Previous Next

In the light of a whole bunch of driving games, some of which have been nothing short of excellent, (Lotus 2, Grand Prix) Image Works' launch of this rather dreadful title couldn't have come at a worst time.

Not only will the consumer have had his fill of driving in general, but he will also be fully aware that it's possible to produce auto-action games a thousand times better than this.

The aim is to race a souped up police car through the hilly streets of San Francisco, avoiding taxi-cabs, trams and skyscrapers in an attempt to emerge as the top cop driver in the city.

Quite aside from the 3D routines which make Turbo Out Run look polished and some astonishingly dull courses, Cisco Heat stalls at virtually every corner. The races themselves are painful and frustrating, the crowd graphics are basically a single graphic block duplicated to fill the space, the police car crashes into skyscrapers only a fraction larger than itself, and the corner turning routine, however brave the attempt, is a catastrophe.

Mind you, the sound of the car's horn is quite good.