Nema puno videoigara koje su pokušavale ponoviti ludu popularnost franšize Crazy Taxi, gdje je igrač ludorijama i nemogućim manevrima, te ne mareći za zakone prometa i fizike, zarađivao novac prevozeći putnike, dok u pozadini trešte The Offspring i Bad Religion kao službeni soundtrack. Taxi Chaos je jedna od videoigara koje su to pokušale ponoviti. No, unatoč nekim pozitivnim stvarima, sve je ostalo samo na pokušaju. Taxi Chaos 2 je nastavak istoimene videoigre Taxi Chaos, izašle 2021. godine. Generalni konsenzus među recenzentima, bio je da je ta videoigra očiti pokušaj obrade ‘Crazy Taxi’ videoigre, no neuspjeli. Kritičari su hvalili brzi gameplay, i zabavne kratkotrajne isječke, no složili su se da igri nedostaje dubine, bolja grafika i bolji soundtrack. Promijenilo li se što, saznajte u nastavku.
Developer: Focuspoint Studios
Publisher: Current Games
Platforms: PC (Steam and Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
Price: 24.99 euros
Odigrali smo PlayStation 5 verziju, koju nam je ustupio izdavač Current Games
ACTION
U ulozi smo starog taksista, unajmljenog da se bori protiv robotskih AI taksija budućnosti koji su preuzeli fiktivni grad San Valeda. U originalnoj ‘Taxi Chaos’ videoigri radnja je bila smještena u New Yellow City, inspiriran New Yorkom. San Valeda, u ovom nastavku, predstavlja veliku promjenu i seli nas u otvoreniji svijet s više prepreka i koji sadrži ‘taxibotove’ – AI robote koji su preuzeli taksi posao u gradu. Mi smo, kao i u originalu, Vinny ili Chleo i pokušavamo zaraditi bakšiš uz stalnu prijetnju taksibotova.
GAMEPLAY
The game consists of two modes - Story mode and Arcade mode. Arcade mode is a mode in which we arrange taxi rides, but there is a global scoreboard - we compete with people from all over the world. We progress through the levels, and each level sets more and more difficult tasks. Story mode is the main game mode, in which we follow the story of Vinny and Chleo in the fight against robotic AI taxis.
Already at the start, it reminds us all of Crazy Taxi. But we soon realize that it is only visual. Although the constant background melody is somewhat amusing at first, it is revealed early on that the video game has no specific soundtrack. The environment is minimalistic, with quite good graphics of cars and traffic, but the backgrounds are made very poorly, almost carelessly. The AI of the NPCs is almost non-existent. The voices of all female and male passengers are the same, just as the auto-navigation voice is the same as the voice of the female passengers. What's worse is that everyone has the same sayings that they constantly repeat. Opponents (taxibots) behave unpredictably and strangely - they hunt you when you do nothing, and when you crash into them they don't hunt you.
Vehicle and character editing is very limited. There is no map in the video game, and no map navigation. There are only a few vehicles, and only the color and some small details can be changed. We can only change the driver's cap. There is some kind of advancement and upgrading, but even without that, any vehicle we take - we are an indestructible tank that destroys everything in front of us. There is also the pointless possibility of jumping in a taxi, which should make driving through the city easier, but that jumping only brings us glitches and even bigger problems.
A navigation system is integrated into the game (arrows on the road like in F1 games), but this navigation often does not work. It is not impossible to deliver passengers without it, but it is much easier and it is frustrating that it keeps appearing and disappearing. There is no option to turn navigation on or off. The controls are simple, so the video game could even be said to be childish. Graphics like from Pixar cartoons also contribute to this.
CONCLUSION
If we play this video game for a short time, it is a fun diversion. Driving through a well-animated and well-lit city can be relaxing and carefree. However, playing the campaign (Story mode) is too much. Solving all the tasks and going through all the stages will take you too much time, and hardly anyone will make it to the end. Taxi Chaos 2 passes as a blatant and pale imitation of the Crazy Taxi video game. Although compared to the original, Story mode and some other little things were added, it still remained a video game too similar to the Taxi Chaos game from 2021 with too little novelty. Therefore, the conclusion is that Taxi Chaos 2 is a game that does not bring enough value for the money it is sold for.
POSITIVE SIDES: animated graphics; chaos of taxi driving; short-term entertainment; easy controls
NEGATIVE SIDES: lack of soundtrack; empty backgrounds; poor AI of road users; a long campaign with repetitive tasks; unoriginality; too high a price
RATING: 2.5/5
