Stuntman Ignition is the latest version of the stunt-driving game Stuntman. There are a number of differences which seasoned veterans of the first game will notice, but the principle is still there, and there's lots of fun to be had.
In Stuntman Ignition you start off as a rookie stunt driver making their first film. You gradually work through six films, each with several stunts each, and also appear in various commercials and public appearances as you try to claw your way up the ladder of stuntman fame.
Each scene has you driving a different kind of vehicle as you try to complete a number
of stunts within a time limit. The vehicles all handle differently, and this means that there's plenty to challenge you as you play through the game.
One of the major differences in the new version of Stuntman is that you are allowed to fail a couple of stunts – lets say that in one level you have to go through a burning building, make a jump, and then do a 180 turn before skidding round a corner and narrowly missing an oncoming car – you could fail some of those, and pass the level – but your score would be reduced.
To keep the hardcore gamers happy, however, they have introduced something new – 'Stringing It' – what this means, is that you have managed to not only completed every single stunt in the scene successfully, but you have also managed to link every stunt together with only a short gap between them – a bit like combos in Tony Hawks – you link together big stunts with small ones – slides, near misses, wheelies, so that you can keep your combo going. If you get to the end of the scene with a score of 0, that means you have managed to successfully 'String it'.
Stuntman Ignition is the kind of game that is suited to the perfectionist. If you like to just rip through a game once, and are content with getting to the end, no matter what the score, then you will find Stuntman Ignition far too 'easy' – but only because you're missing out on the real challenge. Most observant, decently skilled drivers will be able to rip through the scenes after only a couple of tries, but you'll probably only get a three star ranking. It will take practice, testing, and probably a little luck to get the best scores and the coolest scenes.
We did encounter some bugs when playing it – one scene became impossible to complete until we rebooted the Xbox 360 – the car we had to follow got bugged, and would always say it had gone out of camera view at a certain point, no matter where we were on the road at the time. This proved frustrating at first, until we realised it wasn't our fault that we were failing the level.
The multiplayer modes aren't much to write home about – although the ones where you are in a movie scene and competing with someone else to complete it and score the most points can be quite fun. The main issue with the multiplayer modes is that they feel a little limited, and most of the joy in the game really is setting personal bests, and defeating the challenges on the set – not the challenges of other players.
The controls, for the most part, are very good – sometimes the physics feels a little off, but since I haven't driven a truck transporting weapons of mass destruction in real life, I can't comment too much. Everything has it's own personality, and you get used to how to handle the vehicles for each scene pretty quickly.
The graphics are good – the sets are nice and detailed. Sometimes, especially the first run or two through a scene, it feels like there's a bit too much going on, and it can be hard to see the yellow stunt marker in time as it sometimes shows up at the last second. Still, this just serves to keep you on your toes.
I think that this is a very good game, and there are lots of improvements over the first Stuntman – the loading times, for example, are much faster. The more forgiving stunts give you a chance to practice the level a little more easily, and there's still the 'string it' test for the hardcore players.
