Lately there have been many stabs at the Grand Theft Auto genre, the most recent being Roadkill by Midway. Although I don’t like comparing all these mixed-genre games, it’s almost impossible not to relate Roadkill to Grand Theft Auto. Throughout the review, you’ll see just how similar of a game it is.

The main character of Roadkill is a man that was cryogenically frozen, and then later reawakened in a time where car gangs rule the streets. Prostitution, violence, lots of cussing and all other bad things are frequently witnessed in this new world. To survive, you must cooperate with the gangs and do their bidding. Many times the mature themes almost seem over done, but it fits the dystopian setting very well.

Throughout the game you’ll witness betrayal, death, and lots of F-bombs. The story really isn’t Roadkill’s strong point, although some of the cut scenes have funny parts (adult humor, that is), and some pretty shocking moments too.

In Roadkill, you’re pretty much free to do what you want. A radar in the bottom corner of the screen displays where you can find missions, parts shops, or your garage, which acts as a save point. During missions it will also pinpoint important locations, which keeps you from wandering around aimlessly. Missions are totally optional, but if you want to progress at all you need to do them. After completing so many missions, the next area of the city will open.

As you drive around, you’ll notice there are lots of things to do. One of them is starting fights. If you fire on a vehicle that has weapons, it will return fire and so will all the other cars in the same gang that witness it. The upside to doing this is that you are awarded salvage points (money) and your status goes up as well. There are also various mini missions you can take on, such as deliveries, survival, or riot. You can also take some time to search for parts and blueprints, which are packages hidden throughout the city that allow you to open new cars and weapons.

None of the missions in the game were all too unique. Most of them I’d seen done before, especially the escort and follow missions. I noticed a lot of missions that had you either follow someone at a safe distance or escort a vehicle through dangerous areas; because of this, I would become bored with missions very quickly.

Roadkill includes support for up to four players for some sweet multiplayer action. There are tons of cars to choose from, from bumper cars to delivery trucks to sports cars all decked out and ready for destruction. There’s also a good selection of arenas for multiplayer, but none of them are that great. They don’t have near as much character as the environments in single player.

Your car comes equipped with just a machine gun, but you can find weapon upgrades around the city. Various land mines, rockets, and machine upgrades can be found. You can also stop into the shops and have different things equipped, such as nitro boosts and armor. Most cars also have gang affiliation, meaning if you ride into a rival gang’s territory you’re going to become a target. There are neutral cars, but they typically are a bit weaker than the affiliated cars.

Your car also comes equipped with a radio and using the up and down direction buttons you can change the radio station. There isn’t much variety to the stations, and it’s not that great of music either. Besides music stations, there are some talk radio stations that seem to try way too hard to be mature. They have their funny parts, but for the most part I’d prefer the sounds of battle.

Roadkill is a fun game, especially if you’re a fan of car combat. Having the freedom to drive around in a car with weapons is a lot of fun, but also a bit limited. Roadkill’s missions lack creativity and the story wasn’t too deep. I only really did missions when I grew tired of the current area and wanted to move on to something new. Doing the side missions like stunt mode, survival mode, and riot mode was a fun way to keep from doing the next story mission. Roadkill makes a great, casual screw around game, but as a story-driven experience it falls short.

Gameplay: 8.2
The gameplay in Roadkill is the best part. While the story and music aren’t that great, just roaming the city in a car with various weapons attached is fun. Plus there are lots of distractions from the main missions, and while they’re not that great, they add variety to the game.

Graphics: 7.5 
The look of the city really fits the setting. Random gang fights go on, almost every piece if the environment is destructible, and the explosions look pretty realistic. The cars have a lot of detail and creativity to them, and the damage modeling is done really well.

Sound: 6.8
The soundtrack isn’t too great for the game. In my opinion, there isn’t enough variation. There are some talk radio stations that can be funny at times, but sound so vulgar and politically incorrect it almost seems forced. Other than the radio stations, the game is filled with machine gun fire and explosions…it’s cool.

Difficulty: Medium
With practice, Roadkill is quite easy. However, if you’re not familiar with the car combat genre it may be pretty tough. Some of the side games like “Survival” or “Riot” are harder than the main missions.

Concept: 8.5
Blending car combat with open environments and a city to explore was a great idea, but unfortunately Roadkill didn’t do exceptionally well with it. Being trapped in your car limits the amount of exploring you can do, and having such an open environment destroys those intense close-quarters battles you’d find in a car combat game. I think with some improvements this game could be great.

Multiplayer: 6.5
Unless you play with someone of the same skill level as you, you’re going to be bored with the multiplayer. All the multiplayer levels are boring and not that different, although there are tons of cool looking cars to play around with – yet they all have the same weapon set, so they’re not that different. With support for four players, though, you can get some cool battles going.

Overall: 7.8
No matter how hard you try, you can’t play this game and not think of Grand Theft Auto or Twisted Metal. It borrows a little from both games, but leaves out what makes each one special. Roadkill is a really fun game, even with the not-so-interesting story. It has its fair share of humorous moments, and also has its fair share of I-can’t-believe-he-just-did-that moments. Roadkill is good mindless fun, but don’t expect an incredibly deep game. Also, it is VERY mature, so beware.