Full Auto review

Bombing down the streets of a heavily populated urban city by the bay, unleashing a concussive hail of rockets on everything you see sure sounds like a staggeringly good time. Sadly, while the execution of this exact scenario in Full Auto seems masterful during your first few races, it quickly degenerates into boringly repetitive, mindless destruction.

We had such high hopes for Full Auto when it was announced, and the preview versions only got us more excited for the maximum quantities of vehicular manslaughter on the horizon. Imagine our dismay at the lack of variance in the track environments, the claustrophobic array of weapons available and the skid-crazy excuse for handling.

The track selection in Full Auto can be reduced to essentially two different types: mountainous and urban. Oh, there are a variety of tracks to choose from, but they are basically the same cookie-cutter chunks strung together and passed off as "unique." This issue is compounded by the constant torrent of debris and combustion effects (not to mention other racers' smoke-screens) that obscure the roadway and cover half of each race in an impenetrable shroud of chaos.

The difference deficit can also be felt when browsing the limited weapons selections. Only a handful of weapons are available, and you are bound to particular pairings of front and rear ordinance. So, if you want a shotgun, you have to take grenades as well, and the machine guns lock you into dropping mines from the rear. Worst of all, in order to launch rockets at your foes, you are required to take the pathetically ineffective smoke-screen as your secondary "weapon."