Cars 2: The Video Game review

Formats: PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii, DS
Format reviewed: PS3
Publisher: Disney Interactive
Developer: Avalanche Software
Made2Game Cars 2: The Videogame review score: 7/10

There are two things I love in life: Pixar films and cars. You would therefore assume that combining the two would be an instant winning formula.

Not so with Pixar’s animated automotive extravaganza, at least with the critics. Released back in 2006, Cars is generally regarded as Pixar’s flat-out worst film thanks to its slow-moving plot and underdeveloped characters.

But that was until Cars 2, which has been completely derided as a cynical cash-in produced solely for Disney to sell a few more toys to prepubescent punies on the back of Cars’ highly successful merchandising line.

Then there was Mater, the bumbling, rusty redneck pickup who was unexpectedly propelled into a starring role. It’s hard not to liken Mater as Pixar’s version of Jar Jar Binks; a comic-relief character allotted an undeserved amount of screen time that is irritating, intellectually inept and decidedly unfunny at times.

For what it’s worth, I actually enjoyed Cars 2. While by no means a masterpiece or Pixar’s finest film, I loved the new characters, the variety of globe-trotting locations shined in Pixar’s most dazzling animation to date and the new espionage theme gave the film a surprisingly dark undertone in places. It’s just a shame that, like the original Cars film, it was a case of style over substance.

But I’m not here to critique the film. As with just about every Pixar film of the past, Cars 2 has been adapted into a video game to coincide with the film’s theatrical release – but as we all know, this often spells disaster, with fraught deadlines resulting in rushed games of questionable quality.

Fortunately, last year’s game adaptation of Toy Story 3 proved that developer Avalanche Software is more than capable of breaking the convention of lousy game movie tie-ins. Besides, Cars is practically tailored made for a video game: here you have talking animated cars that race on tracks and Cars 2’s spy plot even gave them weapons. Games Designers have it too easy these days.

Unlike Toy Story 3, Cars 2 steers away from the plot of the film and wisely focuses on the gameplay. Aside from a few throwaway cut scenes (the introductory cinematic is a clear homage film’s opening scene), references to the film are restricted to a loose premise in which the cast of cars embark on a series of races, starting with a few tutorial sessions hosted in the C.H.R.O.M.E. Training Academy by suave agent Finn McMissile, voiced by Michael Caine.

Once these are out of the way, you are presented with six main championships, each featuring a set of races spread across locations lifted from the film such as the Oil Rig, Tokyo, Monaco and London.

While the vibrant visuals closely replicate the locations seen in the film, a few suffer from bland design and some iffy texture resolutions, but for the most part the tracks are fun to roam around, particularly when you discover the numerous shortcuts. London is a particular highlight, as you dodge oncoming double deckers.

From the outset, it’s clear that Cars 2, both the film and the game, is aimed predominately at a younger audience. The presentation is coated in Pixar’s trademark charm and sparkle, with each of the various colourful characters brought to life with pleasing authenticity, although their repetitious one-lines can become irksome after a while.

There are many more characters to unlock too, as you start with the regulars such as Lightning McQueen, Mater and McMissile and unlock just about every friend and foe from the film in a collection of 35 playable vehicles.

As you would expect for a kid-friendly game, vehicle handling is slick, responsive and very easy to get to grips with, resulting in a satisfyingly light, arcade feel. Strangely, the driving is restricted to the external view however, which doesn’t help the game’s apparent lack of a sense of speed.

Despite the sugar-coated tone, there is still plenty of fun to be had if you’re over the age of five. It almost feels clichéd, but Cars 2 was clearly heavily inspired by a certain plump Italian plumber who likes to race in karts whilst hurling mushrooms at toads.

As such, the inventive control scheme is what distinguishes Cars 2 from the pack. A tap of the X button will cause the car to jump, while using the right analogue stick in mid-air will see your character perform all manner of tricks and twirls (do a barrel roll!).

Likewise, flicking the right analogue stick mid-race will slip your car into reverse, mount your car onto two wheels and shunt rival racers alongside you. Meanwhile, extended Outrun-style drifts can be instigated with ease by holding the circle button when turning. While I’m not so keen on the automated drifting, it certainly makes sense in a family-friendly game.

It’s not just for show either, as performing these antics will earn you boost. The boosting system works in the same vein as Disney’s last published racing game Split/Second, whereby you can either boost in segments or wait until you have filled the entire meter for a more powerful turbo boost. Continually tapping the accelerator while waiting for the race to start will also give you a quick turbo boost off the line - it all adds up to provide an additional layer of depth to an otherwise unashamedly simplistic racer.

Like Mario Kart, weapons can be picked up by driving through bonus icons, ranging from simple homing missiles and machine guns to more devastating attacks that will obliterate the opposing car in pole position.

The weapons are given a more potent role in Cars 2’s additional Survival stages, however. Survival challenges require you to keep the timer active by either shooting down lines of enemy cars or passing through checkpoints disguised as shield batteries. The action is also taken to Battle arenas, pitting you against five waves of enemies.

While the Survival stages are a nice diversion from the standard races, they feel too tacked on and appear all too frequently throughout the limited roster of events, and the Battle Arenas feel a tad over-long.

More jarring is the fact you can't change cars between events, which becomes a potential problem when switching between Race and Survival events – after all, you’re going to want a stronger car in Survival events as opposed to the weaker racing cars. You can quit and restart with a different car by going through the main menu again, but it would have been a lot more flexible to do this straight after each event.

Cars 2 starts off benignly, but as you progress through the championships it suffers from an unfortunate difficulty spike later on. It’s expected that a game will gradually become more challenging, but here the difficulty strikes out of nowhere and it suddenly becomes a chore to win races, which will most likely deter younger players.

This wouldn’t have been so much of an issue if there was an online multiplayer to fall back on, but Cars 2 does not feature such a luxury. Nada. Zilch.

You can fortunately still play split-screen which is great fun in its own right, but when was the last time you played a racing game devoid of online play this century? Even a bare-bones racing mode would have been adequate.

It’s understandable however, given that Disney wanted to avoid subjecting children to the dangerous internet imbeciles who use colourful language and underhand tactics to win races, but for the rest of us it’s an omission that diminishes Cars 2 from repeated plays. Unless you have friends in the real world, you’re left with just the single player championship which can be completed in a matter of hours if you’re adept at racing games.

Just like the films, Cars 2 is nowhere near as ambitious or memorable as Toy Story 3. A grating difficulty spike and lack of online multiplayer mars an otherwise fun and (mostly) accessible racer that young Disney fans and adults bred on Mario Kart marathons alike will enjoy.

Words: Martin Bigg



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