Full Auto

By Tom Bramwell Published 20 January, 2006

Rewind or skip?

Being able to rewind in games is ace. Prince of Persia would be roughly ten million times as frustrating if you couldn't undo that swan dive you just did onto some spikes. Using rewind to dislodge shrapnel from your head looks ace in TimeShift. Then there's... Well there's... You know. Er. No? What? WHERE THE HELL ARE ALL THE REWIND GAMES? Seriously! Prince of Persia happened ages ago; why aren't people stealing this yet? Why doesn't EA have fourteen games that do this by now?

I don't know, but there is of course one more: Full Auto. That's one thing you remember about it: it's got rewind. The other things, I'm guessing, are that it's "like Burnout" and "has guns in it". And for "like Burnout", you're thinking lots of destructible scenery and dodging cars and cutting the camera away to do slow motion replays. Fair? Now we've got it in our Xbox 360, we can look into it.

It certainly has lots of destructible scenery, but surprisingly it's otherwise quite unlike Burnout. Burnout is about near misses, dodging cars, holding your breath, and then releasing a mixture of pent up co2 and laughter when you crash into something like a ninny, as your enemies simply laugh and laugh and laugh like the cocks they are. Burnout: Revenge may have diluted the dodging a bit with its traffic-checking and high-speed knock-'em-out-the-way antics, but that's generally the deal. You're trying to avoid destruction, but everyone laughs when you don't. Full Auto's the other way around: you're trying to cause destruction, and nobody laughs when you do. They're too busy trying to dodge it.

'Full Auto' Screenshot cocking

I bet /they/ don't have to pay the cocking Congestion Charge.

It's more like it's been nudged in the right direction by Burnout than just ripped it off and whacked in a rewind. Sometimes it comes a bit close, mind. Chrissakes, you've even got "rivals" and you have to do "takedowns" on them. But again, there's a difference: Burnout's about smashing into mostly static scenery and traffic and going "whoops"; Full Auto's about SHOOTING the mostly static scenery and traffic and going "yay" when it collapses or flips or explodes and destroys whatever's following you. Burnout's about vehicular destruction, Full Auto's about everythingular destruction. I'll stop that now.

And of course there's rewind (developer Pseudo calls it "unwreck", which is almost not hateful as these terms go). It's activated by sliding your trigger-finger off the accelerator and up onto the RB shoulder button. This is useful in obvious ways of course: say you miss-time a corner and end up careening into an opposing wall, losing valuable seconds. If you've got rewind you can undo that, assuming you've got enough in reserve, and then brake or turn a bit more considerately next time. But it's most handy when you're nearly dead, or you're up against a rival with some mines to drop. You're constantly being peppered by machinegun bullets and having to dodge mines, and since you sometimes have objectives that involve taking people out, you can't afford to simply give the mine-droppers room to manoeuvre; you need to get in there with a shotgun or a rocket launcher, and if you're on their tail inevitably you're going to take the odd hit. Bzzt, rewind, dodge. Tactically it's useful, then. And since this is on the Xbox 360, it happens instantly and looks fancy.

'Full Auto' Screenshot noob

Should've shot the gas tanks first. Noob.

Rewind isn't always available though. Like the boost meter, which is on the left shoulder button, it's tied into what you're doing on the track. Basically, blowing up traffic, blowing up buildings, smashing through lobbies, smashing through fences, blowing up rivals; all this stuff contributes to rewind. Sliding round corners, doing jumps and driving like a maniac contributes to boost. Near misses mean nothing here; people are meant to explode and you're not getting any help if you don't see to it.

The actual driving model has elements of Burnout to it, but it's actually more like OutRun in a way - your car's centred on the screen and rotates when you corner, but without much need for braking. If you brake, you just slow down; it doesn't throw you into a power-slide or anything. There's a handbrake which twizzles you round dramatically, but in general it's about simply turning into the corners at the right time, easing off the accelerator a bit, and then correcting the fishtail by pulling the left stick back over to compensate. Fortunately, given the complexity of the level architecture, most turns are sign-posted by our friends The Big Green Arrows.

'Full Auto' Screenshot aim

You can use the right stick to aim your guns while racing. Tricky, but sometimes handy.

Actually, the level's aren't that complex architecturally, they're just incredibly cluttered; cluttered with traffic, lamp-posts, telegraph poles, tables and chairs, statues, roadwork signs, crates, parked trucks and tankers, potholes and ramps. Buildings generally have some element of destructibility, whether it's a glass-fronted lobby on one corner that you can smash through for a shortcut, or holes to be blown in the walls. There's obviously solidity to the core of buildings so you can't just blast your way from end to end in a straight line (for that matter, weapons can be fired lots but then pause for a few seconds to auto-reload), but this is a game designed to blow up and fall down around you, and there's lots that goes toward that.

Game modes are various, but there's nothing like Crash mode, for those still clinging onto the Burnout comparison. There's a suite of arcade modes - point-to-point and circuit races, lap knockouts (last place at the end of each lap gets dropped), back and forth races (a bit like relays; go to one end, turn round, drive back) and rampages (where the idea is to complete the track within a time limit, building up a big "Wreck points" total as you go). Career mode is more structured - with a tutorial that introduces you to everything bit by bit, then splits things into car styles, mission types and so on for quite some time. These bits often have sub-objectives, so you might need to get a suitable wreck-points total as well as finishing a minimum of second, and there's a decent range, skipping from against-the-clock to point-to-point to rampage-style and so on. There's some story to tie it altogether, but thankfully our preview build doesn't make much of a deal of it. Who cares, honestly?

'Full Auto' Screenshot rewind

Rewind time.

Obviously Xbox Live features too - there are ranked and unranked races and leaderboards - but since we're still some way from launch and trying to prod away at it on our debug machines there's little competition. Playing against the AI is perfectly good fun though, as they make reasonable use of weapons and don't seem elasticised - something we'll examine in more detail when the time comes for a review. Pseudo's sensibly split the pack between rival cars (tough nuts) and suitably red-shirted also-rans, too, so there's cannon fodder to go with the real candidates for the win.

But is it For The Win, or just all right? I haven't decided. What it really needs at this point is a smooth frame-rate, which it should get - the build I've got isn't exactly up to the minute, even though most of the game is in place, and things do turn into a bit of a crawl from time to time. Then again it has bugs that prevent me from even finishing a few of the races, so I wouldn't worry too much. We've also yet to get a solid idea of the reward structure. In short, there's a lot still to know. I certainly want to play the finished article though, and that's always a good sign.

And yes, I do realise I forgot about Blinx in the intro. But frankly I rather enjoy the times when I don't remember Blinx, so shut up.

Full Auto's due out on February 14th in the States and pretty soon after in Europe. Check out the trailer on Eurogamer TV.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (45) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Xerx3s #1 6 years ago

    "people are meant to explode "

    *g* I always wonderd what i was missing in me life....

  • Scimarad #2 6 years ago

    "your car's centred on the screen and rotates when you corner, but without much need for braking"

    No no no no! What were you thinking ?

  • Blerk #3 6 years ago

    Hurrah. More racing.

  • megastar #4 6 years ago

    Another triumph for the 360

  • Eighthours #5 6 years ago

    The demo is unbelievably awful in terms of framerate, it's really put me off this game. Here's hoping it all comes together at the last minute.

  • reality_cheque #6 6 years ago

    @Eighthours: I'm totally with you there, I played 2 races on the demo and gave up in disgust and went back to NFS:MW. The only "cars with guns" game I ever liked was Rock and Roll Racing, and it looks like Full Auto is unlikely to change my mind.

  • Dizzy #7 6 years ago

    "Where as other Xbox360 racing games emphasize on the cars and give little thought to the environments"

    WTF? PGR3 is way too detailled in the environment category. It is actually scary!

  • LOLLERS #8 6 years ago

    You forgot Total Overdose. That has rewinding. It's fun too!

  • kangarootoo #9 6 years ago

    I reeeeeeaaaaly hope this turns out well. I don't know how many of you are old enough to remember Interstate 76, but that was the archtyple (I doubt that is spelt correctly) car battle game for me.

    There have been a few good ones since, but something of that level of gameplay would float my boat right out of the harbour (and maybe even prompt the purchase of a 360, along with Oblivion, the only 360 game I am really looking forward to).

  • jonnyreb #10 6 years ago

    Although this actually looks pretty good, I hope the 360 doesn't end up being the home of endless driving games and FPS's.............that certainly isn't what I bought it for anyway :/
    Edited by 1 at 20/01/06 @ 09:59

  • daedalus2 #11 6 years ago

    You know, Tom makes an excellent point here. Where ARE all the rewind games? Why haven't we had a stealth game with rewind yet? If there ever was a genre that needed it, that's the one...

  • kangarootoo #12 6 years ago

    @jonnyreb

    Lets all hope it becomes the home of endless quality games of all types. The XB range turned out OK in the end despite being royally crap on launch (with a few exceptions) and I'm sure the 360 one will too once the typical "limited and mostly crap" launch months shenanigans is out of the way.

  • mentat #13 6 years ago

    Where's the supercars 360 remake goddammit?

    This looks interesting. I shall keep my eye on it. I like a nice destructive racing game once in a while.

  • Dizzy #14 6 years ago

    "You know, Tom makes an excellent point here. Where ARE all the rewind games? Why haven't we had a stealth game with rewind yet? If there ever was a genre that needed it, that's the one..."

    Well technically a game has to implement this feature with a fairly high cost in memory and/or HD storage (in this case speed is an issue). I guess most games like to use up 100% of their resources to offer eye-candy instead of (rewind) features ;) Sells better.

  • geepersd #15 6 years ago

    alternitively it's like fatal rewind but with cars (and probably much easier)

  • neon #16 6 years ago

    *Where ARE all the rewind games?*

    Isn't this the same as restart points. Restartpoints are good things, saves having to trudge though an entire level from the start.

  • Teeth #17 6 years ago

    Does the smoke really look like that?

  • gazareth #18 6 years ago

    Please don't tell me that this tiresome "for the win" fad is going to catch on in serious articles >:0

  • Furbs #19 6 years ago

    For The Win = forteedoubleyou!

    And they claim they dont read the forum.

  • kangarootoo #20 6 years ago

    "Please don't tell me that this tiresome "for the win" fad is going to catch on in serious articles"

    Seconded.

  • davyuk #21 6 years ago

    Blinx - that had rewind and stuff... didn't it?
    Edited by 1 at 20/01/06 @ 11:12

  • Tricky #22 6 years ago

    Don't judge this game on the demo that came with the first official x360 mag - that was much earlier code. Wait for the demo that will be available for download on the marketplace on the 25th before deciding - I have a feeling that the frame rate issues will have been ironed out.

    Of course, if they haven't then they can sod right off.

  • TheRealBadabing #23 6 years ago

    "your enemies simply laugh and laugh and laugh like the cocks they are"

    Effteedoubleyou!

  • asphaltcowboy #24 6 years ago

    "It certainly has lots of destructible scenery, but surprisingly it's otherwise quite unlike Burnout."

    Sorry, gonna have to stop you there... Burnout has lots of destructable scenary?

  • neon #25 6 years ago

    Burnout has cones that can be, well, er, knocked over ;P

  • Darkedge #26 6 years ago

    for the win?
    Oh Tom take a break ffs and DON'T EVER SAY THAT AGAIN.

  • Eighthours #27 6 years ago

    Don't judge this game on the demo that came with the first official x360 mag - that was much earlier code. Wait for the demo that will be available for download on the marketplace on the 25th before deciding - I have a feeling that the frame rate issues will have been ironed out.

    I thought that demo was going to be exactly the same. No?

  • morriss #28 6 years ago

    Dear Tom (or whoever did the captions)

    Please don't use the word n00b. Ever. In no circumstances, whether in jest or sarcasm, is term appropriate.

    Thanks

  • Dizzy #29 6 years ago

    "Please don't use the word n00b. Ever. In no circumstances, whether in jest or sarcasm, is term appropriate. "

    Pfff. N00b!11

  • bloke #30 6 years ago

    Due out in a month and the frame rate is still dodgy?

    I don't think so :-) (Unless that was a *very* old build you've got your hands on, or a very old preview)

  • Feanor #31 6 years ago

    Lots of whining today, I see. Yes, even more than usual.

  • Calgon #32 6 years ago

    "Sorry, gonna have to stop you there... Burnout has lots of destructable scenary? "

    Reading comprehension? Destructable scenary but OTHERWISE, its quite unlike burnout, is what hes was trying to tell us.
    Edited by 2 at 20/01/06 @ 14:37

  • killyourtv #33 6 years ago

    the writing style of this website is so much different than GS & IGN, which have a far more mature style
    Edited by 1 at 20/01/06 @ 14:43

  • Calgon #34 6 years ago

    I actually prefer the writing style here to either IGN or GS personally(more direct), theres better use of the english language here, with slang that most in the UK know and a bit of humour, so it sounds much less boring.
    Edited by 4 at 20/01/06 @ 15:05

  • kangarootoo #35 6 years ago

    IGN a mature style? I guess you can't be including Duglas C Perry's video reviews in that comparison. Theman can barely string a sentence together and when he does manage it half the words are essentially the same ("you can do jumps, leaps and stunts" being one of my favourites.

    I quite like the relaxed style of writing here (and I wouldn't confuse relaxed with immature). I just can't stand leet speak. CAN'T STAND IT! Abbreviations are OK (such as lol and brb), but not mispelt nonsense. Hence my joining the "never say For The Win again" brigade.

  • mattigan #36 6 years ago

    It's actually spelt "for teh win" and only occasionally "f0r t3h w1n"

    Either way it's still Shite

  • kangarootoo #37 6 years ago

    "for teh win" symbolises exactly what I don't like about leet speak.

    Its not like "teh" is even an abbreviation, its just that after so many geek kids couldn't spell or type properly for so long, it became its own language.

    Man, check me out with my stroppiest hat on (and not even full of caffeine). I hardly ever refer to people as geeks, especially given that all of us reading this are geeks in the eyes of many, just for being here. But itss not me, its the leet speak, it makes me so mad I can barely remember the difference between right and wrong.

    "It was the leet speak your honour. It made me pick up the knife.".

  • Furbs #38 6 years ago

    I think alot of people dont realise now that "leet" speak, particularly on Eurogamer is used ironically. Have a look at our very own forum. Its only used when someone is taking the piss and anyone who uses it as their main way of speaking (and txt spk too) gets roundly abused.

    Granted, even if its ironic you may not like it, but whoever said humour was a universal? If you've spent any time on Eurogamer at all, you'll know its 50% injokes, (followed by 49% bitching and 1% talking about games),and I for one appreciate that Tom has at least acknowledged the "humour" that is used in the forum. Even if he's spelt it wrong.

    And FFS people. Its one usage of it!

  • DejaVoodoo #39 6 years ago

    I think Full Auto will be one of these games that you play when you want a brake from something serious. I thought the demo was fine with a frame rate issues. It will be interesting to see how the supposed new demo will be when it hits marketplace on the 25th.

  • morriss #40 6 years ago

    Furbs wrote: And FFS people. Its one usage of it!

    Not good enough mate. He br0k3 teh ruL3z! ;)

  • Symptom #41 6 years ago

    What is "leet" speak? Sorry, I'm new around here...

  • Aretak #42 6 years ago

    http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/Leet

  • Ranger101 #43 6 years ago

    "I reeeeeeaaaaly hope this turns out well. I don't know how many of you are old enough to remember Interstate 76, but that was the [archtype]..."

    Interstate '76 was a 1997 game, surely ther is no one here who was too young for that. And anyway, Twisted Metal and Caramageddon did the 3d racing shooter/destruction games rather well.

    Of course it was all about Super Car 3 on the Amiga/Atari ST.

  • bloodflowers #44 6 years ago

    "the writing style of this website is so much different than GS & IGN, which have a far more mature style"

    What the f**k?

    Those are absolutely terrible sites. The reviews frequently show absolutely no background knowledge of gaming, and no understanding of the game being reviewed.

    Do you buy EA games?
    Edited by 1 at 24/01/06 @ 10:40

  • swisstony99 #45 6 years ago

    Kangarootoo, it's 'misspelt' or 'misspelled'.

  • tef89 #46 6 years ago

    We need a bigger word than BAD to describe how BAD this game is....it's more BAD than Titanic, and that was BAD.

  • jonnyreb #47 6 years ago

    I downloaded the demo off XBOX Live last night - and it stinks.....no other way to put it.

    Sorry to be a downer, but I was expecting more than just a crappy Burnout clone (complete with boost) with badly implemented shooting dynamics :/

    Graphics are OK though :) lol