SLEDGEHAMMER

The player takes over the role of Jack Hammer or more specifically his truck either in a 3rd-person- or cockpit-view. The truck has the ability to transform itself into to two configurations: combat mode and race mode. In race mode the truck has access to it's boosters, allowing it to speed up fast. Once the player has installed the upgrade, he can also plant mines in race mode. Combat mode instead activates the three weapons systems: main, secondary and melee. By successfully completing the missions and also by earning gold medals, the player unlocks additional upgrades for his truck. These can either enhance his performance like better boosters, change his look or are improvements like a rocket launcher or circular saws on the side for his combat mode. The game is divided into six episodes with several missions that either advance the storyline or are just there to unlock new upgrades. The missions themselves are roughly divided into twelve game modes although especially the final missions of each episode often combine several game modes into one. Not every game mode let's the player drive his truck though. While there are normal races, in which the player can also use his weapons to get rid of the competition, or arena missions in which only survival counts - in "Transporting" the player for example needs to take a really big truck and get it from point A to B while in "Bomb Car" the player only drives a small vehicle outfitted with a bomb. The game also features a multiplayer-mode for up to eight players but limited to LAN. In addition the only available game-modes in multiplayer are "Arena" and "Race".