Full Review: Still no Smokey and the Bandit.
Smuggler's Run was the sleeper hit that helped to validate the Playstation 2's launch. The game featured innovative free-roaming gameplay, vast landscapes to explore, and was full of fast paced action. Last year brought us the sequel, Hostile Territory, which gave us a little bit more of everything that we found in the original. Warzones, the third release in the Smuggler's Run series, is the first Rockstar Games foray onto Nintendo's GameCube and, unfortunately, is almost a direct port of Hostile Territory.
On the upside, Warzones improves upon every facet of Hostile Territory. Everything from the controls to the video is refined just a little bit more than it was and fits together to make a sharper picture. Angel Studios seems to have taken the time to actually play their PS2 release and tweak the areas that needed it. They removed a few unnecessary features (the transmission selection) and added a few other subtle ones (the hints that pace your wait through load times) to help polish the title and give it a fresh look. While the single-player missions in SR: Warzones are identical to those on the PS2 release, a few additional features and multiplayer modes do make Warzones the superior of the two titles.
For those of you that aren't familiar with the series, Smuggler's Run: Warzones puts you into the role of an international smuggler that is cutting his teeth for Exotic Imports. The game's story unfolds through several FMV cutscenes that feel like they are taken straight from a "B" action movie. Throughout the game, you take the wheel of eight different ORVs. Each vehicle handles differently and it takes a little bit of practice to get accustomed to each different vehicle. The game's missions are balanced between simple pickup and delivery, search and destroy, team capture the flag, and the occasional game of follow the leader. Levels would be easy if you were the only one on the hills, but the military and rival smuggling factions are out to make sure that the road to success is turbulent. Honestly, the story is hardly important as the game is driven off of its features and goodies.
Most of the extra goodies that are here to be found are unlocked by playing through all 36 of the single player missions and four training missions. By completing all of these levels, you unlock four new secondary countermeasures that range from a tire melting acid drop to a well-rendered cloaking device. Additionally, if you can rake up a "great" rating in all of the single-player missions, you unlock a kick-ass hoverbike that just flys across the landscape. The countermeasures and extra vehicle really help to spice up the multiplayer experience, which is where Smuggler's Run: Warzones really excels.
The multiplayer feature that Warzones has on Hostile Territory is that it takes advantage of the four GameCube controller ports. The four player action gets fast and furious as you go tearing across the landscape while cursing at three of your nearest and dearest. To help keep that game-a-thon from getting stale, Angel Studios has included two brand new multiplayer modes; Domination and Fox and the Hounds. Domination is a variation on king-of-the hill while Fox and the Hounds is like playing keep away with a half-dozen cars. Theses two modes help to fill the gaps of when Crooks n' Smugglers, Loot Grab, and Bomb Tag just don't strike your fancy.
