Reservoir Dogs

The Good
When I first saw Reservoir Dogs sitting on the shelves I have to admit I was very intrigued, though I thought it was originally the movie that accidentally got put in with the video games, but I was taken back when I realized it was an actual video game, but for $49.99, I cautiously (and thankfully) waited until it dropped more or until I can rent it. Only a couple of months later it was down to $9.99 in the bargain bin and instantly my brain screamed like that robot from Lost in Space, "DANGER, DANGER!", but for 10 bucks and a based on a great movie, what they heck, can't be that bad...right?

Well, there is a good bit to love this game especially the music, which is authentic including "Stuck in the Middle with You" which instantly took me into the feel of a movie. Not only that, the voice acting is actually outstanding, sadly though on Michael Madson reprised is role as Mr. Blonde while the rest were impersonators, but they actually did a phenomenal job including the guy who did Steve Buscemi. I wanted to reach into the movie and hit Buscemi, but this guy actually is worse (which is a good thing) than him and makes we want to find this guy and choke him, he is that good of an impersonator.

The cinema graphics are exceptional, smooth, fluid and the lip sync is actual perfect, something some next-gen games can even get right nowadays. Plus, another feature I really enjoy is I guess what would be considered "Bullet Time" à la Max Payne. It's actually comes in very handy at times considering the insane amount of cops that can appear on screen at any given time.

But, the one thing that really draws me in is the concept and storytelling. Granted it is based on the movie and recreates that, but there are also side stories that tell of how everything came to be afterwards like where the diamonds were hidden and what happened to certain characters and how it lead up to their fates. I especially love the Psycho/Professional path you can take which determines which ending you can see, it actual gives it a bit of a challenge since you have to not kill a lot of cops and civilians, which can be very hard to do at times.

The Bad
Well, for everything I like about this game, there are more that actually makes me hate this game. One of which is the constantly revolving camera, it's like it has ADD and can't make up its mind which angle is the best and can actually make you a bit sick at times. Even though I did like the cinema graphics, the in-game graphics are a different story. Sadly there are a bit jagged at times and some of the characters have a bit of blockiness to them from time to time.

Another thing that this game and most of the genre suffers from is the control and targeting. The control is a little off which is a little odd since it's analog and sometimes when I try to move up and to the right, instead my character does a severe right angle. I thought at first it was my controller, but after trying it with several other's I still got the same result. Also, the targeting system is hectic such as trying to target a nearby enemy but instead it targets an enemy far away. Hostage taking is also very, very tedious, taking forever at times and most of the time my hostage ends up getting killed by the cops that are trying to hit me and hitting them instead and gets very very annoying since I get the blame for it.

But all of this is nothing compared to the complete asinine feature which is the driving stages. Now granted without these stages the game would be a bit shorter, plus it would mess up some plot holes essential to the game, but I thought they could have been a bit better. At first I took the stages seriously trying not to damage my car and avoiding every potential collision, but after hitting a box truck head on...my car bounced completely backwards and then I realized that it's like I'm playing Crazy Taxi. I'm trying to get a passenger to a location in a certain time limit and bouncing off of vehicles like rubber. It's kinda sad and frustrating at times as well since you can actually get caught on guard rails and trees and get stuck at times and cause me to lose my game, another annoyance.

The Bottom Line
All in all, Reservoir Dogs is a mixed bag. For everything I see that makes me say "Holy Crap!", I find something else that makes me say "Oh crap, come on". I truly wanted to like this game so much since I love the movie, but the clunky controls, sickening camera movement and the pointless driving stages makes me want to stop playing it and just let it collect dust on the shelves, but the great acting and beautiful cinemas keep making me come back again and again.

If you're a fan of the movie at least check it out, just don't expect a masterpiece, but if you have never experienced the movie before, rent that instead because if you play this game first, you might actually be put off by the movie.