Looking for co-op games to play with my son, I revisited "Harms Way", a game that was a free download back 2010 on Xbox Live - along with "Doritos Crash Course". It's a fun but brief experience, that I feel could have been expanded into a better game, given some investment.
Racing teams consist of four teams of two, one player takes the role of driver and the other gunner. Whilst the racers drive around the track in a traditional style, collecting power ups and shields, the gunners can take control of mounter positions around the track and can shoot at the opposing cars, to increase their teams' chances of winning.
There are four different types of vehicle available, each with different stats. The gun positions can upgrade from a rifle, to machine gun, to air strike and finally to missiles.
When you come to accept that the game was free, you can't help but be impressed by the work that's gone into it. There are only four courses, each of which exist in a sandy, post-apocalyptic looking environment, but each course has short cuts and traps that can be opened up or utilised by gunners to help or hinder. The racing control is pretty good, although the vehicles could do with a little more balancing as winning the races is markedly easier in the smaller buggy or pickup truck, than it is either the bigger truck or bus options.
The draw back is the lack of courses, which means you'll learn the tracks by heart after a few games and it loses some appeal. Being the gunner is perhaps the more fun aspect. The four gunners battle for control of each turret, so you can gamble on picking ones that cover more of the course than others or try and keep with the race and picking on your rivals. Straight shots through the windscreen's are instant kills, whilst hitting the tyres will temporarily send the driver off course.
I do think there's the essence of a game here that's a lot of fun and given a bit more polish and a lot more levels, one that could have made a much bigger impact on the industry than it ultimately did.
Racing teams consist of four teams of two, one player takes the role of driver and the other gunner. Whilst the racers drive around the track in a traditional style, collecting power ups and shields, the gunners can take control of mounter positions around the track and can shoot at the opposing cars, to increase their teams' chances of winning.
There are four different types of vehicle available, each with different stats. The gun positions can upgrade from a rifle, to machine gun, to air strike and finally to missiles.
When you come to accept that the game was free, you can't help but be impressed by the work that's gone into it. There are only four courses, each of which exist in a sandy, post-apocalyptic looking environment, but each course has short cuts and traps that can be opened up or utilised by gunners to help or hinder. The racing control is pretty good, although the vehicles could do with a little more balancing as winning the races is markedly easier in the smaller buggy or pickup truck, than it is either the bigger truck or bus options.
The draw back is the lack of courses, which means you'll learn the tracks by heart after a few games and it loses some appeal. Being the gunner is perhaps the more fun aspect. The four gunners battle for control of each turret, so you can gamble on picking ones that cover more of the course than others or try and keep with the race and picking on your rivals. Straight shots through the windscreen's are instant kills, whilst hitting the tyres will temporarily send the driver off course.
I do think there's the essence of a game here that's a lot of fun and given a bit more polish and a lot more levels, one that could have made a much bigger impact on the industry than it ultimately did.
