Future Classics | Wreckless: Yakuza Missions

It's a shame that Halo took a lot of thunder away from a lot of games during the Xbox's launch window, albeit understandably. Wreckless: Yakuza Missions was one such title and even though it missed the US launch window, it did make it as a launch title here in Europe. Let me tell you, having Halo and Wreckless as the two titles for my shiny new Xbox was pretty damn great.

The graphics still look nice even today

First I have to discuss the graphics, which for the time were amazing. The game does go overboard in some of it's graphical filters (especially replays), but it definitely didn't fail to impress during it's launch. Smog would fill the streets, impressive vehicle reflections and the depth of field was a pretty rare graphical effect for it's time. Despite it's graphical prowess it also has a very appealing art style that screams early 00's. While trying to recreate a somewhat realistic intepretation of Hong Kong with some impressive haze effects, the game isn't afraid to use colour and coupled with great lighting gives the game a lively vibe.

Playing the game now you can't shake the feeling this game hearkens back to an earlier time, it feels like a Dreamcast game albeit with improved graphics.Gameplay is pure arcade fun with open level designs that encourage pure destruction of your enemies and the environment. Some mission will fill you in on the task of destroying X amount of vehicles, while others may provide street races, all centred around a cheesy Japanese story. Although the game is mission based, many levels hold secret vehicles for you to find along your way. Some will be well hidden away from the games objectives while others you had to obtain through tricky jumps. It's this added depth to the levels add much needed replayability as you try to find some of the best vehicles in the game.

In an early interview I dug out from a long defunct website from the Way back Machine, the games producers seemed like they set out in making a games that's just pure fun. Interestingly they note that they wanted to create a world that's comical while still retaining a level of realistim for more hardcore gamers. The developers go on to say they wanted to the game to be "a simple, easy to play game", a game a child can easily pick up and play. Ultimately I think they succeeded in what they wanted to achieve. Level design is centred around 5 - 10 minute missions which can be replayed with harder difficulty and to find those extra unlockable vehicles.

Destroying sutff never gets old

Later in the year the game was ported to other formats, however you're doing yourself an injustice if you pick up either the Gamecube or PS2 port. Both versions feature much appreciated new content such as: 20 new missions, a shoddy 2 player mode, 16 new vehicles and a free roam mode. However the games mechanics have gone through some small alterations that have drastically changed the gameplay. Cars now have rockets attached and is more comparable to the combat found in Full Auto, where you're more likely to sit further back and use your missiles to do all the damage.

Some slight alterations have also been made with the soundtrack too most notably the main menu which has been changed to being more rock than the funky Japanese soundtrack in the Xbox version. The PS2 version also differentiates itself further by exclusively using a modified version of Travelers Tales game engine and runs at 60fps as apposed to 30fps on Gamecube and Xbox. Despite the improved framerate and added content, the Xbox version is leaps and bounds ahead when it comes to graphical fidelity as the other ports lose a lot of detail with scaled back textures hampered further by lower resolutions. Overall the gameplay is just better on Xbox, the more refined focus on vehicle combat as apposed to weaponry based combat is just more involving and de-emphasises playing more cautiously.

The damage model is quite impressive

It's sad that we won't see another instalment in this excellent franchise. Wreckless feels like a history piece, a time in gaming which applauded pure arcade fun that's just missing from gaming these days. It's a Japanese mid tier developer in a world where mid tier developers are nearly extinct and Japanese development has radically evaporated over the years. Yes it's no masterpiece, but if you miss fun mission based arcade racers you can't go wrong.

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