Way back in the day, there were a few games out in the arcades that allowed you to drive and blow things up in a mindless fashion, but none other than Spy Hunter really made you stop and take notice. Almost 20 years later, Spy Hunter blazes back with a new focus and a ton of playability options that the original never even dreamed of! Set in the current time frame, you take the role of an IES agent who is out to stop the global take over of a madman looking to stop the Earth in it's tracks with an EMP blast from outer space.

While the game story sounds like something out of a James Bond movie, the action in game is everything that a good action game should be. Fast, furious, and full of blowing stuff up! Anyone with driving game experience can learn to use the control and get the gist of the game within the first couple of missions, and anyone who has played the original Spy Hunter will see that this is what it was meant to be like, and finally is!

Gameplay:
A driving action game, Spy Hunter plays alot like Golden Eye in terms of mission objectives that you have to complete to open up other options to use in future games. The objectives can range from chasing down prototype cars, to escorting your agencies teams through the battlefields that range from Florida to the cities and burgs of Germany. Through your missions, you’ll have access to several different types of weapons that are attached to your car. Part of the game is learning just what to use and when to use it so you’ll have to be watching the game at all times.

The missions that you come across make up a big portion of the game, though you’ll find that they aren’t all that hard to complete and conquer as long as you’re getting to where you need to be. The enemies that you face off against are all upgraded from the original Spy Hunter, and you’ll need to learn just what you can and cannot use against them in terms of weapons. One of the coolest features that the game play has to offer is the fact that when you take enough damage, you change into another vehicle that has limited weapons and abilities, changing the way that you have to play the stage!

Other gameplay options include an original idea based soley around running over chickens in a race to the finish line against a friend. Nothing like squishing chickens beneath your wheels at a hundred miles an hour! With each passing stage, you can unlock other gameplay modes by beating the stages in a certain amount of time, or by simply completing each of the 30 plus objectives through-out the game. Those small mini-games make up a roster that is both fun with a single player or with a friend and can create hours of hilarious fun if you’re up for the challenge of running down chickens!

First rate steering with a top end car, a first time driver will probably have to get used to the idea of driving and hitting moving targets or even stationary targets. The controller interface is only customizable through three different control choices, so experimentation is a must unless you like going out in a ball of flame! Using the X-Box controller takes a little practice though and you might find that the thumb stick is just a little too loose for your liking. Though you can change the game to get the effect that you want, there is plenty here that anyone with enough practice can master.

Graphics:
With a powerhouse like the X-Box, Spy Hunter comes back to life in vivid fashion. Each explosion and flying pile of debris, weapon trails and extensively detailed stages really bring to life what Spy Hunter was supposed to be envisioned as! Every stage matches the region that the game goes into, and the different stages that your vehicle goes through when it takes damage is well worth the money spent. Everything that you see here is an upgrade on how the original Spy Hunter was intended to look and you’ll find that the bright explosions and essence of speed is here to the max.

Sound:
The audio has been taken to a new level as well. With new music that sets an aggressive edge to the new look, Spy Hunter not only went through a new visual face-lift, but also sound-wise as well. With this game taking place in the new millennia, you're given a new title song done by Saliva, and stage music that has a sense of action and urgency all rolled into one. The sound effects sound great, from the morphing of your car, to the buzzing and droning that drifts across the speakers in a surround sound fashion.

Round Up:
Spy Hunter couldn't get any better than this. With awesome stages, addicting game play, and the overall face-lift that this game has taken, you're looking at probably one of the better games that has been ported over for the X-Box. The game play is solid and the challenges are strong as well as the visuals being tightened and the soundtrack keeping the pace of the game at every passing meter on the road. Worth at the very least a rent, older gamers will probably find some relishing joy in the fact that the real dream of Spy Hunter has come to life!