Full Auto 2: Battlelines

Full Auto 2: Battlelines
Publisher: Sega
ERP: £39.99
Among the few titles created exclusively for PlayStation 3, but don’t get your hopes up. The original Full Auto evolved from a tech-demo created for Xbox 360, which perhaps explains why Battlelines suffers from a choppy screen-refresh rate. We wouldn’t ordinarily point to something so geeky, but it’s pretty uncomfortable to play. Given that Full Auto is fuelled by graphical excess this slightly ruins the party too.

The basic premise remains the same: street races through a make-believe city, six districts in all, driving vehicles that are equipped with high calibre weapons and mad-scientist defensive contraptions ranging from smoke screen to . Before heading out to race you get to choose your vehicle, ranging from sports cars to heavy trucks with snow ploughs and the like. There are over 25 cars, and 20 weapons variations leading to more than double the previous range of choice.

An all-new Arena Mode recalls the PSone heyday of Destruction Derby, with options to play in Gladiator or Team Gladiator match ups. If you just want some driving and shooting, minus the pressure of a race, this is where you belong. Arena Mode is a good place to practice using the environment as a weapon – collapsing buildings and exploding fuel tankers etcetera to harm your opponents more effectively than direct hits. It’s evidently showcasing Battlelines’ improved mix-‘n’-match weapons system, even if the frame rate can’t quite handle it.

Small technical quibbles aside, developers Psuedo-Interactive have definitely gone large with Full Auto on PS3. In the absence of a Burnout or Need for Speed worth caring about, hell-for-leather cornering while avoiding explosions and keeping your eyes peeled for shortcuts has a feral appeal that creeps up on you.

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