Wreckless updated preview

Now that the Xbox has launched and gamers are dutifully playing through the dearth of software released just in time for the holidays, it's time to start looking at what comes next. While the Xbox's launch software did a fine job of showing off the system's potential as a whole, the follow-up from first- and third-party developers will hopefully begin to realize that potential. Activision and freshman developer Bunkasha Games' upcoming effort, Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions, is shaping up to do just that. A mission-based racer, the game combines arcade-style gameplay with a healthy dose of Xbox variety eye candy and is looking to be quite promising.

Wreckless was first shown at this year's Tokyo Game Show under the name Double S.T.E.A.L. and garnered attention for its sharp visuals. The game's story follows two sets of characters on their misadventures with the fearsome Japanese mafia known as the Yakuza. You'll be able to play as either two female Hong Kong police officers whose ice cream break is interrupted by a Yakuza operation or two not-so-competent spies whose assignments find them disrupting Yakuza operations. The game's story features a light and breezy tone that at times borders on anime-style wackiness. Fortunately, the tongue-in-cheek mood serves as a good setup for the simple missions. For example, an early mission with the police officers finds you tearing through the city streets and buildings in a mad rush to destroy more dim sum carts before your CPU rival does.

The game's main mode is mission. In addition, you'll find a challenge mode that will have you racing through open missions before time runs out. You'll also find a replay mode that lets you view your saved replays. Gameplay in story mode is of the simple, arcade-style variety. Regardless of which characters you've chosen, the game plays out the same way. You'll select from an available assortment of cars, and it's possible to unlock more and then pick a mission. A short text briefing will give you a summary of the mission. Once you select a car, you'll be treated to a short real-time cinema that provides a bit more setup, and then you're off. The first few missions for both sets of characters are a bit repetitive, revolving around your destruction of Yakuza cars by ramming them. Fortunately, later missions become more interesting and offer a bit more depth. For example, one mission will require you to collect and deposit assorted items at set points in the city, while another particularly challenging mission finds you racing to set points along a dock so that you can take incriminating photos of a Yakuza boss mingling with government officials on a boat that's slowly cruising around the area. You'll also be able to unlock a few hidden missions in addition to the main missions.

In keeping with the game's premise and gameplay, Bunkasha has made the control in Wreckless very user-friendly. You'll steer with the left analog stick, accelerate with the right trigger, and brake with the left. If you find yourself stuck in an alley or heading in the wrong direction, you can use the B button to reverse. The D-pad will let you toggle between first- and third-person car views. Finally, the white face button lets you right yourself if your car ends up on its back. While you'll be able to tweak the control setup in the options menu, odds are you won't bother, given the intuitive nature of the default settings.

Graphically, Wreckless is shaping up to be a visual treat, thanks to a slick look that digs deep into the Xbox's store of eye candy. Areas in the game are massive, possibly some of the largest we've seen in a game yet. It's possible to actually get on the freeway and head over to new areas if you want--without dealing with a loading screen. The lack of loads is impressive when you consider the detail found in the game. You'll find pedestrians racing out of your way, and depending on where you end up, you may find a few people running away or groups of dismayed individuals heading for the hills. For example, normal streets will have a fairly regular population of folk, while a shortcut through a shopping mall may present you with quite a few more. You can expect to find a variety of shortcuts and other surprises, like extra cars--peppered throughout all of the massive stages--that you can unlock. Shortcuts through buildings will also showcase the game's insane use of particle effects--shattering through storefront windows into a shopping mall will kick up a small dust storm of glass and colored lighting, both thrown in for effect when you destroy objects. In addition, you should find a "who's who" of Xbox special effects, such as light sourcing, pixel shading, bump mapping, and environment mapping. Backgrounds aside the main game models, for your selected characters and vehicles, are made up of a generous number of polygons and sport as much detail as the environments. You'll see a heat haze kick up behind the "funny bug" vehicle and following explosions, and you'll be able to make out badge detail on the police officers. At the moment, the eye candy comes with a slight cost--the frame rate in our build of the game fluctuated in the 30fps range. Bunkasha has stated its intention to lock the frame rate at 30fps to ensure a smooth playing experience for gamers.

Our time with the game was involving enough to have us looking forward to its release. If the game layout sounds a bit like the one in Super Runabout for the Dreamcast, then you probably won't be surprised to hear that many of Bunkasha's staff came from the Super Runabout Team. Fortunately, Wreckless is benefiting from the ex-SR team's experience. Wreckless is turning out to be much more polished than Super Runabout. Gamers should keep an eye out for it when it ships next month.