While this remake is an immense improvement over the original game, I still found it somewhat lacking. There's just this persistent aura of cheapness smeared all around it, which is especially noticeable, since the rest of the series (and yes, that includes 3) were mostly spared of that, and 2 was considered a top-of-the-line game at the time of its release). If I didn't know Hangar 13 is a US-based studio, I'd even consider this game a fine example of 'eurojank'.

Still, despite its numerous flaws, the game is good. Not as good as it could have been, mind you: a lot of nice and memorable things from the original got lost in translation, like a more advanced car physics model or a more complex wanted system, but it's still fun to play and the story, while remaining naive and simplistic, got a great rewrite. I'd probably prefer if even more of the original plot got changed, yet, considering what the guys at Hangar 13 had to work with, it's an immense improvement.

Do I recommend this game? Probably, if you're willing to ignore a whole truckload of obvious issues, from unnecessary streamlining to some areas clearly being undercooked. Do I recommend it over the original? Sure as hell I do because that game aged like milk on a hot summer day.

While this remake is an immense improvement over the original game, I still found it somewhat lacking. There's just this persistent aura of cheapness smeared all around it, which is especially noticeable, since the rest of the series (and yes, that includes 3) were mostly spared of that, and 2 was considered a top-of-the-line game at the time of its release). If I didn't know Hangar 13 is a US-based studio, I'd even consider this game a fine example of 'eurojank'. Still, despite its numerous flaws, the game is good. Not as good as it could have been, mind you: a lot of nice and memorable things from the original got lost in translation, like a more advanced car physics model or a more complex wanted system, but it's still fun to play and the story, while remaining naive and simplistic, got a great rewrite. I'd probably prefer if even more of the original plot got changed, yet, considering what the guys at Hangar 13 had to work with, it's an immense improvement. Do I recommend this game? Probably, if you're willing to ignore a whole truckload of obvious issues, from unnecessary streamlining to some areas clearly being undercooked. Do I recommend it over the original? Sure as hell I do because that game aged like milk on a hot summer day.