Review NaN of 14
Price Paid:
$5.00
from (Rented) from Blockbuster Summary:
I recently picked up the third installment of the Crazy Taxi Series at the local video store and since been sitting at the television for hours. I have never had the opportunity to play the previous 2 editions of the game, so this review will be based on that; my first experience with the series. It is highly likely that my review will enforce ideas and concepts that can be found in all of the prior versions, but at this time I do not have ample knowledge of that. With that stated, my take on Crazy Taxi goes a little something like this:
When I went in to the video store I had envisioned a plethora of titles to choose from, but after accounting for the day and time, I felt my odds at approaching that scenario were less than likely. At 10pm on Friday night I was left with a scarce listing of available titles. My mouth was watering at some of the missing games, but there was nothing I could do about it. In a mild state of disgust, I grabbed Crazy Taxi 3 - high Roller and proceeded to the counter. Shortly after returning to my apartment, I slipped the disc into the Xbox, and prepared to waste the rest of the night playing.
After a few drab screens, promoting the developers and such, I found myself face to face with the main menu. It was far less than average, but a menu is a menu. As long as it is navigate-able then I am satisfied. While the menu found in CT3 is just that, it does not offer a clear picture for the task at hand. Here is where my first problem with the game arose, what exactly is the task at hand? Either way, I was intrigued at the games objective and decided to allow the game to develop the objective in time. Open mindedness is something that you must possess if you are to enjoy this game, even remotely. Progressing my thought further, I picked up the booklet for assistance. The book was of help, but I must admit that the booklet included with the game is poor. It is filled with enough fluff to drive a man/woman insane. In any event, the menu options are situated deeper into the book than the game controls. Again this is a petty gripe, but a gripe that gets included in a rather lengthy list.
My search for the game modes ended on Page 10 and did provide me with a vague one sentence statement regarding each of the menu options. My booklet search led me to this broad conclusion:
CT3 is broken into sections, levels if you will. West Coast, Glitter Oasis, and Small Apple. On top of those levels, High Roller provides you with the option of using mini games to increase your skill for the 3 main modes, listed in the previous sentence. There are more mini games than you can shake a stick at, but that is not necessarily a good thing, to me anyway (I'll explain later). Also included in the menu: Reply, Options, and Records. Each of these sections are self explanatory, especially if you have played various alternate video games.
My first exploration led me to investigate the 3 main modes. After selecting one of the three, you have the option of playing by 4 possible rules. You are given the option of choosing to play by normal rules, work for 3 minutes, work for 5 minutes, or working for 10 minutes. Note that at this point I was still unaware of the objective, so I wasn't quite sure what the difference was. Again I used the booklet. Here I was instructed that by playing with Normal Rules you can be rewarded a time bonus, based on how fast you reach your destinations. The other modes do not include time based bonuses.
After deciding which 'Rule Mode' to use, I was directed to choose a taxi cab driver for the completion of my objective. There are several cabbies to choose from, although they are not all available at all times. It turns out that each map/level/mode has its own choice of cabbies. In addition, I found no cabbie to be better or worse than another. Neither of the characters have their own skill level or unique set of attributes, but instead your choice of a cabbie will be based solely on appearance. Each cabbie has their own vocal sound and word choice, but aside from that aspect the characters get no deeper. On the other hand, the booklet provides an ample description for each character. These descriptions are not informative, but rather a simple gimmick to try and lure readers into doing just that, reading it. In fact, there are 12 cabbies in all to choose from. They are all distinct visually, but the lack of any depth in the character involvement is shallow.
Shortly after selecting my character I found out the premise to the game, with help from the booklet. Here is the vital excerpt:
"When the game time expires, the Result Screen will be displayed. If you earn a license above Class (S), the ending sequence will play."
So, the premise is: Deliver customers as a taxi cab driver would do, except do it any way possible. Drive on the wrong side of the street, or use one of the maneuvers that your cab has been equipped with (Explained Later). As you deliver customers they pay a fare, based on the distance of the trip and any additional bonuses (tips) that you 'earn' along the way. If you deliver the customers in time and to the correct location then you are rewarded that fair. However, in some instances you are required to deliver multiple customers before the reward is available. For example, one journey may involve transporting 4 Karate Masters to various points around the map. You will have to drop one Master off at one location, one at another, and so on. There will be no time that both customers exit at the same location consecutively. You may have to return to a destination at some point, but at no point will 2 customers exit the cab at any one drop off. IF you successfully drop off your customers then you have access to the reward (fare). If you fail to drop the 4 Karate Masters in time then you lose the entire fare, whether you have dropped off zero to three of them. It is all or nothing in this game.
The results screen (at the end of the time limit) will list how many customers you had dropped off and how much total fare you had earned. Based on that information you are given a Class and Ranking (Ranking on in Normal Rules Mode). Like stated about, if your Class is above the (S) Class then you have accomplished the objective of that particular map.
Repeat that sequence on the 2 remaining maps/levels/modes and you will have beaten the game. Of course, you can always tweak the difficulty settings and play again, but by that time I am not sure you will want to.
On your quest to deliver the appropriate amount of customers and fare, CT3 has been built with special maneuvers and combos; combos being a string of maneuvers. They include: A forward burst of speed, a backward burst of speed, sudden stopping, super speed burst, a hopping function, hopping with a speed burst, jump stopdrifting, quick turning, drift hopping, and back drifting. Most of these moves are crucial to completing the level with an adequate rating, however, I would not be surprised to see a player complete the level goal by using nothing more than the accelerator and brake.
As far as your customers go, the booklet describes a few of them. From ballplayers to the marching band to an orchestra, you will find yourself delivering them all, if you choose to. Crazy Taxi 3 is basically a large map with various customers placed throughout it. You can choose any of the customers to deliver, the game does NOT determine who you must load and unload. Each customer has an $ symbol hovering about their heads, as well as a colored ring and a number. The number indicates how many customers are in the group and the color represents the distance to the destination. The color also provides you with one other piece of information; the size of stop zone. The stop zone is the area that will receive the customer, of course the smaller areas are more difficult to stop on.
In any event, the book offers a brief description of possible customers, but it is rather pointless. Once again Sega has chosen to add a few more pages of fluff for you to consume.
Aside from the actual game, Crazy Taxi 3 has a rather large amount of mini games. The mini games, I think, were designed to sharpen your special maneuvering skills. As I noticed from playing, the special moves can be tricky at times. If you are not a fan of silly mini games, then I would recommend avoiding the game as a whole. If you do find yourself excited by the idea of having an overwhelming amount of mini games then feast your eyes on this list:
Crazy Jump, Crazy Home-Run, Crazy Ball, Crazy Tornado, Crazy Balloons, Crazy Football, Crazy Ufos, Crazy Ring, Crazy Poles, Crazy Ramps, Crazy Logs, and Crazy Plates.
That is the list of mini games that CT3 has to offer. I think that I will avoid any descriptions and leave the titles to describe the events. If you clear consecutive mini-games then you will unlock a new game, but I will be honest and state that each of the mini games that I experimented with was very uneventful. A few of the games were challenging and addicting, but I didn't find any of them even remotely satisfying. After all that, I still find myself as a fan of mini games, but only if they are used sparingly.
So far I have included a significant portion of the game, but I have left out a few tidbits. Not one thing that I have left out would be a characteristic to push or pull you from teetering on a decision to buy this game. The features that I have failed to include are extremely typical to this genre, but for completeness here is a small list (some may or may not be mentioned above):
1- CTA records personal best scores, however, I haven't been able to find a way to enter a profile to allow for multiple users, I guess it doesn't include one. ;)
2- Instant Replay. Who sits around and watches themselves drive through crowded streets? Some people must or else it wouldn't be included in the final build, or would it?
3- Did I mention the mini games? Oh yea, I did. My final thought on this section of the game, who cares?
Now that you have a feel for what the game offers, in terms of options, features, and missions, it's time to discuss the most important aspect: Gameplay. The controls for CT3 are very straight forward: Accelerator, Brake, Hop, Gear Up, Gear Down, and Steering. Mixing up a few of buttons will result in a special maneuver, but without getting back into that subject, I have only listed the basic button scheme.
The gameplay is extremely average. Being the impatient gamer that I am, I jumped right into the games main mode after I got enough enthusiasm to play this last-resort rental. Shortly into my session I notice my cab floating on a cushion of air one minute and having no wheels the next. If that seems confusing try this, for the most part your cab is easily controlled and can hop with mild precision, but at times your cab will become stuck or jammed in a corner. To dislodge your car you must place your car in reverse, back it up, and gear back to drive. It sounds innocent and normal of these type games, but working against the clock doesn't leave room for several extra button presses.
The steering in the game is responsive, yet I still found myself over steering due to the cushion of air underneath my vehicle. On top of that, a few of the special maneuvers are difficult to accomplish. On several occasions you are required to haul ass, but if you are unable to hit the correct button combo you will hardly ever reach the speed it takes to deliver the customer on time. As if it couldn't get worse, the game has a built in direction system that leaves much to be desired.
The in game direction system places an arrow near the top of your gaming screen. The arrow is intended to direct you towards your delivery destination, however, it is flawed. Many times I was off in la la land, when I should have taken an alternate path. I thought maybe I needed to give the system some time and get used to it, but after several hours of play I still find myself missing destinations based solely on the arrow and its lack of direction. Also note, the arrow does lead you to the correct location most of the time, but like i stated above, when you are on the clock, so to speak, you have no room for error, especially an error that will lead you off base by several seconds.
Since I had found so many negative issues with CT3, I began keying on any positives that I could find. To my dismay, I found no needles in the CT3 haystack. The gameplay is in one word: basic. It is not terribly bad, but poor enough to merit a 'low' score. You will not find any gameplay enhancements or tactics that will revolutionize the genre, but instead what you will find is a gameplay that is a dime a dozen.
At least High Roller was visually impressive, right? Actually I wasn't impressed or offended by the graphical nature of the game. The game hardly pushes the Xbox to its limits, yet at times you will encounter frame rate slowdown. You will experience far more slow down if you bump the traffic setting up a few notches, but it doesn't seem to be slow enough to hinder the overall gameplay.
The models are nice, the cabbies have a colorful design, and the animations are adequate. Of course the game doesn't bring anything groundbreaking to the graphical front, but they are packaged together well enough spunk to fit in with most of games in the Xbox line-up. If I had to again use one word I would pick: Ordinary.
Before I sum up the sound please be aware that Crazy Taxi 3 does not offer the ability to incorporate your own soundtrack. I wouldn't care if it did. That feature is plain silly, but that is a whole other issue. With that imprinted in your brain, High Roller has an average set of sounds. Average sound for an average game, no more no less. The sound effects are apparent, the voices are tacky, and the environment is cliché. Besides I hardly ever allow the sound of a game influence my overall perception, unless the sound has an impact on the gameplay (IE Sports games for example).
Now that the technical issues are dealt with, I will address the most important aspect: Fun Factor. With all of the negations listed above one may be inclined to think that this is one poor purchase. While I would agree with your assumption, I would recommend a rental. The game is short and frustratingly fun. Of course a perfect run is not essential in beating the game, a darn good run is. In order for that to happen, you WILL find yourself trying time and time again. With persistence and patience you will get over the hump and begin watching the ending cinematics (one for each main mode). The enormous amount of mini games will not keep much or your attention, but you'll experiment, guaranteed. From that you will exit with an empty feeling. The mini games are simply not much fun. On the contrary, the games main modes will shift the mini game hollowness aside and provide a few hours of quick stopping, obscenity screaming, controlling throwing fun. The fun factor alone revives an already beaten-to-death horse into one that is limping, but indeed alive.
In conclusion, CT3 isn't going to throw any new stones at you, but instead does an adequate job at regurgitating once used tips and tactics. The game relies on the fact that you are quite fond of mini games and doesn't leave a great taste in your mouth if you do not. This game will be hit or miss in your book. I would highly recommend a rental first. Chances are that you will beat it in the 5 day time span of a blockbuster rental. The game is playable and frustratingly addictive, but gets worn out quickly. Approach this with caution.
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