I was flipping through the demos up on the marketplace and saw something called "Crash Time" from Synetic and RTL...I downloaded the demo. After playing it for a bit, and brushing my teeth to get the vomit taste out of my mouth, I came here to bitch about it, and warn anyone who will listen...

I had no clue what the game was (aside from something the crashes, and having time) about so I think I went in as objectively as could be. I guess I was a cop and I have to solve a case....So I have to pull a driver over, and do this...But the insane amount of HUD taking over my screen was startling. there is only about 40% of the screen that isn't covered in some sort of HUD related thing. But here's the thing, you can't remove the enormous map, because you would really be lost (more so than I can say)....You have a big old speedometer at the bottom of the screen, and it literally takes up THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN...

And then there is some kind of 'distance ahead/behind meter covering the left of the screen...But not just numbers, no no no....It has pictures of the car you're chasing, or cars you're racing along with how much damage they have incurred. Oh I almost forgot, there is also a part just below the other cars/distance/damage thing, that tells you your damage, and how many checkpoints you have gone through, and are left. Oh yeah, there is also a big ol' arrow at the top of the screen to tell you which direction you should be going in, but it doesn't really, since it points at your next checkpoint, but the checkpoint is miles away, and in a different direction, so the arrow is really useless...As is the map track when you're going for checkpoints, because if you get off track, there is no way to know. I mean, the game told me the arrow would point across the country, so don't mind it, but stya on the main roads, and they go all over...

Aside from the garbled screen, what you can see on the screen is an original Xbox/PS2 looking game, with all the flair and gameplay you would expect....5 years ago. I know it is an arcade racer, but arcade doesn't mean no skill required. (Good arcade racers don't that is). Also, there were some policemen talking amongst themselves, and then talking to the chief, and the new recruit....And all of them sounded like shit. It was sort of reminicent of the voices in Midtown Madness 3, but that isn't accurate because there is no charm, or anything funny going on. It all sucks.

The game feels like freeware...Or maybe shareware, but that is being nice, thinking someone would pay for this. What kind of shocks me is that more than one person sat in a room and thought this was a good idea, and nobody stopped them...And then they sold this notion to a publisher, and nobody there stopped them...And now it is going to be sold in a store for real money...I'm trying to stop you...From wasting whatever money you have on this. Don't buy it, don't rent it, I'd even say don't DL the demo but I'm sure there will be some curiosity and that can't be helped...At least that won't make anyone money, or take your hard earned dollars away from you. Here are some pics, and video to show you what actual SUCK looks like. Don't stare into it too long, because like an eclipse, you might get blinded by the shing light of sucktitude.

This video makes you think "Hey, this might not suck". That is wrong, just like the cake, that is also a lie!


These screens don't show exactly the HUD in the demo, combine all three parts of the HUD you see in the screens, and that is the HUD on the game in the Demo. Honest.