Rogue Trip

''Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012'', also known as ''Rogue Trip'', is a vehicular combat video game developed by SingleTrac and published by GT Interactive for the PlayStation in 1998. The game is set in an apocalyptic fiction alternative history version of the year 2012 where mercenaries fight against each other using vehicles, and various weapons as they pick up tourists, hitchhikers, and passengers paying them fares for bringing them to vacation destinations around the remnants of the destroyed United States, and these mercenaries call themselves "auto mercenaries".

SingleTrac found prior success in developing games for publisher Sony Computer Entertainment in the early years of the PlayStation's life cycle, including the vehicular combat series ''Twisted Metal''. Following a contractual dispute with Sony, the developer was bought by GT Interactive and ''Rogue Trip'' was produced as part of an agreement with its new publisher. ''Rogue Trip'' utilizes an overhauled version of the game engine of the first two ''Twisted Metal'' titles, sharing many of their design elements. The player controls a vehicle in third-person perspective on a 3D map and is tasked with eliminating all other opponents by using ballistic projectiles, bombs, and other weaponry. The game further features a secondary objective in which the player competes in picking up a tourist for photo ops of landmarks found throughout each level. These provide money that can be used for power-ups like weapon upgrades and health refills.

Review publications heavily compared and contrasted ''Rogue Trip'' with SingleTrac's past ''Twisted Metal'' games and the 1998 PlayStation vehicular combat titles ''Vigilante 8'' and '' Twisted Metal III''. Reception for ''Rogue Trip'' has been mostly positive. Critics praised the familiar gameplay, play control, and level design, but had mixed opinions on its sound design and music. Impressions of the game's graphics somewhat varied too, but have generally been considered inferior to other releases of the era.

Gameplay

''Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012'' shares many gameplay elements with other titles in the vehicular combat genre, specifically the ''Twisted Metal'' franchise. The game's main single-player mode has the player take control of one of 11 initially-available vehicles in order to complete a linear series of stages. The primary objective of every mission is to eliminate a number of computer-controlled enemies using various weapons to deplete their health meters. Each self-contained stage is presented in a 3D third-person perspective and can be freely roamed alongside all other drivers. Stages are littered with power-ups including expendable weapons, "Turbos" for increasing a vehicle's speed, and cash used to purchase health and weapon upgrades. Every vehicle differs in size, durability, and maneuverability, each possessing a unique "Special" weapon that automatically replenishes over time and a standard machine gun with unlimited ammunition. Expendable weapons can be acquired out in the open at certain points of a stage, uncovered by destroying parts of the environment, or found in hidden areas. These weapons include, among others, homing "Stinger" projectiles, remotely-activated "RLB" bombs, and "Prowler" missiles that the player can directly control once fired. Money can be spent during combat by driving into "Upgrade Stands" for increasing the strength of weapons or "Repair Stands" for refilling the player's health. Every time a player's vehicle is destroyed, a chance is reduced and a game over results when they run out of chances. Extra ones can be obtained by completing a stage with $30,000. Boss characters must be fought at the completion of certain missions and three bonus stages can be visited and unlocked to obtain more cash.

A secondary gameplay objective comes in the form of tourists. The player can compete with enemy drivers to pick up a single tourist that is up for grabs at the beginning of each level. Taking on the tourist will provide the player with a steady influx of fare. Each map contains six photo op

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