Payback review

Payback is the most ambitious project ever conceived for the Gameboy Advance. It is nothing short of marvellous that Apex Designs' first commercial game is a fully-rendered, three-dimensional, free-roaming crime sim comparable to the hugely successful Grand Theft Auto series.The similarities to Rockstar's creation are so vast that Payback can almost be described as GTA in everything but name. Your character can enter any vehicle, run over pedestrians, carry an array of weaponry, pick up hidden packages, receive missions from pay phones and screech recklessly around large cities. Payback even carries across GTA's sick sense of humour - offering up, for example, an "irony bonus" whenever you run over somebody with their own car; "cop killa" when you've slaughtered enough of the law; and of course is not averse to displaying unhealthy amounts of claret at every opportunity.But unlike the original GTA (PSone), Payback's top-down view follows you around - the camera constantly facing the direction you (or your vehicle) are headed. While this is all very impressive, it can be extremely disorienting. If, for example, you get out of your car, the view will instantly face the new direction of your character - leaving you temporarily confused as to what way you were originally facing. It's a system that takes a while to get used to, but the on-screen map does make this easier. An option to change the camera setting (to make it fixed) would have been ideal, but no such luck.Further technical problems interfere with play; the GBA is simply not powerful enough to cope with what Payback attempts to offer. Let's get this out of the way first: the framerate is poor - very poor. Slipping into what appears to be single digits per second, the framerate is particularly off-putting when you're in a fast car. Indeed, trying to steer a police car safely around the city is practically impossible; if a sharp corner approaches whilst at full speed, you will see it in one frame and hit it in the next. There's simply no time to react.Payback also suffers from many of the problems which afflicted the older GTA games. Objectives are conveyed via text at the bottom of the screen, but missions will start as soon as they are 'activated' (by touching a pay phone, for example). Some missions are set against a strict time limit, but if you haven't finished reading the mission objective, the clock won't wait for you and you'll simply waste valuable time. Going into hostile territory can also prove daunting - you might suddenly get orders to kill everyone, only to have them all open fire before you've finished reading what to do! The blocky, grainy graphics make it hard enough to see what's happening without straining to read text and simultaneously dodging bullets.Missions, though, are quite imaginative. Stealing cars, bombing hideouts, infiltrating rival gangs, competing in street races or just plain old killing sprees; once you know what you're doing, you can have loads of fun finding imaginative ways to do it. Successfully completing a mission will earn you lots of points, and once you've cleared the set amount for that level, you'll unlock the next one. This usually takes around 15 minutes, but doesn't allow for interruptions (or saves) in-between. If you're planning on clearing a level, do so in one sitting (or just try out the missions for practice). Alternatively, points can be earned simply by causing as much mayhem as possible. The great thing about open-ended games like these is that it's entirely up to you how you'll tackle them!The cities themselves are well-designed and offer many secret routes, shortcuts and hidden passageways - leading onto rooftops as well as ground-level alleyways, sidings and ramps. Judging depth and where obstructions begin and end is tricky on a small screen, but one of the many things you'll get used to after playing Payback for a while.Each vehicle in the game (given fake names, such as "Fjord" and "Mundaneo") handles differently and very authentically. Little sports cars will pick up speed like a bat out of hell, and feel very lightweight - but they'll also take damage very quickly. Get in a bus, however, and almost nothing will be able to stop you (and hearing the passengers scream in terror is a nice touch). Normal tarmac gives you good friction, but travelling over grass means you'll struggle to retain speed and control. The second city has frozen areas, including a river, which sends your car skidding around like a pinball. Pulling off powerslides around corners is very satisfying.Each of the three main cities has two story modes to get through; that's only six levels lasting about 15 minutes each - not including retries. The third city plays host to a very dubious jailbreak sequence, which is just painful and tedious. But there's also a Rampage Mode, consisting of random missions which are designed to boost replayability. Speaking of which: you can also link up multiple gamepaks and have up to 4-player deathmatches. Apex have also included several other maps (some full-size cities, some smaller arenas) specifically for deathmatches or for causing all-out carnage (most of these have no missions programmed into them).Always there to spoil your fun are those pesky cops. Break the law and watch your 'wanted' rating increase; steal a police car (which is stupidly easy) and you'll instantly earn three stars - anything less than three and you're basically ignored. Running and hiding will very quickly reduce your wanted level, and even if you are confronted/surrounded by police, it's not too hard to escape them. Gamestyle supposes it's more fun that way - because you can get away with more - but the police AI (indeed that of the opponent AI) is very poor, often resulting in them shooting each other if they get in the way.Payback's music is limited, but is very suitable. Chilled-out dance tunes and more up-tempo 'chase' music have been digitally encoded with a reasonable amount of flair; there are no separate radio stations and the same beats are continually looped (it's simply a limitation that we have to deal with). Other sound effects are numerous and abundant - screeches, explosions, crashes and gunfire all take their rightful place within a very rich GBA soundscape. Payback is also memorable for its visual effects (the snow in particular looks lovely): reflections on cars, glowing sunlight, tyre marks, shadows, and smoke effects. There is even a very flashy intro video.Apex Designs is clearly a very talented group of people, and it's a shame that many of their ideas are too advanced for the hardware they've chosen. The whole game is immensely fun to play, but more often than not messy and difficult owing to slowdown and related screen-size issues. Interestingly, it is much easier to play when using the Gameboy Advance Player for Gamecube - because the pixels are brighter and more defined, the screen is much bigger, and there seems to be less evidence of it slowing down. Payback is ultimately the closest and most 'complete' version of a Grand Theft Auto-styled game you're going to see on the GBA, and if you can overlook its technical problems, it will provide many hours of satisfaction.