Customer Reviews

Test Drive: Eve of Destruction

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is, without a doubt, the most enjoyable racing came I've played since the original "DESTRUCTION DERBY" for the PSone. I loved playing that game, because as the race progressed the track would become littered with the crushed hulks of the cars, black smoke belching from the engine. It was so much fun. And now this new "TEST DRIVE" game has the same insane fun factor and more cars, tracks, unlockables and bone-jarring crashes than any demoltion derby nut could want!

One thing I love about this game is that, unlike other racers, coming in first in the events is not what you need to do to advance through the game. You instead are rewarded for hitting your opponents - HARD!!!! - and/ or knocking them out of the race (called Kills in the game). The more crashes and kills you rack up, the higher your reputation rating goes. And that is how you unlock cars, tracks, video footage of real derby doings (those guys are nuts!!!), and feats ( such as being able to shoot live chickens out the front of your car that explode on impact - sending chicken feathers all over and any unlucky opponent flying into the air or off a cliff ).

There is a large selection of cars and some fun, special vehicles like school buses ( almost indestructible, my favorite car in the game being the rainbow colored bus ), a mail truck, ambulance, taxi and a hearse complete with a coffin in the back ( the red one is called "The Dead Sled") .

The tracks are nice and the race events are way cool! There are so many different types of events, you'll never get bored. There are figure-8 jump races ( in the center there are jumps and the cars fly into the air often crashing with the cross traffic ), forward-backward races ( one lap driving forward, the next backward ), suicide races ( half the pack goes in one direction, the other half in the opposite direction causing many crashes and smashes ), flagpole races ( twice a lap you must drive around a flagpole before continuing ), demolition derbys, push-offs ( like the demolition derbies, only you get extra points for each car you knock out or push-out of the circle ), and on and on.

In action mode you can pick your car, how many races you want to do at one track (1,3,5,7) and which ones (very nice!) and then go out and run your opponents off the road!

In career mode you start out with a little junky car and not much cash. You must enter into events, earn reputation points and cash, buy new cars ( fasters and more durable ) and eventually become the top ranked driver. It is loads of fun, believe me. You will have a blast!

The graphics are quite nice. Doors fly open, hoods are torn off, cars burst into flames, black smoke billows out of their wrecked engines - all to some fine haevy metal music.

I've been playing this game almost every day since I bought it and don't see myself growing tired of it anytime soon. In fact, as I buy new games to play, I believe that this will be one game I'll keep coming back to again and again for a crashing good time!

I know there are other really BIG racing games coming out soon (GT4, MIDNIGHT CLUB 3, NFS UNDERGROUND 2), but don't let that make you ignore this smaller title. I believe any car nut/ racing fan will really enjoy this game and have a good time for many hours. In short, buy it, you'll like it! I know I did. Can you tell? - George Bauch.

I have rented alot of demo derby games and none of them compare to this one. This game has racing, derbys, and other games such as car soccer. The damage is very realistic. I thought the game was easy and I beat it in 17 hours. Or you can beat it in a whole day if played constantly, but the game is so addicting, you will want to beat it again. This game blows other demo derby games away. I think this game is worth the money.

Alot of times i will have trouble getting into racing games due to 1 or 2 small things that make the game a drag... but this one i have beaten 3 times and still enjoy playiong it!!!!

The Cars are excellent (i love the hearse), Physics and Damage are amazingly realistic.... very cool unlockable Videos. Tons of diffrent race modes, and a Very good soundtrack!!!

The ONLY thing that i think is a little dissappointing is the fact that SOME of the event types are not playable in the Carreer mode (out of about 25 diffrent styles of events..only about 3 are NOT in the Career mode).


I recomend you pick up this game.. if you like racing, and like Demolition derby style play... You will love this game Beyond words!!!!

When I bought this game, I had little idea of the doors it was going to open to remind me of the vintage, small town demo derbys I went to during my childhood and teenage years. There's no NASCAR cars here or formula one racers, no modern driving techniques or special, millenium style scenarios. It's straight back to the small town, state fair, dirt track style demo derbies and races with 50's, 60's, and 70's Fords, Dodges, and Chevys spray painted with numbers and stripes and ready to hit the tracks for fender bender mayhem!
You also DON'T have to be a racing video game guru to win these races! There are playing levels from rookie to legend in this game. Even in the legend level, if you can steer and go around the track, handle basic racing strategies, you have a great chance of winning! Winning and racing are a hoot in this game with the addition of the announcer shouting your name as the winner or teasing you because you came in last!
The races are wildly entertaining, from demo derbies to figure 8 races to races I hadn't even thought of. The Gauntlet involves racing a hearse around the track five times while other drives try to wreck you. The Suicide Race is exciting while the other half of the cars come at you head on. Detention is absolute mayhem fun, driving a schoolbus trying to destroy the other cars on the track. Some races aren't exactly easy, The Whiparound Race isn't as easy as it sounds, but fun to try (I can only imagine how true drivers managed to turn around going full speed while racing). My favorites are the figure 8 jump race and the down to basics demo derby.
Replay action is awesome in this game. You can choose several options to view the race from many angles and it gives great opportunities to see how well you've done or witness better some of the spectacular crashes that can happen in this game.
There's a large selection of vintage cars to choose from. In career mode, it takes a bit more work to earn money to get them, but when you reach certain levels, it's fun to take the cars to the garage and "spray paint" them with your own names, logos, designs, and numbers. The special effects are also great, from the bursts of flames from the pipes protruding through the hoods to smoking engines to the banging sounds of cars crashing into each other.
I have spent countless hours playing this game and it's still fun. It takes me back to the carnival and fair days when I would sit and wait for the racing/demo derby to begin.
Whoever invented this game-a big handshake to you and THANKS for making life such great fun for demo derby enthusiasts!

Among the various racing games I have played, this is easily one of the more fun games. I enjoy car racing games probably more than other types of games, and I have enjoyed games like Grand Turismo a lot. However, I think Eve of Destruction is probably the best and most gratifying video games I've played. Grand Turismo is a stellar game, but I did find that it was rather complicated, and it had a steep learning curve, and it took a long time to become even a modest player--but it is still a fun game (I would like to point out that I did cut my video game playing teeth on the old school nintendo, so it may take a dinosaur like me more time to master these new fangled video games that the kids these days love so much). Eve of Destruction was easy enough to master to make it fun from the start of play.

Basically the premise of the game is entirely built around demolition derby events. So, there are all these different types of races (like the Jump race or the figure 8 race) and then there are these other events (like the demolition derby, the gauntlet) where one doesn't race so much as just repeatedly drive one's own car into others' cars. Basically, in the various events, the more one hits other cars, the more points one earns; the more points one earns the more stuff gets unlocked. So, essentially, the more one hits the other cars during the game, the better the game gets. As I said, it's quite gratifying.

There are a good selection of different cars with different capabilities. Compact cars, muscle cars, cars that are designed either for speed or good handling or delivering/taking abuse (I prefer using the "Gladiator" which is somewhat like a late 1960s Dodge Charger). In the straight up action mode, one can choose from any number of cars, including 'specialty' cars like a school bus, police car or ambulance. Career mode is a lot of fun as well. One starts out with a crappy car, but once one enters events and earns money, one can buy upgrades or better cars while climbing the Eve of Destruction rankings.

The one criticism I have is that the game has an "announcer" which is fine, but he tends to repeat himself. The game also has music which I did not care for, but you can turn it off, so, I can't much complain about that. I guess you can also turn the announcer off, so maybe I don't have much room to complain about that either. Whatever.

best derby game ever made!great metal crunching crashes and mind blowing hits!you earn money by going to derby compititions.then you can buy pretty cool cars then go to the garage to add performance upgrades and paint to your car.you can paint your car by using the analog sticks.so that means you can have any paint design you want to make!the game is pretty easy though.I beat it like six times!you can even place bets on racing,so if you win for example you would get like $1,100.00.the events are awesome there is the figure 8 race,fig 8 jump race,demo derby,jump race,suicide race,and ect.you can have up to 4 cars.there is cars for racing,and cars for destruction.oh yeah and by the way this game isn't like destruction derby arena or those other games. This one is like your at the fair in a real demo derby.the cars don't look like nascars, they look like the cars at the demo derby's at the fair.so overal this is a great game.it was $40.00 but now it's like $10.00 or $15.00.so it's a great buy.

I cant put this game away. Awesome single player campaign or pick a friend and knock each other around in demolition derby

I've played A LOT of racing games. This is by far and away the best racing game i've owned. to be perfectly honest the only reason i haven't traded my ps2 in yet, is because of this game. always fun, always entertaining, and you don't do the same thing over and over (ie nascar) plus its great when you feel the need to destroy something. i love it and recomend it to every one.

This game is very fun, I don't think i'll ever be bored of it, and if I do, I won't for long. This game is very fun. Best Demo Derby game I've ever played, very realistic, no unrealistic powerups or explosions, all pure demolition with all the destruction of a real Derby. But there's also Demoltion Derby races, as well as fun features like playing soccar with a giant soccer ball, having to get it in the goal by running your car into it past the other team. Or Detention where you get to drive a school bus racing one way against a bunch of cars coming toward you. You can be in many different cars like regular demo cars, hearse's, school bus's, ambulance's, and more!

I recommend this game for everyone!

It's a very good game. I think it is the best one in the series. What makes this game great is the detail, and the gameplay itself. The only 2 flaw's I saw was the loading time and the handling of each car. But still, it is a great racing game. The BEST IN THE SERIES!