Developer: Point of View Publisher: Midway Release: 03/12/02 Genre: Action
Spy Hunter is a game everyone remembers for its cool theme rather than its gameplay. After a few minutes you have seen almost everything it has to offer and unless you like chasing high scores it is boring. But while the game itself was nothing special the concept of a cool car outfitted with numerous weapons going on espionage missions right out of James Bond will forever remain cool. Spy Hunter revives the series in style, creating one of the best Bond games without using the license.
An international organization known as Nostra plans to plunge the world in to chaos and to rule over the ashes. Their plan is two-fold. First they will unleash the Four Horsemen, four satellites that will drain the world of all electricity. Then they will make the world’s rulers dependent on their resources to survive. The FBI forms a new division called Spy Hunter and trains agent Alec Sects to disrupt Nostra’s operations around the globe using the new G-6155 Interceptor.
The Interceptor was the coolest car in the world and remains so now. Thanks to the game’s high framerate the controls are buttery smooth and feel great. You can turn on a dime, power slide, and turbo boost easily and considering the game’s mission structure I am glad they nailed this aspect. The different vehicles return but are all incorporated in to the interceptor itself. Hop in to any body of water and the car shifts into a speedboat in real time immediately. When your health falls below 50% the body falls away as you change into a high speed motorcycle. The cycle still retains every prior function except the speed boost and is a paper weight. While it looks cool you don’t want this to happen.
Spy Hunter was memorable in the arcade as your car was outfitted with a variety of slick weapons. Aside from front mounted cannons you had oil slicks and smokescreens to disrupt rival cars. The new Spy Hunter gives you plenty of new toys to play with. You begin with missiles that upgrade to heat seekers and eventually swarm missiles. The oil and smokescreen are joined by a flamethrower to easily kill anyone in your wake. The rail gun is your last upgrade and eats ammo but has massive destructive power as a result. Not everything is a weapon. The EMP disables enemy vehicles but its main use is to disable bombs and other electronics as part of the game’s many mission objectives.
Spy Hunter takes a cue from Goldeneye as each mission has a primary goal as well as many secondary objectives. These range from destroying all of the control towers, escorting civilian vehicles, to escaping an enemy warehouse within a time limit. The secondary objectives are just as varied like destroying a set number of enemy transport trucks or stopping missiles from launching. The objectives grant points and you need a certain amount to unlock the next mission. The versatility of this system means you can avoid the harder objectives like collecting all of the Satcoms in a level and nab easy points to progress. But eventually you will reach a point where you will have to replay prior levels to progress with this approach. Honestly even if some of the goals are annoying I found it fun to try to complete everything in a single run.
I like the mission structure of Spy Hunter and feel the game has a strong start. The game is rife with awesome set piece moments as you barrel through city streets, leaving tables and debris in your wake or race around cruise ships as harrier jets drop missiles in your path. But it loses steam in its second half and you will notice the repetition. Despite there being fourteen missions there are only seven environments. The late game sees you revisiting many prior locations, sometimes in reverse or with minor alterations. The game game is a little on the short side and the multiplayer does not add much to its longevity. With more missions and less repetition in its stages Spy Hunter would have been stellar.
In Closing
Spy Hunter is a fantastic update of the classic arcade game and one that I enjoyed thoroughly. I did not know what to expect with this one but it surprised me. The production values are solid and despite its brevity there are some cool unlockables to play around with like night vision mode, concept art and behind the scenes videos. It is no substitute for more content but does give a little more longevity. Despite my few misgivings I think this is more than worth your time for a few days of fun.
