Developer: Phantom Compass
Publisher: Phantom Compass
Platforms: PC
Tested on: PC
Auto Age: Standoff – Review
Auto Age: Standoff is a game that is aimed at the older gamers, or at least people who have been around from at least the 80s. To the younger audience: yes, people who are over 30 still game. Weird, right? Does this mean that players who aren’t in that age category won’t enjoy the game? No, not necessarily, it’ll just make them feel like they are missing part of the joke’s punchline. Then again, the game, just like 80’s cartoons, is mostly campy over the top action. Meaning: shut off your mind, petal to the metal and fingers on the triggers.
Story
America has gone to shit, but don’t worry, it’s still got a bright future from that point on, apart from the fact that the recovery of it rests in the hands of ‘wheeled warriors’. Should you choose to join the recreators of the world – and you will, there is no point to Auto Age: Standoff, otherwise – you’ll have to make a choice between the side of the sinister ‘Dark Jaw’ or the intrepid ‘Val Vega’. Basically, you’ll have to kill more people so there’s more work for your team to rebuild the nation. The main story is opened up with the tutorial, setting the scene, the villain and the hero so you know what is at stake. It’s quite well done, but for the rest of the game the story doesn’t really evolve or do anything apart from being the ‘opening’ act to the multiplayer aspect of the game.
Graphics
When it comes to visuals, Auto Age: Standoff could pass off as an 80s cartoon, such as Transformers, it’s almost uncanny. The cars are all shiny cell shaded, really driving the point home. Auto Age: Standoff mixes up both the vertical and horizontal axis on the plains and makes for a very interesting map. This makes it so you have to constantly be on the lookout where the enemy fire is coming from, and the camera can be quite fickle when you are trying to control it alongside keeping your eyes on the road, to make sure you don’t crash into anyone or anything hazardous.
You have a bar depicting your car’s health, but because the visual cues are so obvious, you’ll be hard pressed not to notice that you are on the brink of death when giant columns of smoke are billowing out of your vehicle and the chassis is vomiting fire. It’s really well done.
Sound
Auto Age: Standoff sounds as it should, the music is bombastic adding an extra layer of immersion. Also the added feeling of pure badassery boosts your confidence as you line up shots and take down your wheeled adversaries. The sounds of the guns aren’t exactly innovative, but for the sake of the game, it does make it clear that you are either shooting or being shot at. It’s clear, it’s crisp, so there’s nothing more a gamer could ask for.
The voice acting is actually quite nicely done and it sounds clear and even quite convincing, it’s just a shame that the game isn’t more story based, because the voices are mainly used in the tutorial and that’s it, which is a shame if you’ve hired such talents to only have them be a part for about fifteen minutes of the game.
Gameplay
Auto Age: Standoff is a driving arena based shooter. The controls are explained quite well in the tutorial, and they are quite easy to master. It’s the usual fare with W,A,S,D controlling the steering wheel and thus your direction, while the shift button lets you jump. Right mouse button lets you fire your main weapon, but it will overload so firing for longer periods of time is ill-advised. You also have secondary fire and some vehicles have more than one. To toggle between them, you can scroll the mouse wheel and fire with the left mouse button. Other than that it’s just kill and don’t be killed.
There are different types of cars for you to explore and they all have their ups and downs, so it’s up to you to master them all or take one type and really show off your prowess. You are also free to create and modify your own vehicle should you not find what you are looking for in the rather large roster of different cars.
Apart from the tutorial, there’s a ‘host a match’ mode, where you create a match and let other people join you, a multiplayer mode where you join in on other matches, and single player mode, where you take out your frustrations against NPCs. Currently the player base is quite low, so you might be playing quite a lot of the single player. The NPCs however are no slouches and they don’t take a beating lying down.
Conclusion
Auto Age: Standoff is a combination of Rocket League and Twisted Metal. So if you are looking for a game where you and a friend can duke it out in vehicular mayhem, or you want to play against other people across the world, then this is something right up your alley. If however, you like your shooters cover based and first person then you’d best keep looking.
Auto Age: Standoff - Review,
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