Reservoir Dogs
Posted June 4, 2007
Adapted from Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic, Lionsgate and Edios have built a loose 3-dimensional adaptation around key scenes from the film. The gangster-laden campaign splits itself into levels, based on the various perspectives of each thief. The presentation leaves much to be desired, especially for avid fanatics of Reservoir Dogs. While the game does create additional narrative to the main storyline, it pales in comparison to the real deal. 
Gameplay:
While playing through the 12-mission campaign, I began to ponder the creative meeting that went into brainstorming the various gameplay aspects of Reservoir Dogs. The on-foot, shooting portion of the game seems to be an egregious combination of stealth, hostage taking, bullet time, cover tactics, and an insane amount of bullets whizzing through the virtual air. The driving portion is a bit more focused, but still attempts an oddball car assault variant toward the end of the game. It’s as if the developer accepted every idea that hit the brainstorming chart, but didn’t take enough time to implement them properly.
For instance, the game offers a method to threaten civilians and take hostages. Ideally, the player should be able to keep the civs in line, prevent them from sounding alarms, and force the onslaught of cops to lay down their weapons. Sadly, the aiming function is spotty at best and only offers those options a small percentage of the time. Taking hostages also plays into unlocking portions of the level that contain hidden items such as weapons and documents. Unfortunately, it’s not enough of a reward to search for these extras.
The bullet time feature is fairly easy to use, but isn’t nearly as cool as a game like Max Payne. Bullet time can only be started once the player’s adrenaline meter has been maxed out. While it’s almost too easy to max out the meter, not being able to hop into bullet time at any moment is frustrating. Once the player runs out of bullets or reloads, the slow motion halts and the replays begin. Each target is shown being pelted with the appropriate amount of bullets shot toward them. Additionally, the adrenaline meter governs use of the hostage special moves. Hitting bullet time with a hostage in tow will brutally beat the hostage and force the surrounding police force to drop their arms.
Security ranges from underpaid security guards to full-out SWAT crews. They tend to move between sections of cover and back each other up while surrounding the player’s location. Strangely, they don’t seem smart enough once reaching the player’s location. Often, I found myself stupefied as the cop stood next to me for several seconds while I laid waste to his squad.
At the end of each level, a rating is calculated based on the choices the player makes throughout the mission. If the player decided to move with stealth in mind, a professional rating is awarded. Conversely, a murderous fool will be awarded a psychotic rating. While the ending is slightly dependent on your choices, it still doesn’t offer enough of a reason to replay the entire campaign. Additionally, there are no multiplayer modes attached to the shooting portion of the game.
Graphics:
Visually, the game engine is inherently flawed with poor hit detection and low-resolution textures. Throughout the repetitive level design, clipping issues occur in both the car racing levels and the on-foot portion of the game. Additionally, the physics model while racing those cars is worse than Crazy Taxi. Nailing nearly anything on the road will send the automobile into a ridiculous wipeout. Sadly, the mid-level movies are little help to increase the ambiance. While they do convey scenes from the movies, the FMV sequences are uninspired and downgrade the overall experience.
Audio:
Many of the voice adaptations of the original characters from the film are incredibly painful to hear. Mr. Pink (Steve Bucemi’s character) is absolutely grating to the ears and does a complete disservice to his portrayal. The only bright point emanates from Michael Madson’s character as he returned to lend that throaty, resonant voice to the maniacal Mr. Blonde. His one-liners are faithful to the character’s roots.
Adverse to the below average voiceovers, the musical score is absolutely fantastic. It pops up within the menu and during the driving sequences. The seventies music is taken from the movie for the most part and effectively recreates the ambiance that made the film such a popular treat.
Overall:
The entire campaign won’t take more than six hours to fully complete. Without any multiplayer options, the only reason to return to the single player narrative is to unlock art and video sequences. This poor excuse for a shooter is without replay value and should be avoided by all PC gamers, even the most fanatical of Tarantino groupies. Leave Reservoir Dogs to collect dust on the PC game shelf and pick up the latest release of the DVD instead.
Gameplay:
While playing through the 12-mission campaign, I began to ponder the creative meeting that went into brainstorming the various gameplay aspects of Reservoir Dogs. The on-foot, shooting portion of the game seems to be an egregious combination of stealth, hostage taking, bullet time, cover tactics, and an insane amount of bullets whizzing through the virtual air. The driving portion is a bit more focused, but still attempts an oddball car assault variant toward the end of the game. It’s as if the developer accepted every idea that hit the brainstorming chart, but didn’t take enough time to implement them properly.
For instance, the game offers a method to threaten civilians and take hostages. Ideally, the player should be able to keep the civs in line, prevent them from sounding alarms, and force the onslaught of cops to lay down their weapons. Sadly, the aiming function is spotty at best and only offers those options a small percentage of the time. Taking hostages also plays into unlocking portions of the level that contain hidden items such as weapons and documents. Unfortunately, it’s not enough of a reward to search for these extras.
The bullet time feature is fairly easy to use, but isn’t nearly as cool as a game like Max Payne. Bullet time can only be started once the player’s adrenaline meter has been maxed out. While it’s almost too easy to max out the meter, not being able to hop into bullet time at any moment is frustrating. Once the player runs out of bullets or reloads, the slow motion halts and the replays begin. Each target is shown being pelted with the appropriate amount of bullets shot toward them. Additionally, the adrenaline meter governs use of the hostage special moves. Hitting bullet time with a hostage in tow will brutally beat the hostage and force the surrounding police force to drop their arms.
Security ranges from underpaid security guards to full-out SWAT crews. They tend to move between sections of cover and back each other up while surrounding the player’s location. Strangely, they don’t seem smart enough once reaching the player’s location. Often, I found myself stupefied as the cop stood next to me for several seconds while I laid waste to his squad.
At the end of each level, a rating is calculated based on the choices the player makes throughout the mission. If the player decided to move with stealth in mind, a professional rating is awarded. Conversely, a murderous fool will be awarded a psychotic rating. While the ending is slightly dependent on your choices, it still doesn’t offer enough of a reason to replay the entire campaign. Additionally, there are no multiplayer modes attached to the shooting portion of the game.
Graphics:
Visually, the game engine is inherently flawed with poor hit detection and low-resolution textures. Throughout the repetitive level design, clipping issues occur in both the car racing levels and the on-foot portion of the game. Additionally, the physics model while racing those cars is worse than Crazy Taxi. Nailing nearly anything on the road will send the automobile into a ridiculous wipeout. Sadly, the mid-level movies are little help to increase the ambiance. While they do convey scenes from the movies, the FMV sequences are uninspired and downgrade the overall experience.
Audio:
Many of the voice adaptations of the original characters from the film are incredibly painful to hear. Mr. Pink (Steve Bucemi’s character) is absolutely grating to the ears and does a complete disservice to his portrayal. The only bright point emanates from Michael Madson’s character as he returned to lend that throaty, resonant voice to the maniacal Mr. Blonde. His one-liners are faithful to the character’s roots.
Adverse to the below average voiceovers, the musical score is absolutely fantastic. It pops up within the menu and during the driving sequences. The seventies music is taken from the movie for the most part and effectively recreates the ambiance that made the film such a popular treat.
Overall:
The entire campaign won’t take more than six hours to fully complete. Without any multiplayer options, the only reason to return to the single player narrative is to unlock art and video sequences. This poor excuse for a shooter is without replay value and should be avoided by all PC gamers, even the most fanatical of Tarantino groupies. Leave Reservoir Dogs to collect dust on the PC game shelf and pick up the latest release of the DVD instead.