Quite an interesting idea for a game, but it could have been a lot better with a few improvements.
Some of the most noteable aspects of this game come from the gameplay department. Although this game can be ridiculously hard at times, many of the levels have really mesmerizing stunts. After many of the stunts that I accomplished, I found myself saying, "How the heck did I ever do that?" It was gratifying once you beat the levels, because most of the levels were very challenging.
Also in the area of gameplay, I thought the stunt mayhem mode was actually pretty fun, although it got old after a while. Once I beat the game and unlocked all of the vehicles, it added some replay value to the game because it was entertaining to experiment with each of the vehicles, which ranged from snowmobiles, to tanks, to monster trucks, and to sports and muscle cars. The arena creator mode was a nice feature to this game, but I wish they would have allowed room for more extra ramps and smashable items. It would have also been nice to see some different levels, instead of just the one arena that they provided you with.
One other thing that impressed me about the gameplay was the way they used your actual gameplay as a preview for the movie you were shooting for. It would show little CG scenes, and then it would incorporate your most amazing stunts into the movie. That way, if you did something really amazing, there was a way to enjoy the replay again and again without having to take up memory card space to save a replay.
The second most impressive aspect of this game was definetly the sound. Although the announcer and the director were kind of annoying at times, the vehicle sounds were quite realistic, and it gave each car a unique feel. Even the snowmobile sounds were realistic, and I think that people generally appreciate it when games pay attention to details like that. The physics were actually pretty good too. Although some of the crashes seemed unrealistic because of all the rotations, the head-on crashes and the movement of objects when hit was definetly realistic. I pay attention to little things like that, and I think that those little things can improve the overall feel of a game.
Stuntman had pretty good graphics, but they were nothing amazing. Although they looked more realistic than many other driving games, they were no sight for sore eyes. They seemed kind of gritty, and some of the edges looked a bit jagged, but overall the game looked ok. The explosions looked pretty nice, and the damage modeling of the cars has not been matched except for the Driver series. When you see tail pipes, door handles, exhaust terminals, and wheels coming off, you know that the damage modeling is very detailed. Without good damage modeling, this game wouldn't have deserved the title "Stuntman," but I am glad that they added some very impressive damage models, for cars and objects.
The replay value of this game is moderately low in my opinion. Even though this game can be pretty addictive during the career mode, there is not much to do once you beat it. Sure, you can go back and try to get all golds on the levels you didn't do so well on, but who wants to spend more time on frustrating challenges that you end up wasting hours of your life on? The stunt mode added some replay value like I said earlier, but I don't think it was enough to sustain a moderate replay value. I did have fun with this game, but I beat it a long time ago, and I really have not played it since then, save a few occasions when I wanted to play with friends.
Overall, I thought this game was a fairly well done game, and I think that it lived up to its expectations. I think that fans of the Driver series would enjoy this game. However, if you are easily frustrated, this is not a game for you. You will need patience and immense concentration for some parts of this game, and if you can't do that, then good luck beating some of the last missions. In my view, this game seemed a bit too challenging for the average gamer, but I don't think that racing game players would have much trouble getting used to the controls, even though they can be touchy at times. Stuntman gave me everything I expected, but I wish it could have had some extra features, which would have added some much needed replay value to the game.