This year’s Summer Game Fest was a cornerstone year for bringing back older franchises. We’ve seen the announcements of dozens of remakes, but the revival of dormant series has older gamers excited. One of these is Stuntman: Hollywood, the third entry, and the first time we’ve seen a new one since 2007’s Stuntman: Ignition. I had the opportunity to play roughly half an hour of Stuntman: Hollywood during Summer Game Fest. I hadn’t played any of the previous entries, but I quickly learned that these games are pretty unique compared to other titles of its ilk. They’re also pretty tough to get used to if you’ve never experience its mechanics before.
I wouldn’t judge you for bringing all of the knowledge of racing games and applying it to Stuntman. That’s what I did. But Stuntman: Hollywood is, in fact, not a racing game at all. It’s a driving game, the developer on hand was quick to remind me. As a single player experience primarily, I had a hard time remembering that top speed is almost never the goal here. Instead, the emphasis is on control, meeting objectives, and getting the right shot.
In Stuntman: Hollywood, you play as (you guessed it), a Hollywood stunt driver. Each level is a different take for a shot, where the director shouts objectives for you to complete. If you fail or crash, you can retry according to how many takes you have left, similar to extra lives in a platformer. If you fail enough times, you’ll have to retry from the start. And boy did I have to restart quite a bit.
Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Roads
Even once I got the hang of letting my foot (right trigger finger) off the gas, nailing a tight drift or near-missing a cop car for maximum points was fairly challenging. Every surface felt slippery, even when I wasn’t drifting, and I spun out multiple times trying to stay on course. I appreciate challenging games that reward you for mastering its systems, and Stuntmant: Hollywood is in this class. But drifting and avoiding obstacles aren’t the only actions you can take. I also had to drive through crates, go off jumps at the right speed, and even had to do a quick 180-degree turn in my DeLorean during the Back to the Future stage.
Which brings me to my next point. Developer and publisher Saber Interactive partnered with NBC Universal to bring together some of their most iconic film franchises. You can play through stunt levels featuring cars and locations from Fast and Furious, Knight Rider, Miami Vice, and Earthquake, to go along with the 1985 classic mentioned above. I appreciate that we’re playing through stages themed around existing properties instead of generic references to them. There’s something truly special about getting to drive the DeLorean around Hill Valley and getting that baby up to 88 miles per hour to complete the level.
Stuntman: Hollywood admittedly comes with a bit of a steep learning curve. The physics are a lot more flowy than you’d expect, and make sure you all knowledge of racing games out the door. Speed is not the goal here. But once I got the hang of how it all works, I became a lot more engaged with trying to flawlessly complete the challenges. We don’t have a date on this quite yet, but I’m eagerly looking forward to more.
Stuntman Hollywood is currently in development for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
