Review: Stuntman Ignition (X360)

Stuntman: Ignition is no Fall-Guy.

For: Cool movies; good selection of vehicles; challenging but rewarding
Against: Odd Jobs are unforgiving; stringing requires a heavy dose of luck; not many players online

The original Stuntman game was an interesting concept that was destroyed in its execution. It was so frustrating and difficult that you had to play it in very short bursts to prevent permanent damage to your psyche. For those that never played it, you had to complete driving stunts, with zero room for error coupled with incredibly long load times between each attempt....imagine now having 20 attempts! Stuntman: Ignition fixes the majority of the flaws in its predecessor but it can still occasionally be a rough ride.

Once again, you are a stuntman hired to shoot action driving sequences for a series blockbuster movies, TV commercials and stunt shows. Each movie consists of scenes, with each scene comprising of a sequence of 10-20 stunt events that you must hit. These include, jumping, 2-wheeling, smashing, sliding and performing action events. The movies themselves range from James Bond style spy flicks to buddy comedies.

Each scene can be completed by hitting all the stunt marks within a set time limit and is controlled by a mechanism of five strikes - so you can make a few mistakes but if you miss five marks you must start from the beginning again. The adverts and stunt shows are much harder, only permitting 1 strike on the normal difficulty. Each scene is awarded a score and star grade out of five, using a similar system to Project Gotham Racing’s Kudos system, where the more stunts you perform and “string” together, the bigger the multiplier and the score earned. However, the more risk you take the more likely you are to ****-up. Thankfully, restarting is almost instantaneous (no load time) so trying over and over again is less of a chore on the Movie scenes.

Further movies and events are unlocked by earning stars, as are other bonus content such as video interviews, achievements, and items for the construction mode - create your own stunt set. You can play online in “Burnout” style races around a studio back-lot, as well as try out custom tracks built in the construction mode.

There are numerous vehicles in the game that each feature their own unique and satisfying handling characteristics: big things feel big; fast things feel twitchy. The vehicle models and the movie sets are competently designed and displayed with a decent frame-rate that holds up even when everything is going “bang” about you. The music and voice work all add some much needed humour and brevity to the game, whilst the movie trailers - earner for completing each film - look cool and are satisfying way to conclude each film.

Stuntman: Ignition is not perfect: the difficulty is still probably too high, with the final movie being difficult to unlock unless you have scored well on all the previous films, and possibly the hardest movies is the first one you play - which seems a strange design decision. There is still an element of frustration thanks to the exclusion of strikes on the advertisement and stunt shows, and the luck required to keep a score multiplier going when so much is happening on screen outside your control.

Stuntman: Ignition offers something different from the usual driving fare that can be a lot of fun provided you have the patience to persevere. For any fans of Burnout crash mode, Stuntman: Ignition offers a similar experience and should fill the gap until Burnout: Paradise is released next year.

8/10