Crimewave

When crime runs wild and starts consuming the city you are sworn to protect, it's time to get violent. To combat against these evildoers, you've been supplied with a fleet of combat-ready vehicles which will be used to stop this invasion by any means possible.

Eidos' latest title, Crimewave, tasks the player with the mission to clear the streets of evil, and once . again, make it safe. Your missions will take you through midtown, business, uptown, industrial, downtown, beach, casino and the suburbs in your unending quest as a law provider.

Crimewave controls from a third-person point of view, keeping your car centered in the middle of the screen as you search through the landscape. The constant rotating of your car is a nauseating effect that is hopefully scheduled to be cleaned up before the final release.

Another feature is the way the cars controlled by innocents roam freely everywhere they want. This causes the player undue stress while trying to follow the tracking of the bad guy in a race against time. These so-called innocents keep smashing into the player's car and sending it sliding out of control. But by far the worst part of these irritating vehicles is that you get scolded and have points deducted from your total when one is destroyed.

These points are called Meks. They're acquired by destroying the enemy vehicles. Besides being deducted when an innocent is killed, they prove useful by allowing different areas of the map to be opened when the player reaches a predesignated number.

Weaponry of your various vehicles consists of your starting front-firing machine guns and later moves up to rockets and double rockets as you destroy enemy vehicles and grab their weapon cache. These more powerful weapons are necessary to destroy the enemies that get progressively tougher as they get whittled down.

These enemies are not fall-down adversaries with limited intelligence. They have varying degrees of intelligence which make them able to search the player out and destroy him when he gets within range of their weaponry.

Crimewave sounds like a fun action/racing game, allowing you to play on both sides of the law. It does have some quirks in it right now that are unfavorable. But with a name like Eidos behind it. these problems are sure to be eliminated before the final release hits the shelves. Keep an eye out for updates in upcoming issues-watch as this title progresses.

MANUFACTURER - Eidos

DIFFICULTY - Moderate

THEME - Action

NUMBER OF PLAYERS - 1