Chase: Hollywood Stunt Driver (Xbox)
By Susie Vee

If you’re going to make a knockoff of a game, why would you knock off a B-list game like Stuntman? Chase seems to be a frame-by-frame ripoff of that game, but without Stuntman’s few redeeming qualities.

Basically, you drive through “movie sets” performing various stunts against the clock, hoping to get enough points to make it to the next scene. That’s pretty much it.

There’s very little in the way of reward for your effort, and you can even beat all the levels on a particular film, but have to go back and play them again to get enough points to move on to the next part of the game.

The graphics are acceptable, but not spectacular, and the level design seems to be based on the idea that if you can’t tell which way you’re supposed to go, that makes a game “challenging.” If we were pressed to mention some positive points, we’d point out the wide variety of vehicles you get to drive, as well as the smooth frame rates.

While your car may control like a lead balloon, don’t worry about crashing into any trees – it turns out that you go right through them like they were holograms. But if you nick a corner or a lamppost wrong, you’ll come to a dead stop.

We could go on, but we won’t. If Chase’s clichéd buxom main character wasn’t enough to turn you off to this game, maybe you deserve whatever you get.

SCORE: 3.5