Vigilante 8
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| Vigilante 8 | |
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| Developer(s) | Luxoflux |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Release date(s) | June 8, 1998 |
| Genre(s) | Vehicular combat |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (T) |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color |
Vigilante 8 is a vehicular combat video game released in 1998 for the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Game Boy Color. It is a spinoff of the PC game Interstate '76, and features several concepts (auto-vigilantes, the 1970s time frame, and specific fictional vehicle companies) carried over from that title. Vigilante 8 was developed with a team of only five people (Peter Morawiec, Adrian Stevens, David Goodrich, Jeremy Engleman, and Edward Toth), a seemingly impossibly small team size for developing a PlayStation game, when most development teams for such a console ranged around 20–30 people in the 1990s. A sequel was produced, titled Vigilante 8: Second Offense, released for the PlayStation, Dreamcast, and Nintendo 64.
A third game in the Vigilante 8 series was announced for PlayStation 2 early in the system's life cycle, but no further information or game was ever released. The developer of the two Vigilante 8 games, Luxoflux, produced a game very similar to Vigilante 8 using the Star Wars licence (and the Vigilante 8 game engine), titled Star Wars: Demolition, and has since produced the Grand Theft Auto-inspired True Crime: Streets of LA.
Vigilante 8 is also very similar to the Twisted Metal series, but lacked the games' speed. Vigilante 8 and Vigilante 8 II were innovative in the degree of level interaction, weapon design and combo systems.[citation needed] Another popular feature was the fact players can load up their own music CDs to be played during gameplay. The V8 II also allowed the players to upgrade their vehicles with some notable physical changes.[citation needed]
[edit] Synopsis
There was a worldwide oil crisis and the U.S. was on the verge of an economic breakdown. Strikes, riots and crime were rampant. All available law enforcement was brought to the cities leaving the outlands vunerable.
A foreign multinational oil consortium, Oil Monopoly Alliance Regime (OMAR), was bound on monopolising the world oil trade. The U.S. was the last country that stood in their way and they were prepared to go to any length to bring the U.S. to its knees.
OMAR hired Sid Burn, a professional terrorist, to push the U.S. economy over the edge. Sid began to organise his troops in the remote areas of the southwest. Calling themselves the "Coyotes", they began to target oil refineries, commercial installations and other vital industry throughout the region.
With the law enforcement in the cities, some desperate civilians began to take the law into their own hands. Led by a trucker named Convoy and referred to simply as the "Vigilantes", this oddball group soon became a major hindrance to Sid.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government, feeling more vulnerable than ever, was intensifying its research and development of a new military arsenal. The most advance weaponary, rumoured to be based on UFO technology, was located at Site-4, a secret facility at Papoose Lake. This information was not lost on Sid, and the Coyotes ambushed the facility. However the Vigilantes unexpectedly appeared to stop them and as a result, both parties found themselves in possession of the world's most advanced weaponry.
What followed were no ordinary skirmishes. Auto clashes ensued all over the land, from Colorado's Rockies to California's farmlands, only to culminate in a battle like no other. To this day the events which took place are only a matter of speculation.
Vigilante 8 includes a variety of weapons, including the Sky Hammer Mortar, Interceptor Missiles, Bull's Eye Rockets, Roadkill Mines, and a lot of special weapons.
