy vehicle that’s in motion. This is still a nice touch seeing as this
time around there are 12 vehicle types. You can literally start off with a car
and end up completing a mission straddling a motorcycle. Boats are back but this
time you can also jump into a jet ski or hovercraft. Time it just right and you
can even take control of an enemy helicopter that was dumb enough to fly too
low.
Little has
changed in terms of the controls and that’s both a blessing and a curse. Sure,
you can shoot enemies with shotguns, pistols and submachine guns as you drive
but the on-foot missions are still awkward affairs that don’t satisfy as well as
it should. In fact, the weakest part of the game is when you’re not behind the
wheel of some vehicle or manning a chain gun while your fiancée pilots her
helicopter. At least the mission scenarios are great and there’s a wealth of
variety to them. In one mission, you’re attempting to drive a military truck to
its destination as Raiders attempt to take it from you. You’ll be trying to
shake off smugglers that manage to jump on the truck while fighting off other
gang members on bikes. In another, you’re attempting to save a civilian taken
hostage as well as capture bank robbers as they attempt a daring getaway.
While the game’s
Story mode really outdoes itself with the number of missions, there’s always
Challenges and Bounty Mode to keep you busy. Challenges offers up a number of
objective-based challenges you must complete in order to successfully complete a
challenge. Bounty Mode allows you to replay past Story mode missions only this
time you’re given a reward or bounty for completing a mission scenario. The
rewards you earn in these modes allow you to purchase cheats and other extras in
the Shop menu and believe me when I say that these extras are worth the trouble.
There’s also a multiplayer mode fit for up to four-players via an Ad Hoc
connection only – at the time of this writing – we weren’t able to experience.
The game’s multiplayer mode has four game mode types such as Rampage, Ram Jam,
Survivor and Cops ‘n’ Robbers.
The trouble with
this game is that what was fresh and original the first time around simply feels
like a rehash of all the things we’ve seen and done with the first Pursuit
Force. Yes, the newly added weapons and vehicles are a nice touch and the
game mode types are refreshing but it still delivers the same action and flaws
from the first game. As a gamer who loved the original, having new bad guys to
fight and more missions is a major plus but for those looking for something
completely new to add to the action will not find it here.
At least the
game’s visuals are still nice to look at seeing as very little has changed from
the first game. The environments look good and everything from the highways to
the swampy waters look especially good. I even like the character models and the
cartoon-quality cut scenes. There’s a good voice cast that, like the game’s
music, is simply over-the-top and appropriately cheesy like a straight-to-DVD
action movie. The sound effects are also good.
Pursuit
Force: Extreme Justice
for the PSP is a solid action game with all the works but it
still has a long way to go if it wants to remain a fresh action series worthy of
the original. The addictive bite-sized driving missions are still an addictive
joy but the on-foot action remains to be the game biggest weak spot. If you
loved the first game, you will like this fun sequel.
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Gameplay: 7.5
Those familiar
with the first Pursuit Force will find more of the same fast-paced action
only this time there are more weapons, vehicle types and more environments.
There are even more missions and Challenge mode adds more variety of the game.
Graphics: 8.0
Graphically,
Extreme Justice looks really good with some sharp visuals and nicely
detailed environments. The character models, especially the main character,
looks good jumping from vehicle to vehicle and watching enemy vehicles explode
is fun.
Sound: 7.5
As far as the
soundtrack is concerned, it’s all heavy guitar riffs that bring to mind those
made-for-cable action films and the voice acting delivers a similar feel. The
sound effects do a good job of emphasizing the gunfire and explosions and come
through nicely on the PSP speakers.
Difficulty:
Medium
The first few
missions are a breeze but you will quickly find yourself pleasantly challenged
by missions that require you to complete the objectives at a certain timeframe.
Some missions even have you trying to ram vehicles off the road to rescue a
civilian.
Concept: 7.5
The vehicular
action is still top-notch and this game feels more like an over-the-top action
flick with plenty of gunfire, explosions and crazy villains. It’s still a blast
jumping out your car and landing on a bad guy’s windshield and the number of
environments adds to the gameplay variety. There’s also multiplayer mode for up
to four-players.
Multiplayer:
N/A
The lack of
online play kept me from experiencing the game’s multiplayer mode that’s played
using an Ad Hoc connection. The multiplayer allows up to four players to take
each another on in a variety of game match types such as Rampage or the
competitive Cops ‘n’ Robbers.
Overall: 7.5
Extreme
Justice is a
worthy sequel to the first Pursuit Force but it’s far from a perfect game
despite a few new additions and improvements. Still, its fast pace and
action-packed missions will keep you more than busy from start to finish.
