Destruction Derby: Arenas
| Destruction Derby: Arenas | |
|---|---|
 European cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Studio 33 |
| Publisher(s) | EU SCEE NA Gathering |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Release date(s) | EU January 9, 2004 NA April 1, 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Multiplayer |
| Distribution | DVD |
Destruction Derby Arenas is a racing video game for the PlayStation 2. It was developed by Studio 33 and published by Gathering of Developers, and was released in 2004, being the fourth and final installment of the Destruction Derby series.
The game is notable for being one of the first PS2 games that had an online play feature. While it was the first title of the Destruction Derby series released for the PS2, the game was met with, overall, fairly low reception in comparison to its predecessors, due to its deviation of realism, no restart option in races, bad handling controls and reliance on a more cartoonish tone. It was therefore the last game of the Destruction Derby series, but the car crashing genre still continued with the likes of Flatout, which arguably could be the spiritual successor of Destruction Derby.
Drivers & vehicles
Set - A North African multi-millionaire who has a love for racing and gambling. He has had previous racing experiences before joining FODA such as the World 500, but his racing career would be nowhere without his talent in gambling. He has only lost in gambling once, particularly to Dravid Fortune who won thousands of dollars from Set. Set has since made Dravid his rival and enters the Omega Racing Team in order to win his money back. He drives #28 with the Egyptian flag as its paint job.
Cadence - A Canadian thrill seeker who has a deep passion for high stakes crash sports. He started racing on snowmobiles and eventually made it to Formula 4500 in his mid-teens and he showed an aggressive nature that promised potentiality, but because he was in it for the crashes, Cadence was eventually forced into the Black Fire Racing Team in FODA. Although Cadence detests everybody including his own teammates, his biggest rival is Mako, whom Cadence defeats the easiest and most frequently. He drives what resembles a Vauxhall Calibra, racer #16 with a purple and yellow paint job.
Jana Makucha - An African American woman who discovered her life’s dream in racing after seeing the Independents 700 when she was a child. She has since gone into various racing events and entered FODA in hopes of racing against the source of her inspiration, only for him to die racing against Red Widow. She has made friends in FODA such as the mournful Jeremaiah and enemies such as the chauvinistic Clarence Carver. She drives a Ford Torino, racer #20 with a yellow and black tiger stripe paint job.
Sebastian Marcel Noire - A fashionable, wealthy and suave Frenchman who contributed to the racing community since his youth beginning with the Formule Tour France series, though his racing career only nose-dived due to his lack of talent and his only strong point being money. He chose FODA racing to broaden his experiences and ultimately make up for his loses particularly going up against Jared Crane whom he blames for not making it to the F5500 series, where he became Lady Cassandra’s recent lover. He drives what appears to be a Toyota Supra, racer #10 with a white and blue paint job.
Canvas - An Australian competitor known for his variety of tribal body tattoos and his ability to intimidate everyone he comes in contact with. He feeds off of people’s fear of him, but he has only encountered one racer who refuses to fear him: Lt. Johnson. Johnson’s lack of fear for Canvas has fueled more than Canvas’ rivalry with Johnson; Canvas has become so disturbed by not being feared by Johnson, that he feels it’s necessary to bring Johnson to his knees or kill him in the race. He drives a Pontiac Firebird, racer #17 with a white and black tribal tattoo paint job.
Johnny Yin/Jimmy Yang - An Asian man suffering from amnesia and split personality disorder who only remembers being a talented race-car driver. His split personalities are key to his success in FODA racing: his passionate personality Johhny is calm and defensive behind the wheel while Jimmy is wild and aggressive. He drives a black and white Dodge Viper.
Jeremaiah - Old fashioned racer who lost his best friend to Red Widow on the race tracks. He has since seen Red Widow as a killer and he vowed to avenge his friend’s death in the FODA races so as to beat the Red Widow in the races by death or by simply winning against her. He’s known for his trademark black uniform that symbolizes the eternal mourning of his friend. He drives a dark blue and white ‘60’s coupe, racer #33.
Lady Cassandra - A wealthy and beautiful young English woman who got into racing from her husband who was a Texan oil company owner and racing sponsor. Once she found her taste in racing, she divorced him and went into FODA. Although she may not be recognized for her talent, she is one to survive many dangerous races, almost out of luck. She is actually very cold hearted and selfish as her only reason for taking part in the FODA racing now is solely to get revenge on her cheating ex-lover Danni Brennan. She drives a pink and black ‘70’s muscle car, racer #99.
Danni Brennan - A suave German racer of Black Fire Racing Team who is known as a ladies man with his good looks, tight fashion and rugged tastes. He’s quite popular in FODA as the ‘pretty boy’ of the league and is considering going into Hollywood fame if he keeps his racing career steady. He has been known however for his infidelity as he has been thrown out of previous racing teams for having affairs with his boss’ attractive wives. Such was the case when he was dating Lady Cassandra and she found him cheating on her, but he has never been intimidated by her. He is identified by his trademark orange and yellow flame design on black. He drives a modern sports car, racer #22 with his trademark colors as its paint job (only with a golden flame).
Jared Crane - An ex-circuit racer who was originally a part of the ABC racing trio, but his fellow racing members (who represented A and B) were stripped of their abilities to race due to Jared’s recklessness while racing and he suffers from post traumatic stress disorder from their loss. He has since become suicidal which only adheres to his racing talent as being an aggressive driver and has vowed to meet the same fate as his friends. Only problem is that he’s so good that no one has since taken him down. Similar to Jeremaiah, he is known by his trademark leather jacket covered in piles of skulls. He drives a purple modern Ford Mustang, racer #666 with his trademark skulls speckled on it.
Red Widow - An attractive young woman who has been mysteriously cursed at birth to cause death among those close to her. She has led an unhappy life because of her death-curse as her family denounced being involved with her and any and all friends and lovers would die in rare fatal accidents. The curse however gave her a great career in FODA racing as any and all rivalries against her would die in accidents in or out of the race. She drives a black and red ‘60’s Chevrolet Corvette with a gray spider web on the hood.
Featuring cars from the Demons Race Team, Darlaston, West Midlands.
Minor characters
Bob Blackwell - Owner of the Black Fire Racing Team.
Lyle Bradshaw - Jana’s source of racing inspiration, died in a racing accident against Red Widow.
Chanice - A gold-digger and Dravid’s current girlfriend.
External links
- The Demons Race team cars feature in this game.
- Official site
- Destruction Derby: Arenas at GameSpot