VG Review: Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice

“PURSUIT FORCE: EXTREME JUSTICE”
Sony, for PlayStation Portable, rated T for Teen (alcohol refer­ence, tobacco reference, mild language, violence), $29.99.

The first “Pursuit Force” game was a silly but fun bit of testosterone nonsense where you played a futuristic cop dedicated to meting out justice while jumping from moving vehicle to moving vehicle, guns blazing.

The new sequel, “Extreme Justice,” doesn’t mess with the formula too much. As a result, there’s a bit of a “been there, done that” feeling. However, it’s still goofy and playable enough to entice fans and newcomers.

The basic concept is the same: You’re a member of an elite police task force that frequently engages in high-speed chases with dangerous gangs.

Taking down these criminal elements usually means leaping from car to car and then gunning down the various occupants until your quota is met. Variations to the formula are added — you might have to protect a shipment or man a gun turret — but for the most part you’ll be drivin’, jumpin’ and shootin’.

The good news is that those elements are still fun, if a bit repetitive over time. Also fun is the deliberately bad story line, which skewers the awful action movies of the ’80s and ’90s with its one-dimensional characters, cheesy dialogue and terrible stereotypes.

What’s not so much fun is the on-foot sections, where you’ll be ducking for cover as you chase perpetrators. These sequences are full of awkward movement and difficult aiming. A lock-on feature would have been nice here.

The big addition this time around is a multiplayer feature where you can take turns playing the cops or the robbers.

The “Pursuit Force” formula is so well-worn by now that I’m not sure if it will be open for a third game in the series. “Extreme Justice,” however, does its job well enough that I’m happy to take another high-speed trip around the block for now.


Copyright The Patriot-News, 2007