During the time of the original Playstation, vehicular combat games were at its infancy. Gamers all over the world loved Twisted Metal and it sequel World Tour. Activision then stepped up into the market with Vigilante 8. Even though it was still a vehicular combat game, what made Vigilante 8 innovative was the fact that everything in the environment can be destroyed. This was something that the Twisted Metal games didn't have or was only done in a limited scenario. Add on to the fact that Vigilante 8 rocked out a funky '70's style made players get their inner "Shaft" on. Now on Xbox Live Arcade, Vigilante 8 brings the classic original rebuilt from the axle up. It also features high-definition graphics upgrades and online multiplayer, but still keeps the funky '70's beat. Vigilante 8 is one bad mother...SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!

Here's a little storyline info for you. The year is 1975 and the United States was in an oil crisis (sounds familiar) and months of civil unrest. With no law enforcement, the Coyotes ravaged the countryside while armed with experimental alien weaponry. The government then creates a new breed of crimefighters, the Vigilantes, to combat the evil Coyotes and restore order. I know that the storyline sounds a little stale, but then again what else are you expecting from a vehicular combat game. All we cared about was blowing stuff up because the purpose of the game is simply destroy or be destroyed.

Just like the PS1 original, you'll still have all the classic characters like Convoy in his Semi, John Torque in his Jefferson, Beezwax in the RC truck, and even Molo in his Bus. There are eight characters in all, along with one secret character, an alien called "Y," to do battle with. Each character's vehicle has its own ratings in terms of strength and salvage, acceleration, top speed, and radar evasion. Along with your trusty machine gun, each character also has a special attack including Beezwax's Bees, Sid Burns' Flamethrower, and even John Torque's Bass Quake.

The combat takes place on five large 3D battlegrounds: Oil FIelds, Ski Resort, Meteor Crater, Farmland, and Hoover Dam. Each of them are 100% fully destructible so cause as much damage as you want to. Each stage also contains various power-ups for you to obtain including mountable weapons (missiles, mortars, cannons, mines, and special weapons), repair wrenches, alien artifacts, shields, radar jammers, and damage multipliers.

When you run over a mountable weapon, it will show up on your vehicle. This was something Twisted Metal didn't do. Each weapon is mapped out to a button on the d-pad so you never got confused about what your firing. Each map also featured environmental weapons like an avalanche on Ski Resort, or the large oil tanks on Oil Fields. These led to massive damage to your opponents. Once your opponent is almost destroyed, you then have the option to total them for an extra bonus. Once destroyed, they leave behind salvage parts which you collect to help upgrade your car.

While everything I've told you sounds cool so far, there are some things that keep Vigilante 8 Arcade from being great. Single players, the game can get old really quick if your playing in single player only. The game does offer a variety of modes for single players besides the Main Quest mode. There is also a Quick Battle and Custom Battle modes which allow you play against up to seven A.I. controlled bots. Also featued is a Free Wheelin' mode which allows you to just check out the large maps on our own with no interference while looking for alien artifacts (this is how you unlock the secret alien character). If your getting tired of playing with yourself, then hop online for multiplayer battles on Xbox Live. You can play with up to eight players in either deathmatch or team deathmatch. You can also play the game with a friend in split-screen as well. This should help in adding replay value to a shallow game.

There are some other issues that deter from the gameplay experience. One thing is the camera angles can suffer from clipping issues when you crash into another vehicle or environmental object, but this doesn't happen often. Also online multiplayer games suffer from occasional lag, so make sure your playing with people with good online connections. The vehicles don't look like they're on the map surface and appear to "float" from time to time. Finally, the games controls are quite awkward in default, so I suggest to select the "Classic V8" controls for everyone who played the game on the PS1. You would think with all the time they had making the game from scratch along with the failed certification process from Microsoft that these issues would be fixed, but I guess someone missed the ball.

Vigilante 8 Arcade is a great alternative for Xbox fans who miss the Twisted Metal games, or if our just looking for games where you just like to blow stuff up. The vehicular combat gameplay along with the funky '70s music will keep you groovin. There is some downloadable content on the way featuring extra maps and characters to help keep the game fresh. While this game is not perfect, fans of the series will still find the game worth the 800 points to spend on it. I would strongly suggest you give the demo a spin first before making an impulse buy.