Oh, am I supposed to talk about the rest of the game and critique the somewhat monotonous credibility that this game supposedly offers? Or can I just say that I'd rather put myself out there and perform barrel rolls and smash through cars?

Seriously though… Now I have to admit, when I first saw the posters up for this game at the 2001 E3 (that's the Electronic Entertainment Expo), it looked interesting. I wasn't going to be judgmental on it, simply because I didn't know what to expect. I was going to assume that, since it was based on stunts and movie-making, this game will be somewhat fun since you can do all of those crazy things that those lucky (and sometimes unlucky) stunt performers get to do. I should have smacked someone for releasing such blasphemy.

Now yes, I am being a bit too harsh. Maybe I expect a bit of reality to fall into play when I sit down and check out games like this… you know, games based on real life. But to be honest, Stuntman could have done better.

The history that the game goes into about stunt performers is pretty compelling and somewhat fascinating. It gets your mind set on the task at hand. Of course for the rest of the game, it's one blind drive through crap that leaves you confused and frustrated because you don't know what's going to happen next.

This will be the first gripe. Now, I'm under the assumption that in real life, stunt performers are aware of the stunts they will be performing before filming takes place. However in this game it basically starts you in a car, you hear a director yell "Action!", and next thing you see is a bunch of fluorescent signs telling you what to do, while the director is in the background barking at you and yelling about what to do (i.e. hit the boxes, through the gap, over the house, through the train). This is stuntwork?

For the first couple of missions, I let this slide. Most of it is pretty basic, and it's pretty damn funny! However, as you progress through the game, it gets more tedious and somewhat ridiculous. After the first movie you shoot (which the title is "Toothless In Wapping"… what the hell kind of movie title is that?!), you are then placed in a Dukes of Hazzard scene where the requirements are pretty burly. One of the first stunts is launching your car off of a hill, crashing through a chimney, landing and proceeding to the next stunt, which involves two trains running simultaneously and a narrow gap for you to jump through. All of which must be pulled off amongst other stunts which seem to pop up within a second's notice. This pretty much requires you to restart the stunt sequence every time because you never know what is coming up next, and it all must be near perfect if not dead-on.

Controlling your ride is somewhat exceptional, the physics of the car simulate that of real life, and seems a lot more forgiving than what you would expect if you compared it to Gran Turismo 3. The other issue I have is the interaction with the car and the surrounding environments. On most games, it is pretty obvious that you can't take out a tree with a Mazda Miata, or with any car for that matter (unless you're sporting a tank). However, when the heck did signposts become indestructible?! This expectation was blown away as I decided to try and cut a corner while taking out a yield sign….. and believe me, from personal experience that signpost should have been flying through the air!

Graphics are what I would have expected from the company that made the Driver series. I wasn't too impressed with Driver, and when I saw Stuntman it was a step-up, but nothing to write home about. Looks like they wanted to try and focus on the gameplay and action rather than give us great, eye-popping graphics. Could have saved the game in my opinion.

I can honestly say that Stuntman could have been a lot better, in many ways. I could see if Atari wanted to give the player a full-on realistic feel for what a stuntman goes through, but I think the word "realistic" was beaten to death. Granted, it is fun to race around and jump off ramps, pummel through cars, ride on two wheels, dart through trains, blast through explosions… but it would be nice to see where you're going at the same time.