American Fugitive

American Fugitive was reviewed on a PS4

American Fugitive is a top-down 3D mayhem filled ride through the small town of Redrock. A fun nostalgic game that clearly takes inspiration from the older top down GTA games; particularly the first and the second, and Chinatown wars.

Unlike those games though, American Fugitive tries to shake things up by introducing a few interesting mechanics. For the most part, it’s engaging enough to keep you hooked until the end, despite a few lackluster elements.

Breaking out

After a brief prologue, you come home to find your father has been murdered. The county’s corrupt police force immediately blames you for it even though there’s a strange car parked right outside your father’s house.

The fact that there’s no evidence whatsoever that ties you to the murder makes the intro even more laughable. I understand that the point was that the police force are corrupt, but it all happened as quickly as a flash and felt abrupt.

Normally, it wouldn’t be such a bother; however, the whole point of the game revolves around proving your innocence. The prologue could have been handled a bit better. After a brief stint in prison, our protagonist jumps the fence and breaks out.

You’re quickly taught how to change out of your prison jumpsuit by stealing other people’s drying laundry straight from their washing lines. Your wanted level is separately tied both to your clothes and to the vehicle you’re driving. You can get rid of the heat by switching your car or getting a change of clothes.

All About That Audio

The game lacks any voice acting, which can make it a bit bland for some players. The soundtrack and the diversity of each track is fantastic though, and I enjoyed every second of listening to it. The soundtrack as a whole fits well within the context of the world they’ve built, and the variety of genres is more than wonderful.

It mostly consists of soft reverbed electric guitar riffs and a few banjos here and there. It had a mix of folk rock and blues music, which are delightful. I seriously fell in love with American Fugitive’s soundtrack.

The sound design is also well done. The sound of your car crashing through fences and mailboxes, passing through the shrubs or bushes or tearing down the street lamps is satisfying. However, the annoying sounds of birds and crickets chirping are horrible. They’re constantly drowning all of the other sounds and they’re constant in every minute of the game. Unfortunately, there’s not an option to reduce each sound effect individually.

Driving Me Crazy

Driving is a mixed bag in American Fugitive. The slower cars are satisfying to drive, they’re heavy and stick to the road the way they should. While the driving gets way floatier and lighter with the faster cars. Even the muscle cars drift excessively and are difficult to control. Most of the time you’ll enjoy the driving though, and smashing through the obstacles makes the police chases even more enjoyable.

Several mechanic make American Fugitive different from the old GTA titles. For starters, you can upgrade your character using upgrade points that are earned by completing missions and earning gold medals in time trials. Some of the upgrades are the usual passive upgrades to your health meter and stamina meter, while others offer new useful abilities.

Breaking & Entering

Another cool feature about the game is that you are able to rob any houses or stores that you come across. You’re able smash the windows or kick down the doors to get into the place you want to rob. The game switches to a blueprint like screen that represents the location you break into. It consists of a minigame where you’re able to search each of the rooms for valuables, all while under the stress of an overhead timer that indicates when the police will come for you.

You also have the option of peeking through the windows to see if there’s anyone inside before breaking in. If you encounter someone while robbing the location, you get the option to restrain them, attack them or flee the premises.

The cops are realistic and usually take their time before responding. Besides the obvious major crimes, citizens will also dial 911 if they find you trespassing, or if you take off your clothes and run through the town wearing nothing but your undies.

The wanted system feels properly balanced, and having a couple of stars will only make a few cops appear, which is to be expected in a small town like this.

A Man On A Mission

Some of the earlier missions feel more like side missions than a main fully-fledged storyline. They usually require you do simple tasks such as towing a car, stealing a dress or shooting some cops. They’re fun to do in small bursts, but completing a bunch of them in a row can get tiresome.

Later in the game, the mission design is handled better. Some of the characters you meet are intriguing and mysterious, and their missions are better because of it. One of my favorite characters is an undertaker that has you going around collecting dead bodies and dumping them out of the sight of the local police department.

While the game tries to introduce a bit of variety in its missions, they ultimately feel repetitive because of the nature of the game. There are no renders of interior locations, so all of the missions tend to feel same-y since you get used to the map quickly. The map is separated into three different locations, but since the game is set in the same county. They all feel too similar to one another.

It’s not long before you get your first gun, and well the shooting leaves a lot to be desired. The recoil’s all over the place, it’s hard to aim at your targets so you’re often forced to shoot in small bursts, even when using a full automatic.

The game would’ve benefited a lot from an auto aim mechanic like the one in Hotline Miami, where the reticle sticks onto the closest target. This may put off some of the players that are expecting the shooting to be on par with Chinatown Wars.

Death is Around The Corner

Death is handled surprisingly well in American Fugitive. If you die during a mission, it restarts the mission from the start. That’s not an issue though since most missions only take about a few minutes to complete.

Dying while free roaming gets you back at the pipe you escaped prison from, stripped of all your weapons and wearing your prison jumpsuit. You get the option to upgrade your character so that he’ll have a new outfit and a few other important items nearby once he dies.

My favorite part of the game are the time trial races. They take advantage of the game’s well-designed map. Getting a gold medal in these trials will grant you a hefty sum of money that you can use to buy weapons and clothes, as well as an upgrade point.

State of Emergency Update

The State of Emergency update added plenty of weapons to unleash even more chaos on Redrock. Bazookas, Tanks and a mini-gun are some of the new weapons introduced. There’s also 10 new challenges involving crushing and destroying property using a tank, which are some of the most fun you’ll have in American Fugitive.

Overall,

American Fugitive delivers on what it promises. It’s a fun sandbox open world that is sure to evoke those feelings of nostalgia if you grew up playing the older GTAs. However, most of its mechanics are lackluster.

The driving’s a mixed bag, the shooting’s a bit lackluster, and the missions are a tad repetitive. Despite its shortcomings, American Fugitive is still an enjoyable game, with a kickass music and a wonderful world to explore and wreak havoc in.

The dozen hours or so campaign means it also doesn’t overstay its welcome more than it has to. If you’re looking for a game to play to get lost for hours in, then you can skip American Fugitive. It’s best when it’s played for a few minutes a time.

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