Smugglers Run 2 - Hostile Territory - Playstation 2 - PS2

Smugglers Run 2 - Hostile Territory:

"The ultimate off-road driving adventure "

When the PlayStation 2 first launched, developer Angel Studios released Smuggler's Run, a surprisingly fun driving game with a subversive tilt. It was one of the more compelling of the PlayStation 2 launch titles, but repetition plagued the game throughout and kept it from realizing its true potential. Angel Studios has since honed its prowess on the PlayStation 2 and puts its new skills to use in Smuggler's Run 2: Hostile Territory. The result is a faster, sexier, more engaging, and more enjoyable game.

Where the first Smuggler's Run was little more than a collection of random missions, the sequel attempts to link the missions together with a plot in the form of full-motion video cutscenes that occur every couple of missions. These purposely cheesy FMV sequences are good for a laugh and provide some motivation for your character, though your motivation should be apparent from the beginning. You play courier to a rogue's gallery of criminals and warlords, which need certain sensitive goods moved across restricted borders. Your objective is simple--pick up a package and move it across the border while keeping law enforcement and rival interests at bay. While the core mechanics have remained unchanged, Angel Studios has made a few refinements to the formula, making the game more challenging and adding more variety to the missions. With the addition of the squirrelly but fast ATV, the super-heavy-duty Grenadier, and the tank-treaded Kavostov, the number of playable vehicles has been increased to eight. As you might imagine, each vehicle has different speed, acceleration, handling, and weight statistics, and while a certain vehicle may be the most appropriate for a specific mission, the vehicle options accommodate a variety of play styles.

The first thing you'll notice about the sound production in Smuggler's Run 2 is the prominence of the soundtrack. The first game underplayed the sound greatly, generally keeping it limited to the revving of your engine, quips from your dispatcher, and the scream of police sirens. The flirty female dispatcher is gone, replaced by your gruff employer, but aside from this, the environmental sound is essentially unchanged. The big change is that all your smuggling activities are now accompanied by throbbing techno music. Rockstar Games, the publisher of Smuggler's Run 2, has always put great stock in the importance of interesting, well-produced game soundtracks, and while there are a number of toe-tapping tunes in this game, they don't always fit the mood. A lot of the soundtrack is composed of upbeat, dance-friendly tracks that lack aggression and don't give off the same mean, dark feel that saturates the rest of the game.

Smuggler's Run 2: Hostile Territory will instantly endear itself to fans of the original, as it is essentially a better-looking and more fun version of the original. The fundamentals haven't changed enough to sway anyone unimpressed with the first game, but the consistent quality of this Angel Studios release should warrant a look from anyone in search of a driving game a little off the beaten path.

  GOOD Condition

Original Game, Manual & Box

Game Play Rating (8.3 / 10)

R19 Econo Mail (2 Items)

R25 Ordinary Mail (3 or more items)  

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