Vigilante 8

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Vigilante 8

Developer(s)	Luxoflux
Publisher(s)	Activision
Platform(s)	PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, Xbox 360 (XBLA)
Release date	June 8, 1998.
Genre(s)	Vehicular combat
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Teen (T)
Input methods	Gamepad

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 Stephens, 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 with improved graphics and more realistic physics. Vigilante 8 and Vigilante 8: Second Offense were innovative in the degree of level interaction, weapon design and combo systems.^{[citation needed]} Second Offense also allowed the players to upgrade their vehicles with some notable physical changes. It should also be noted that, in the Playstation version of the game, you may switch the Vigilante 8 disc with any audio CD to replace the game's soundtrack; the game will continue to play without the game disc.

1 Synopsis
2 Weapons
3 Character Info
4 Xbox Live Arcade
5 Banned Nintendo 64 Commercial
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Synopsis

This video game-related article or section describes an aspect of the game in a primarily in-universe style.
Please rewrite this article or section to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective.

The game's storyline is built around an alternate history, in which there was a worldwide oil crisis in the 1970s and the U.S. was on the verge of an economic breakdown. Strikes, riots and crime were rampant, and all available law enforcement were brought to the cities leaving the outlands vulnerable.

A foreign multinational oil consortium, Oil Monopoly Alliance Regime (OMAR), was determined to monopolize 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 organize 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 advanced weaponry, rumored 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.

[edit] Weapons

The game includes a variety of weapons, most of which are picked up during gameplay. Every vehicle is equipped with the Mosquito Machine Gun by default (which is relatively weak on its own, but has infinite ammunition). There are also several weapons that any player can pick up off of the battlefield:

Interceptor Missiles
Bull's Eye Rockets
Roadkill Mines
Sky Hammer Mortars
Bruiser Cannon

Each of these five weapons has two unique combos that can be performed by pressing a number of directions on the controller,example:mine=Right,left and down, etc. Followed by the machine gun button. These combos use varying amounts of ammunition, but are always either more powerful than a regular shot or have another useful effect (such as creating a decoy using two interceptor missiles). In addition to these weapons and combos, each character/vehicle also has its own "special" weapon that can be acquired from a green box that has "SPECIAL" written on it. The amount of a special weapon received, range of use, and damage output depend on the vehicle. For example, Slick Clyde's special, White Lightning, has a longer range than Houston 3's Super Fantastic Death Ray 3-Ax. Some specials serve other purposes, such as Shiela's Tantrum Gun which knocks weapons off other vehicles.

[edit] Character Info

Vigilantes

Chassey Blue ('67 Rattler)
Slick Clyde ('70 Clydesdale)
Sheila ('74 Stride)
John Torque ('69 Jefferson)
Dave ('70 Van)
- Locked
Convoy ('72 Moth Truck)
- Locked

Coyotes

Loki ('73 Glenn 4x4)
Houston 3 ('75 Palamino)
Boogie ('76 Leprechaun)
Beezwax ('70 Stag Pickup)
Molo ('66 School Bus)
- Locked
Sid Burn ('69 Manta)
- Locked

Bonus Character

Y the Alien ('64 Luxo Saucer)
- Locked

[edit] Xbox Live Arcade

Main article: Vigilante 8 Arcade

A remake for the Xbox 360, titled Vigilante 8 Arcade, is being created by Isopod Labs, an independent company formed by the founders of Luxoflux.The game will feature a high-definition rendition of the past games plus some added multiplayer levels and other features that have yet to be announced. It is set to be released the Spring 2008 for Xbox Live.^[1]

[edit] Banned Nintendo 64 Commercial

There was a commercial that was released after Vigilante 8's Nintendo 64 release. The video shows a school bus dropping kids off at a school. The bus leaves and there are gameplay clips of the game. In the end, a tow-truck returns the bus to the school to pick up the kids, and the bus is completely ruined, with the driver gone. After the Columbine High School massacre, the commercial was banned due to the references of school violence.

[edit] References

^ The game will feature the a high-definition rendition of the past games plus some added multiplayer levels and other features that have yet to be announced.[1]