Reservoir Dogs review

Crap games to the left of us, good games to the right, here we are - stuck in the middle with this

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Banter is pretty entertaining

  • +

    Awesome soundtrack

  • +

    Fills in the film's blanks

Cons

  • -

    Bland

  • -

    generic levels

  • -

    Painfully repetitive action

  • -

    90% of core cast is absent

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Before we start talking about Reservoir Dogs, there are a few things you should know. First, you won't saw the ears off any cops - at least not on camera. Second, the game isn't a Grand Theft Auto clone. Third, of all the actors whose careers were jump-started by the iconic 1992 crime flick, only Michael Madsen (Mr. Blonde) appears in the game. And fourth, you can't just shoot undercover cop Mr. Orange at the beginning to win the game.

Rather than straight-up adapting the film about career criminals in the violent aftermath of a botched diamond heist, Reservoir Dogs fills in the missing pieces from the movie's narrative. Playing as each of the main characters in turn, you'll plow through linear shooting and driving levels that reveal how the criminals escaped the heist, how they stashed and recovered the diamonds and how at least two of them died.

To its credit, the game nails the spirit of the movie. The catchy '70s soundtrack is all there, and while the characters look only vaguely like their movie counterparts, the sound-alike actors turn in a solid performance. The in-game banter isn't half-bad, either; what isn't lifted directly from the movie actually sounds like something Tarantino would write. There are some interesting flourishes, too; our personal favorite is a level where you have to drive a car as the head-shot Mr. Brown, and as you slowly bleed to death, splashes of blood and a red corona slowly cover the screen.

More info

GenreAction
DescriptionA mostly mediocre shoot 'em-up with some interesting twists and a killer presentation.
Platform"PC","Xbox","PS2"
US censor rating"Mature","Mature","Mature"
UK censor rating"","",""
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
Less
Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.