"Let's go Mr Driver...!". You've got a shiny new Police Porsche 928, a turbo just waiting to guzzle fuel and Nancy, the nagging receptionist, egging you on. Ralph, the Idaho Slasher, has been sighted in your neck of the woods and his knife-wielding antics must be stopped permanently. He'd rather see life from behind the wheel of his ultra fast sports car than behind bars, so you've got to catch him, RAM him and nick him. A brief report flashes up on your in-car monitor, detailing the perp and their vehicle. The lunatic co-driver yells some banal phrase in your ear and it's time to shape up and ship out. The first objective is to find the guy, and since you've only a limited amount of road to play with, speed and collision avoidance are your main priorities.   
The road stretches out ahead, while at the top sit all your important dials and switches. The turbo counters are at the base of the screen, revealing how many of these three fun-packed little babies have been burned off already. Driving has never been easier. With either keys or joystick all you have to do is point and shoot. Key commands are needed for gear changes and turbo, but that's all. That, however, is only half the story. The car is nimble and quick to respond to any change in direction and speed. And all the time, sat staring out of the keyboard, is the fabulous 'turbo' button, just daring you to press it - and if you give in, you'd better be prepared for the ride of a lifetime. An ominous whine is heard, and then the whole game hits overdrive. You hurtle into the screen with other cars and obstacles hardly visible, let alone avoidable. This baby really shifts, the effect of your boost more akin to a blast of nitrous oxide in your carbs than turbo - the effect is that pronounced. So, pull out of that lay-by and get on the road. Rev it and rip it up, accelerating down the highway dodging those other losers who can't match your speed. Life's pretty straightforward until you get a hint from a huge yellow arrow that it really would be advantageous to take the right-hand lane of the fork. Tumbleweeds and crash barriers occasionally hinder your progress, but a squeeze on the gas pedal soon has them jumping magically out of the way. There's always the tunnel to contend with as well, of course, but after a few trips through the darkness scraping the paintwork of your 30 grand patrol car you soon get the hang of this chase business, If you make the set distance in time, then your siren starts to flash and you're on the hunt for the big blue nasty. The aim here is to lock fenders with your opponent and force him onto the side of the road. The only way to do this is repeated ramming or side-swiping, slowly beating the other car into a smoking, burning heap. It's best to save all your turbos 'til you come to blows, as all the criminals are slippery little customers to say the least, and fast to boot, There's nothing more satisfying than charging into the back of your enemy at 400 mph, because as soon as you bounce off, you race back to mash their tail.  
After the damage becomes terminal you see your co-driver's arm shoot out of the window and direct the perp to a stop. The level's complete, any extra time is added up as bonus and you're congratulated by the fearsome Nancy. Fail, and all you hear is her sarcastic "Your time's up!" - the game's over and a judgement is passed on your performance. If Nancy likes you, it's possible there'll be a credit - but there seems to be little logic behind their award so don't rely on them. If you make it to the next mission you'll not be surprised to find exactly the same again, only with a different backdrop and criminal. First it's a blast across the open countryside - desert this time - followed by a crash and bash session with a yellow mobile. The toughness comes from distractingly pretty graphics - such as a helicopter which hovers overhead momentarily - and ever more tortuous roads and obstacles to clear. NANCY BOYS! In every Chase HQ-er's life a little rain must fall, and Its name Is Invariably Nancy. She is the character in the control booth back at the eponymous HQ, who keeps buzzing you on the radio to let you know things are going wrong, mistakes have been made or - worst of all - "Your time's up!" Across the top of the screen during the game scroll messages from the lovely little lady. She seems to have no idea how hard it is to put these evil law-breakers behind bars and only ever serves to bring you down. If you fail to make an arrest she Is the one who judges your performance. Can you withstand her acid-tongued "You've picked the wrong job, you'd better check the classifieds!" or the deadly "You're a mediocre driver, see you later!"? The most dreaded thing of all though must be the message "If you keep messing around you're going to run out of time", a little snipe that always seems to appear when there's 10 seconds left on the clock and you've got 120 miles to go. She Is, after all, supposed to be on your side! |
Graphically, you couldn't ask for much more from an arcade racer. The roads are easily followed, the other cars are clear and all too solid . Things only become suitably confusing when the turbos are on and you're approaching escape velocity. There are plenty of incidental graphic tricks to keep you amused, like the motor nearly taking off when cresting hills at high speed and the massively unsubtle yellow arrow telling you where to go. And all at a speed and smoothness that puts the vast majority of car games to total shame. There may be no music but there's a whole batch of synthesised phrases to hear and that lovely turbo whine when you're in full flight. Add this to the cutting messages Nancy keeps sending you and you're bound to be impressed with its thoroughness, Chase HQ is fun of the highest calibre. It manages to combine high-speed craziness with enough bumping and boring to keep anyone happy. Gripping graphics and fun son-ics fill the game out to make much more than just another racer game, with the gameplay switching between speed trials and pursuit. The life of such a game may be short but in that time it will full fill all your racing dreams. You'll find yourself manically pressing the turbo button time and time again for one more hit of pure thoroughbred horsepower before Nancy's whiplash tongue starts cutting too deeply into your pride. TW, AA
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