Interstate ’76® The Arsenal

It's hard to define what this game is really all about. Sure it can be summarized as "cars with guns", but really, when you get into it, it's more than that. I've heard a lot about Interstate 76 back in 1998 - I really wanted to buy it back then, because it promised so many cool features, like an open world to drive around on, and it's cars with guns! I didn't get the chance to, so I'm thankful to GOG for releasing it here. So what's this game all about then? Why am I so excited about it? Well for starters, if Freespace can be described as a soap opera in space, then Interstate 76 might as well be a funk music concert on a highway. While the storyline isn't spectacular, the meat of the game is nothing short of an adrenaline boost. Mission objectives in the singleplayer range from basic "kill everyone you see" objectives to deathracing to just running the heck for your life. The vehicle physics aren't great, even though it's a 1998 game, but they work well enough to work up a heck load of excitement while in a dogfight. Tactics and skills are needed - this isn't an average "shoot and pray" shooter. You will need to maneuvre, circle around your opponent, score a headshot etc. There are many tricks that can be thrown into the fray that will give you an advantage over your adversary - just need to know when and how to use them. The implication here is that the game is easy to learn, but difficult to master. Kills don't come easily, but when they do, they always bring a smile. The graphics and sounds are weak though. The sounds are of rather poor quality, even though some may feel that the bassy explosions and gunshots will suffice. Still, I feel a better job could have been done on them, considering the late 90s had a whole host of games that had great sound effects. The voiceovers range from really good to laughably bad though. On the other hand, the music is great. It's groovy and funky, and is an indication that the game does not take itself too seriously, despite the engaging combat system. The sounds are quite a mixed bag. As for graphics, the game runs on the Mechwarrior 2 engine. The terrain tends to be a bit glitchy at times, and everything just looks very blockish. Graphics are definitely not a strong point for this game, but nevertheless IMO they can be ignored once gotten used to. In fact, part of the charm is in seeing Groove, Skeeter and Taurus in all their polygonized glory. That's no excuse for poor and glitchy terrain graphics though, but still, the polygonized style of the characters really grows on you. In the end, though, I76 definitely deserves a 5-star rating. There are many games featuring cars with guns, and drive-by shootings. Yet, I don't think I've been able to find one with the awesome feel of I76 yet. The handling of the cars, the tension of being chased, the ridiculously hilarious physics...they all make I76 what it really is. And that's why it's hard not to love it.

This game has so much to offer in such a great balance - in my opinion, there hasn't been a better 3D game since. It has a style and aesthetic that are seamless and engaging, including dated graphics that somehow enhance the notion that the story is taking place in the mid-seventies, a deadly soundtrack by Bullmark (that I still listen to on its own), a sharply executed "seventies television series" plot and presentation, detailed and faithful renderings of authentic cars and trucks, dynamic customisation possibilities, and gameplay of astounding depth for a relatively linear game. And it has poetry too. My personal experience of the TRIP portion started with absolute delight at the characters and the back-story, leading into a couple of fun and relaxed familiarisation-type missions. As I worked my way through the first half of the game, building up my car with salvaged parts from the cars of Creepers I'd taken out along the way, the depth begins to show. The story and characters are just as important, but a desperation begins to emerge as the difficulty curve ramps up. It becomes essential to customise your vehicle (which includes minding the total weight for the sake of speed and acceleration, reinforcing armour for taking heavy gunfire, reinforcing the chassis for collisions, as well as stacking your weapons), for missions that vary greatly from head-on combat, search and destroy, friendly and hostile races, protect a stronghold, escort a convoy, to all-out frantic car chases through massive open-terrain levels. By the end of the game, things are very challenging and you've covered a lot of ground. Additionally, there's the Melee missions which can be completely customised from epic battles with AI or online, to breezy Sunday-drives through the various locales with no other cars in sight. And with the Nitro Pack, there are back-story missions where you play other characters in new locations. There is no doubt that the game is dated, with things like terrain collision and shape changes that only appear when up-close, low polygon counts, and limited AI (although this is debatable, I think). As far as graphics are concerned, there are better-looking games from the era, but I contend that the graphics on display here, because they look somewhat retro on their own, actually add to the retro aesthetic appeal of the game. The plot is simple to say the least, but it is in no way disappointing, especially considering the cool characters that light it up. I have to say that I think that balanceofpower missed a lot of the point in his review, but he does make solid observations on a few weaknesses. But aside from these criticisms, I can't think of any other criticisms. I'm heaping praise here, but I honestly got more out of this game than any other I've played, and I believe that the spot-on execution of the wide variety of cool elements that this game is comprised of adds up to far more than the sum of its parts. It is an absolutely phenomenal game that I would suggest to anyone who likes driving, machine combat, racing, muscle cars, the seventies, and funk music. The overall impact of this game and the bold style that it pulls off in spades overcomes any minor weakness it might have. 4.8 out of 5. Thank you GOG for bringing Interstate '76 back!

I love this game. I picked it up back in 1999 in the bargain bin of some store that happened to have like, 3 computer games in it's bargain bin. I'd seen previews and played the demo a year before..and got many hours of enjoyment out of it. Now here we are, 16 years later; and you can't play the game properly. Even though GOG says they do things to make these old games work; they seemingly did nothing on this game. I cannot get it to run in a high resolution 3d mode; period. Game is locked to 640x480. Software mode does work, but not very well. I tried a lot of the community fixes; and none of them really solved anything. I still have really buggy gameplay; no 3d rendering; and a game that loves to crash.

Title says it all !!

It is one of my favorite games of all times! The story keeps you going and each mission of the storyline is different. The style of the entire game is great! Even for that time the vector-style of the characters had some kind of retro-look, which added to the overall "blast from the past" feel of the game (even the box-art, the manual, the music ... it all fits together well, and is one of the reasons why I still can enjoy the old graphics of the game). The GOG version includes "Nitro Riders" which was a standalone game, but content-wise was more like an expansion-pack. It gives adds some new cars, melee-maps and several new missions which take place before the events of I76. Here you play as Jade, Taurus or Skeeter. So far the GOG-Version works fine with Win7, even though Win 7 is not listed in the minimum system-requirements. I never got the original to run well with anything above Win98, and to use it with Win7 required quite some hacks, so they must have done something right. I could not play through the entire game yet, I know my original version would crash with Win7 in some later mission of the storyline, I hope the GOG version does not. The sound of the weapons is a bit glitchy, seems like the sound files for the shots are not played for their full length. If you don't know the original game, you will probably just think that some sounds are a bit too quiet. This is also a problem with the original version using a recent Windows, though. Out of the box the GOG-version does not use glide, as you can see from the screenshots. I always thought the original graphics to look nicer than the glide version anyway, so I'm happy with that.