So what's the story behind Rollcage? Does it really matter? Games like Rollcage don't need any storyline to be a good title, they just need to have great gameplay, and Rollcage delivers that by the bucketful. You get your choice of a handful of racers, each with their own unique stats and personalities. From there you choose your league to compete in and do battle with other racers in a human game of pinball. Cars can drive on the ceiling or the walls to avoid projectiles, you can land on your "back" and still be able to drive without pause, and you have a wide assortment of weapons ranging from the Warp Circle to the Triple Missiles.

The graphics in Rollcage are very well done, with lens flares filling the screen when you're in the middle of an explosion, great lighting effects for certain weapons, and even rippling when passing a large heat source. The textures aren't anything to write home about, they're the usual PlayStation stuff.. nice, but oft grainy. The tracks are well designed, with many things going on in the background while you're racing, such as robots replacing taken powerups, and even vessels going down in flames right in the middle of the track. There's also an option in the game to turn on a feature called Motion Blur. I turned it on, and played the game; I turned it off immediately. Because of the speed that your cars are moving, there's an extreme amount of blur on the screen, and it might hurt your eyes after a matter of minutes.. so I'd advise you to see if you can handle such... blurryness by testing this option out first.

If you've ever played Wipeout or Wipeout XL, you'll can get an impression of the themes Rollcage contains. Filled with all kinds of techno, electronica and rave music, including two tracks scored by Fatboy Slim. In addition, a feature that makes the entire presentation so great, is that Psygnosis has also included a built-in CD player for us to listen to on our Playstation. You can also pop your Rollcage CD into your regular CD Player and listen to it, as the music is all Redbook Audio.

As for the gameplay, well it's a mixed bag. The game uses a realistic physics engine, which might not be apparent at first, but it's really there. If you hit a ramp at a wrong angle, expect yourself to be doing flips in the air while coming down. Moreover, if you make a jump at an insane speed, don't be surprised if your car starts nosing down to the ground before impact. At first this might be daunting, but you can use it to your advantage a lot of times. Sometimes driving on the ceiling is the best way to go, where as driving on the walls of the track will actually gain you better momentum when trying to clear that upcoming hill. The sensation of speed is just amazing in this game, at 30fps, this game screams when you reach speeds of upwards of 400 km/hour. Psygnosis has already provided us with a vast array of weapons to use for offense as well as defense. Weapons such as the Triple Missile or the Homing Missile are standard combat weapons, where others such as the Warp Circle are relatively new to the genre. On the other hand, because of the extremely realistic physics engine as well as the extreme speed in the game, beginners might feel very intimidated by this game, as it requires a sharp mind to navigate many of the courses.

Some notes: Rollcage features a password system, something that hasn't been seen in quite a while. Although, there are shortcuts or easier ways to get through a certain area in most races, it's up to you to find them and exploit them as best as you can.

In all, Psygnosis and ADT have delivered what seems to be Psygnosis' first hit of 1999. The game feels great, as well as being very fun to play. Although it may not win any awards at the end of this year, this is a solid title to add to your collection.

· · · Reno