Starsky & Hutch

Starsky & Hutch Description

There definitely seems to be a trend these days for retro TV spin-offs. Well, within video games anyway. It's probably down to the fact that 70's and 80's TV featured an abundance of action-packed car chases and action-packed car chases are what everyone wants to be playing lately. Which brings us to this release from Empire, Starsky & Hutch - a driving/shooting type game that pays close attention to faithfully recreating the style of the TV show. Opting for the mission-based, Driver-style approach, the game places you at the wheel of the famous Ford Gran Torino, recreates 15 square miles of Bay City and presents you with 18 episodes (levels) spread over three series. Each episode, as you may expect, features its own crime-fighting mission and generally involves careering through busy streets (yes, cardboard boxes aplenty) chasing baddies, and shooting everything in sight. For example, mission two sees you in pursuit of a bank robbery getaway van, complete with kicked-open back doors and two gun-toting adversaries. Accentuating the game's TV-style concept is the inclusion of what's known as the VR. This stands for Viewer Rating and basically means that you've got to keep the action coming and the thrill level high. Casually rolling around Bay City will lead the VR meter to decrease, so your best bet is to reproduce the over-the-top driving of the cult duo, performing corner slides and ploughing through everything that gets in the way. As the daring duo always worked best as a team, it's fitting that the game should feature a two-player option, which enables one player to take care of the driving, whilst the other concentrates on the shooting. The more solitary gamers amongst you will be pleased to hear that throughout the game there's an AI Starsky who pops up during the action to give you advice and generally hurl abuse at the crims. With a host of vehicles, weapons and extras to unlock, as well as cool features such as the voice of Antonio Fargas (the super funky Huggy Bear), Starsky & Hutch is the ideal way to rekindle those fading childhood memories of sliding over bonnets, screaming through alleyways and punching up dope fiends. Well, anything's better than watching the re-runs on Channel 5.

• Fast and furious shooting and driving action
  
• 19 episodes that recreate the 1970s TV series Starsky and Hutch. Split into three series of six episodes, with one TV special to complete the game
  
• Unique gameplay requiring the player to constantly keep their viewer rating positive so that episodes can be completed and new series commissioned
  
• A full AI-driven traffic system with hundreds of cars, all of which obey the laws of the road (except for the felons that Starsky and Hutch chase on a regular basis!)
  
• Single player and two player co-operative play (where driving and shooting are performed separately
  
• Integrated story trajectory and narrative created by Matt Costello, the scriptwriter of 'Seventh Guest'
  
• Striking 2d stylised cut scenes introducing and concluding each episode narrated by Antonio Fargas - 'Huggy Bear' from the original TV series
  
• Full utilisation of the Renderware 3.3 engine including anti-aliasing, complex particles, skinning and motion blending
  
• Full environment mapping on all cars
  
• Animated trees and trash