XXX [GBA]

It's obvious that Activision's rights to the xXx movie didn't include likenesses from the movie. The player-controlled character kinda, sorta looks like Vin Diesel...well, he's bald, muscular, and if the GBA resolution was sharper he'd have tattoos all over his body. But the Samuel L. Jackson character...hoo, man, I've seen guys at McDonalds that bear better resemblance than the likeness the artists created for this game. Luckily, he only shows up in a little window during the mission briefings.

So, what exactly did the design team get out of the license deal, beyond the name of the film? The game's plotline is slightly similar to what attendees of the film will see unfold, with obvious liberties made to spread the game out to more than a dozen levels or so. Unfortunately, some of the videogame-esque scenes in the movie for whatever reason didn't make the cut in the actual videogame; Digital Eclipse just went the safe route with a run-of-the-mill platform shooter. Granted, the game isn't half-bad, but when you think of all the sequences in the film, it's a bit underwhelming and disappointing to see the new action-hero uncreatively hop on crates and search for hidden icons.

Features

• Two modes of play
• Eleven missions
• Cartridge Save (three slots)
• Only for Game Boy Advance

The game breaks down into two basic level designs. The main sequence is a side-scroller where players run around huge levels as Xander, blasting bad guys with his always unholstered weapon...the animation of this guy with his gun perpetually aimed is just a little too goofy to watch. These levels start out incredibly easy and really don't seem balanced for any sort of challenge. Xander himself is near bulletproof, able to take more than a dozen hits without needing a power-up health refresher...and the level designers scattered so many health items and weapons around the areas that it's actually more of a challenge not to die.

But as cakewalk as the first couple levels are, the wake-up call comes in the form of a behind-the-bike motorcycle challenge that's just incredibly frustrating the first couple times through. The designers essentially lifted Electronic Arts' Road Rash game for this level, requiring players to get through miles of extensive roadway relatively unscathed. Unfortunately, the bike's a gas-guzzler, and you'll have to run over fuel icons to keep the tank full. And, of course, the bike's not indestructible, so if you take too many collisions against the traffic. By hitting the shoulder buttons, players can defend themselves against assault from either side by enemy bikers...but once you learn the trick it's better to let the innocent traffic take them out instead.

Once past this first racing level, the challenge of the side-scroller does increase...but only a notch or so. The problem is that the enemies fire in patterns that can be read the second you encounter them. 90 percent of the bad guys shoot their bullets at a height that can be easily dodged simply by ducking. So, essentially, if you see an enemy, all you have to do is duck and shoot and you'll rarely take a hit. Deeper in the game you'll finally encounter the two enemies that can actually shoot lower than Xander's head...but since he can absorb so many hits and pick up so many health power-ups in these levels, it's rare when you find yourself needing to restart at the beginning. At least the levels are massive with plenty of bad guys to shoot and a few satisfying weapons to utilize...the AK-47 and Shotguns are definitely fun to toy around with.

The graphic quality of the side-scroller isn't revolutionary by any means, with harsh angles drawn for every background in the game. The perspective drawn contradicts the limited directions you can move...basically, the artists produced floors that extend to the background, but character's can't go back there, stuck on an invisible one-pixel-thick pathway. But if there's a crate back there, hey, you can jump right on top of it. Huh? There's not a whole lot of variety in the tilesets used in each level...especially in the Road Rash challenges. The Mode 7 engine is incredibly smooth with lots of hills and roadside objects, but the fact that there's only one repeating texture tile on the ground is a bit distracting.

©2002, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved