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Interstate '76 Preview

Steve Smith takes Activision's automotive battle sim for a test drive

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Just as we were ready to gag on the 70s revival of open-front shirts, beach ball afros, and 8-track flashbacks, Activision comes up with a good excuse for vapid nostalgia. As its much-anticipated Interstate '76 gets ready for launch, this behind-the-wheel battle sim is shaping up to be an enticing period piece that will keep action fans happy for quite a while.

You are Groove Champion, dusty-haired paragon of the natural look and auto-vigilante, bringing justice to the American southwest in an alternate 1970s. While it still is the age of OPEC price hikes and long gas lines, this fuel shortage is bedeviled by terrorist Antonio Malochio, who is after the nation's largest oil reserve. Groove, compelled to action by Malochio's murder of his sister, Jade, joins up with her wingman and tutor, Taurus, to defend the precious fuel and seek revenge.

As polished as the back story may be, the gameplay is designed with sim freaks in mind. You may choose between taking the full "Trip," 17 missions of interwoven story and scenario action, or "Melee," which allows for customized battle scenarios against the game's own AI or live opponents. The network, modem, and Internet options were not fully implemented in the alpha version I played, but I can attest to the computer opponents' dogged pursuit of my sorry ass in every setting. When following the Trip missions, your basic muscle car will sport 30 caliber machine guns, rocket launchers, and the ability to drop oil slicks. As you accomplish the various tasks, usually intercepting terrorist cars or blowing up targets, salvage is done by your idiot-savant mechanic, Skeeter. Three custom upgrades of your car's engine, brakes, suspension, and wheels are offered in due course. There will be six machine gun upgrades available, as well as 25-plus other weapons, including radar-guided missiles, flamethrowers, napalm hoses, cluster bombs, land mines, smoke screens, and even nitrous oxide.

The game engine itself is polygon-based 3-D with texture-mapped terrain that is fully interactive. I was able to drive freely throughout the landscape, off-road, careen over riverbeds, and slide sideways across embankments. While the graphics and frame rates were not optimized in this build, the basic behind-the-wheel feel was convincing. I was impressed especially with the immersive sound effects for spin-outs, terrain changes, and landing impacts. Basic driving and shooting controls are kept quite simple; acceleration, braking, and steering are done from the joystick, the num keys, or a gamepad. Targeting, calling up the map, changing radar range, cockpit zoom, external cameras, and many other interface options are on the keyboard. You can view the action from outside your vehicle or from the driver's seat, with a heads-up display of radar, speed, weapons, compass, chassis status, and rearview mirror. Groove also can turn and shoot hand weapons out the side windows. And throughout the action, Taurus barks directions and recites poetry to you over the CB.

Unlike slow-turning Mechs, these opponents require driving acumen and hand-brake turns to keep them in sight. The gameplay can get quite hectic as multiple enemies spin in and out of your gun sights during the initial melees. Radar and rearview mirror are the vital tools for the early part of many missions, while the back end often calls for high-speed chases to hunt down escaping terrorists. It looks like Activision's principle challenge will be keeping the frame rates up during the close combat sequences.

All of this varied action takes place in a wonderfully-rendered milieu of circa '76 soundtrack and graphic stylings. The thwaacka-thwaacka of funkadelic guitars laid upon overpowered brass and flute sections will conjure up all of those almost forgotten musical groups and TV show intros. Think Starsky and Hutch, Kojak, Ohio Players, or Baretta. The cutscenes (which retain the polygonal style of the sim action) even appropriate the directorial styles of the period with low angle shots and clumsy montages. The dialogue, like the graphics, is pitch perfect in capturing the melodramatic cool of blow-dried machismo. It can't be easy for Groove to remain dangerously vengeful in a tailored rayon shirt, tight bell-bottoms, and platform heels, and I speak from personal experience. My only worry is that the probable success of Interstate '76 will only prolong the agony of 70s nostalgia: I'll listen to Sly and the Family Stone one more time, for sure, and even KC and the Sunshine Band if I have to. But there's no way I'm getting into that leisure suit again.

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