Smash ‘N’ Survive Review

I really like to review good games. Or at least decent ones. Whenever I find something I genuinely enjoy, it is always easy to write a review for it. It is as if the fun gameplay and well executed ideas jolt my creativity, and the review just writes itself.

Too bad Smash and Survive sucks, huh?

Smash ‘N’ Survive
Developer: Version2Games Limited
Price: $15/£9.99
Platform: PS3 (reviewed)

When Diego told me he had a car combat game to review, my first thought was „A car combat game? When Twisted Metal is coming out?” Right from the start, I wasn’t very optimistic about SNS. It felt like it was going to be nothing more than a poor man’s Twisted Metal. Upon actually playing it however, I realized that calling it a poor man’s Twisted Metal was much too flattering for SNS.

Initially, things seemed positive. Starting up the game, I was immediately hit with a fitting metal soundtrack. Then I soon realized there were lots of cars to unlock as well and the tutorial levels were also pretty decent, if simple. However this didn’t last very long. I would say that if I wasn’t obligated to play SNS, I would have quit after the third level or so.

The basic idea of SNS is simple. You’re a rookie trying to get into a gang called the Necromancers. In order to do so, you must become a master of vehicular combat and destroy enemy cars. Simple, right? So simply in fact, that if it wasn’t for the short briefing texts between each level, you wouldn’t notice, but I’m not going to hold that against a PSN car combat game of all things.

What I am going to hold against it is everything else. SNS may not being a triple A title and it may have low production values, but that doesn’t excuse it from being generally a bore to play. The missions are repetitive and there really isn’t much to do. You smash up cars and avoid getting yourself destroyed. It is pretty reminiscent of Destruction Derby on the PS1, except not nearly as enjoyable. Car customization is ultimately pointless as you can only alter the cars’ appearance to a very minor degree and all weapons are preset. You want a fast car with sawblades? Well you better find one in the shop, cause you can’t just put sawblades on whatever car you please. The customization option may as well not be in the game. And even with the stats of handling, strenght and acceleration, there doesn’t seem to be much difference. All cars feel clunky to control, all are fast and none of them can take many hits.

Speaking of weapons, most of the are close range. Fitting for a game called Smash and Survive I suppose, however it would have been great if these weapons weren’t so one dimensionals. You crash into things and you activate your weapon, and that’s all you need to know. There’s not much tactics involved and not having guns like in Twisted Metal only serves to make things even more simple and boring. Oddly enough the game can’t even be called an arcade-style derby game, because somehow it manages to be too slow for that. Enemies take far too much damage to kill, while the player’s car feels like it’s made out of glass. There’s also no health pickups or powerups, so your stuck with whatever you have.

So in short, the gameplay of SNS is just plain boring. It feels too empty and winning missions leaves you with no real sense of satisfaction. This is not helped by the fact that the soundtrack is terrible. The metal fits the game’s theme nicely, however it has few songs and they are constantly looping. The menu music is roughly 10 seconds of generic heavy metal, looping over and over again till your ears kill themselves.

The thing is, this could all be forgiven somewhat. Sure it’s repetitive and simple, but what if you’re really just looking to smash up cars? I’m sad to say that even then the game is not worth it. By far the most irritating function in this game is the slow motion that happens when you crash into a car or use your weapon. The camera angle during this is always horrible and disorientating. Every single time I found myself not knowing where I was heading or even where I was. Eventually I tried to stick to the pulsar weapon, because that fires in a circular arc around you and the slow motion camera shows the car from above, leaving you with at least some idea of what you’re doing. However this function makes the game incredibly annoying to play and the whole function itself just seems ridiculously counter-productive for the game’s genre. I mean honestly, when you make a derby game where the player would rather not hit an enemy car, you know you screwed up. And the kicker? The slow motion can’t be turned off.

Couple this with the fact that the music is terrible, the graphics are on the level of a PS2 game, the environments are small and bland and the long load times, and you’ll find that after playing a few levels of SNS, you’ll feel no sense of accomplishment and just turn off the game. The only somewhat fun thing in the game is the local multiplayer mode, but even that gets old very fast and there are so many better alternatives to play with friends instead of this.

The Final Word
Smash ’N’ Survive is a failure in every aspect. It is at least playable, but unless you have friends to play with it won’t be much fun. The price tag is high for the game’s value, the gameplay is boring and overall it doesn’t feel like any real effort went into it from the developers. You’d be better off saving your cash and buying Twisted Metal if you want a car combat game. Or hell, hunt down an old copy of Destruction Derby. You’re not missing out on anything by not playing this.

MonsterVine Rating: 1.5 out of 5 – Terrible