This week, Critical Reception spotlights the Pseudo Interactive-developed/Sega-published
Full Auto for the Xbox 360. The game features arcade-style combat racing with fully destructible environments and the unique ability to "unwreck" yourself through the manipulation of time.
While reviewers were impressed with the game's explosions, differing opinions to its other merits led to a
so-so rating of 70%, according to review compilation website GameTab.com.
Leading the reviewer pack and giving
Full Auto a 80% is 1UP's Richard Li, who
states, "Although
Full Auto may not reinvent the extreme-racing genre, it does a spectacular job of raising the bar. At first glance, it may appear to be a considerably slower
Burnout clone, but upon further inspection, the game is an entirely different beast, breathing new life to a genre that is growing ever stagnant. Despite a few glitches and the occasional framerate problems,
Full Auto is simply a blast to play (pun intended)."
Coming in second and scoring the game a 71% is IGN's Charles Onyett who
concludes, "Despite
Full Auto's explosions and destruction, it still feels generic and dated at times. The environments get boring, there's more graphical slowdown than there should be in a next-generation title and the gameplay mechanics soon become tiresome, regardless of how they're dressed up and altered in Career mode. Even though online play is more fun, it still feels very similar to the single player experience. If you have a passion for vehicle combat and don't care about sophisticated driving mechanics or track design, Full Auto can be an enjoyable experience. For those looking for a game with more substance and lasting value, save your dollars."
Last, giving
Full Auto a very poor accounting with a rating of 60% is Eurogamer's Tom Bramwell who
explains in saying, "It's never bad (my tolerance for my own shortcomings notwithstanding, I can't endure those of a game for nine successive hours without a break if said game is the wrong side of good), but it's never good enough. Pseudo hasn't necessarily hit upon the wrong features, but the wrong balance; the racing model is too simplistic, combat and carnage too laboured or detrimental, and unwreck's a perpetual mulligan, a get-out-of-jail-free subscription."
While apparently not offering a deep experience depending on who you ask,
Full Auto is sure to offer plenty of explosions for those consumers who simply like blowing things up. And with a decided lack of Xbox 360 games being released at the moment, other consumers hungry for a fix might just snatch it up.
