Top Gear Dare Devil Hands-On

After the less-than-stellar E3 showing of Papaya's Top Gear Dare Devil this past May, many wondered what, if anything, would become of the game. The game suffered from debilitating frame rate problems, and most of the people that took the time to play Top Gear Dare Devil came away with an acute case of motion sickness. It's now four months later, and we've received an alpha version of the game. While Papaya seems to have improved the game in some areas, there are still many changes that need to be implemented.

In Top Gear Dare Devil, you play as a member of the Dare Devil Driving Club. As such, you are given missions to accomplish in order to keep your membership in good standing. These missions normally include driving about one of the game's four cities while collecting coins and power-ups. If you manage to collect a set number of coins in each stage, you are awarded stage points that open new tracks, cars, and bonus rounds. There are five different racing areas available, including Rome, Tokyo, London, and two separate San Francisco tracks.

While the nature of Top Gear Dare Devil allows you to drive wherever you wish, to succeed at the game you must follow your route carefully to ensure that you pick up enough coins before time expires. Most of the objects in the cities are fully interactive. You may drive through bus stops, shattering the glass, or plow through a sidewalk café, sending chairs and tables into the air. The cities are heavily populated with 75 different types of vehicles, and - as if this weren't enough to overcome - rival gangs and police officers are out to stop your antics as well.

The gameplay can be extremely slow moving and contrived. While driving at about 30 mph, you must swerve in and out of oncoming vehicles, attempting to collect the coins. This coin collecting frenzy grows tiresome rather quickly, so hopefully Papaya has some other modes in mind for the finished product besides the main mode and the multiplayer mode. Perhaps it's Papaya's intent to include more cars in the streets to to bump up the intensity a notch, but considering the developer's efforts to improve the frame rate, the opposite may hold true.

Top Gear Dare Devil isn't exactly looking sharp. While the car models are fairly detailed, most of the building textures are muddy and bland. There are also some blurring problems, as the license plate on the back of your car can be difficult to read at times. Speaking of the cars, there are 12 different ones to choose from, including anything from a Fiat 500 to a Plymouth Prowler. While each car handles a bit differently, the game moves at such a slow pace that the attributes of each one rarely factor into the gameplay.

Top Gear Dare Devil isn't due for release until November, so Papaya has plenty of time to get this game into spanking good shape. Look for more on Top Gear Dare Devil as its release date nears.