Auto Destruct
North American cover art
Developer(s)Neurostone
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Platform(s)PlayStation
Release
  • EU: December 1997
  • NA: 31 January 1998[1]
Genre(s)Shooter, vehicular combat
Mode(s)Single-player

Auto Destruct is a video game developed by the Swedish studio Neurostone and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for the PlayStation. The player takes on the role of a retired race car driver hunting down the fanatical cult that murdered his wife and daughter.[2] The music was composed by English electronic producer Danny Briottet.

Gameplay

The player takes control of a futuristic car in 3-D urban environments and must accomplish a series of missions.[3] Objectives vary widely, and include seek-and-destroy missions, escort missions, and taxicab driving.[3]

Reception

Auto Destruct saw a range of opinions from critics. Next Generation said that the game sets itself apart from other vehicular combat games with its variety of missions, the depth added by its resource management elements, and most especially its detailed and expansive 3D city environments, which give the player unprecedented freedom. They criticized that the graphics look like a first generation PlayStation game and the music and sound effects are generic, and concluded that the game is "a good ride, but it could have been much more."[12] Three of the four reviewers for Electronic Gaming Monthly similarly said that though the graphics have problems, the missions, resource management, and massive environments give Auto Destruct more depth and potentially more enjoyment than other vehicular combat games. They also praised the usefulness of the radar, and said the resources are balanced such that what the player needs is always just within reach, leaving only oneself to blame for failure. Only Shawn Smith deferred, saying the missions eventually start to all feel the same.[8] Joe Smith of GameSpot, however, gave the reverse opinion, saying the graphics outshine those of other vehicular combat games, but the mission-based format drags the game down by restricting players to a very specific set of actions rather than letting them do what they want. He found the missions repetitive as well.[10]

IGN's Adam Douglas shared Smith's opinion that the missions are unremarkable and repetitive, but agreed with other critics that the graphics are dated and unimpressive. However, he found the game enjoyable overall and gave it a mild recommendation: " It's not terribly original or exciting, but it gets the job done and is pretty entertaining to boot. If you're really into driving and shooting, give it a go. For anyone else, though, I'd suggest a rental session first."[11] GamePro found the game adequate in most respects, with the exception of the music, which they described as "monotonous droning". They said the variety of missions is the game's standout feature, and like IGN they suggested that fans of the genre buy it and those who are simply curious should rent it first.[15][lower-alpha 2] The game held a 61% on the review aggregation website GameRankings based on five reviews.[4]

In a retrospective review for Allgame, Shawn Sackenheim declared that "Auto Destruct is an astoundingly mediocre game. While it doesn't really do anything wrong, it just seems uninspired and run of the mill." He elaborated that the graphics look like those of a 1995 game, the missions are uninspired and all feel the same, and the music and sound effects are average and standard.[5]

Notes

  1. ↑ Four critics of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game each a score of 7/10, 8/10, 6.5/10, and 7.5/10.
  2. ↑ GamePro gave the game 3.5/5 for graphics, sound, control, and fun factor.

References

  1. ↑ GameSpot staff (6 February 1998). "VGS Game Calendar [date mislabeled as "April 24, 2000"]". GameSpot. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on 18 February 1999. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  2. ↑ "Protos: Auto Destruct". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 99. Ziff Davis. October 1997. p. 47.
  3. 1 2 "Auto Destruct: A Racing Game with Something for Everyone". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 101. Ziff Davis. December 1997. p. 80.
  4. 1 2 "Auto Destruct for PlayStation". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  5. 1 2 Sackenheim, Shawn. "Auto Destruct - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  6. ↑ Chick, Tom (13 March 1998). "Auto Destruct". Gamecenter. CNET. Archived from the original on 16 August 2000. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  7. ↑ Spy; Niiico (February 1998). "Auto Destruct". Consoles + (in French). No. 73. pp. 134–35.
  8. 1 2 Rickards, Kelly; Hsu, Dan; Smith, Shawn; Kujawa, Kraig (February 1998). "Review Crew: Auto Destruct". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 103. Ziff Davis. p. 114.
  9. ↑ "Auto Destruct". Game Informer. No. 58. FuncoLand. February 1998.
  10. 1 2 Fielder, Joe (7 April 1998). "Auto Destruct Review [date mislabeled as "April 28, 2000"]". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  11. 1 2 Douglas, Adam (21 January 1998). "Auto Destruct". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  12. 1 2 "Auto Destruct". Next Generation. No. 39. Imagine Media. March 1998. p. 109. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  13. ↑ "Auto Destruct". Official UK PlayStation Magazine. No. 29. Future Publishing. February 1998. p. 113. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  14. ↑ "Auto Destruct". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Vol. 1, no. 5. Ziff Davis. February 1998.
  15. ↑ The Rookie (February 1998). "Auto Destruct". GamePro. No. 113. IDG. p. 86. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
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