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Full Auto 2: Battlelines

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Vehicular manslaughter or Burnout poseur?

Words: Chris Antista, GamesRadar US

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Did you ever have that friend who showed up to school one day wearing a gold medallion, studded leather jacket, and a cap spun around in a desperate and misguided attempt at social reinvention? A true pal would’ve taken that friend aside and explained to him that true “cool” is in the way you are, not in the way you appear.

We kind of feel like giving Sega the same intervention regarding Full Auto 2: Battlelines on the PSP. What was pulled of with limited success on the PS3 feels incredibly forced and shallow when ported onto Sony’s portable, even with several new vehicles, weapons, and tracks. On the surface, the game desperately wants to meet the perceived needs of every gamer simply by adding weaponry and explosions to the Burnout formula - but what results is all sound and fury signifying nada.

Cars steer like a Radio Flyer - you don’t so much turn as you do pivot your vehicle’s axis. And the (supposed) speed boost reads the recipe wrong: instead of rocketing you ahead and opening up a can of whup ass, it gives your veolcity a slight uptick and adds a ton of "looks like ass" sauce.

That's not as much of a problem as you'd think, because there’s no real racing aspect anyway. You can come to a complete stop for ages and your opponents will happily wait up for you. thus is more about destruction. In light of that, limiting most of the game to closed tracks (as opposed to open-air arenas) seemed like an odd choice, until we experienced arena combat - and realized it doesn’t work well at all given your ride's braking and radar limitations.