SpyHunter: Nowhere to Run

Last updated
SpyHunter: Nowhere to Run
Spy Hunter Nowhere to Run (video game).jpg
European PS2 cover art
Developer(s) Terminal Reality
Publisher(s) Midway Games
Producer(s) John O'Keefe
Designer(s) Clint Bogue
Programmer(s)
  • Chris Bream
  • Allen Bogue
Artist(s) Grant Gosler Adam Norton
Composer(s)
Series Spy Hunter
Engine Infernal Engine (PS2 & XBOX)
Platform(s) PlayStation 2, Xbox, Microsoft Windows
ReleasePlayStation 2
  • NA: September 5, 2006
  • EU: September 8, 2006
Xbox
  • NA: September 5, 2006
Windows
  • EU: March 26, 2009
Genre(s) Action, Racing
Mode(s) Single-player

SpyHunter: Nowhere to Run is an action racing video game developed by Terminal Reality and published by Midway Games released for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. A version for Microsoft Windows was released in 2009, ported by Steel Monkeys. It is the first (and currently only) installment in the Spy Hunter series to allow the player to play as the character and not only the vehicle. Nowhere to Run was an orphaned tie-in to an unmade Spy Hunter movie adaptation. The film got stuck in development hell and the game was released as a stand-alone. The game stars Dwayne Johnson as government agent Alex Decker, who replaces Alec Sects, the "SpyHunter" who was to have been the main character of the movie.

Contents

Plot

Alex Decker, an agent of the International Espionage Service, is transporting an unknown cargo when he is pursued by NOSTRA agents. After escaping the agents, he meets with Karin, another IES agent. Alex and Karin engage in a gun fight against NOSTRA agents. The shipment Alex was carrying is confiscated by Gomez, the NOSTRA leader. Alex's Interceptor performance car is confiscated, and Karin disappears.

A year later, Alex traces his Interceptor to a freighter offshore. With the help of another agent, he downloads codes to recover his car and steal the ship's cargo. As Decker escapes the ship, he is pursued by NOSTRA agents. After a long and arduous chase, Decker escapes the agents and reaches the IES base safely. The base is attacked by the NOSTRA agents, but the IES successfully defend the base. The director of the IES is taken hostage, and the IES launches a counterattack on the NOSTRA base. Upon rescuing the director, Alex pursues Olaf in a lengthy chase, and eventually meets him upon a NOSTRA train. Alex defeats him by throwing him out of the train. The damaged train reaches a secret NOSTRA base, where Alex finds and defeats Cyrus and Marduk.

Decker sneaks onto a NOSTRA plane and tries to fight Gomez, but Gomez escapes. Karin and Decker use an Interceptor to fly out of the plane and pursue Gomez. The fates of the three characters are not revealed.

Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [1] [2] It was praised for its script and acting, but highly criticized for its lack of power ups and uninspiring gameplay when outside of a vehicle.

The Times gave the PlayStation 2 version a score of three stars out of five, praising the cinematic feel of the game, but was critical to the gameplay mechanics. [13] Detroit Free Press gave the game two stars out of four. [12] Chris McCarver of 411Mania gave the PS2 version 3.5 out of 10, criticizing the presentation, on-foot gameplay elements and graphics. [14]

In 2017, at The Game Awards 2017, Dwayne Johnson recalled his time with the game and its poor reception, sarcastically stating "I'm still loving that 3/10 review from Game Informer , by the way. 3 out of 10! Thanks, guys. I'm still pissed at that!" while holding up his middle finger. Kevin Hart jokingly states "3 out of 10 is not that bad!", referring to the game. [15]

Related Research Articles

<i>Spy Hunter</i> 1983 video game

Spy Hunter is a vehicular combat action game developed by Bally Midway and released for arcades in 1983. The game draws inspiration from the James Bond films and was originally supposed to carry the James Bond brand. The object of the game is to drive down roads in the technologically advanced "Interceptor" car and destroy various enemy vehicles with a variety of onboard weapons. Spy Hunter was produced in both sit-down and standard upright versions with the latter being more common. The game's controls consist of a steering wheel in the form of a futuristic aircraft-style yoke with several special-purpose buttons, a two-position stick shift, and a pedal used for acceleration.

<i>The Simpsons: Hit & Run</i> 2003 action-adventure game

The Simpsons: Hit & Run is a 2003 action-adventure game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Vivendi Universal Games. It is based on the American animated sitcom The Simpsons, and is the twenty-second installment in the Simpsons series of video games.

<i>Driver 3</i> 2004 video game

Driver 3 is a 2004 action-adventure game, the third installment in the Driver series. It was developed by Reflections Interactive, published by Atari, and released on PlayStation 2, Xbox and mobile phones in June 2004, Microsoft Windows in March 2005, and Game Boy Advance in October 2005. The game's story focuses on players assuming the role of John Tanner, an undercover FBI agent, as he investigates a car-smuggling ring across three countries, in order to identify and arrest its boss and learn who they are planning to sell a cache of stolen cars to. The game expanded upon its predecessors with on-foot sections, gun combat, and drive-by shooting, with virtual recreations of three major cities - Miami, Nice, and Istanbul - free-roam game mode, and an improvement to the series' film-making "director mode".

<i>Alien Hominid</i> 2002 video game

Alien Hominid is a run and gun video game developed by The Behemoth and first released as a Flash game on the multimedia website Newgrounds in 2002. It was originally developed in Adobe Flash by programmer and Newgrounds founder, Tom Fulp, and animator and artist, Dan Paladin. It has since been re-released in several expanded and enhanced iterations for home consoles and computers.

<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six: Lockdown</i> 2005 video game

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown is a 2005 tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Red Storm Entertainment and published by Ubisoft for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and Microsoft Windows. It is the fourth game in the Rainbow Six series. The game's plot follows Rainbow, an international counterterrorist organization, as they battle a terrorist organization that has stolen a deadly bioweapon.

<i>Spawn: Armageddon</i> 2003 video game

Spawn: Armageddon is an action-adventure hack and slash video game released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube video game consoles. It is inspired by issues 1 through 99 of the Spawn comic book series.

<i>Madden NFL 06</i> 2005 video game

Madden NFL 06 is an American football video game released in 2005. It is the 16th installment of the Madden NFL series by EA Sports, named for color commentator John Madden.It is the first Madden game for the PlayStation Portable and Xbox 360 and was a launch game for the 360. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is on the cover.

<i>SSX on Tour</i> 2005 video game

SSX on Tour is a snowboarding and skiing game, the fourth title in the SSX series of video games for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and PlayStation Portable. It was released in North America on October 11, 2005 and in the PAL region on October 21, 2005. The PlayStation Portable version was released in Europe on October 28, 2005. In 2007, a prequel titled SSX Blur was released, which took place between SSX 3 and SSX on Tour. The GameCube version contains Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach as playable characters. This was part of a deal Nintendo had with EA Sports to have Nintendo's intellectual properties appear in EA franchises.

<i>NBA 2K6</i> 2005 video game

NBA 2K6 is a 2005 basketball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K. It is the seventh installment in the NBA 2K franchise and the successor to ESPN NBA 2K5. It was released in 2005 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Xbox 360. Shaquille O'Neal of the Miami Heat is the cover athlete of the game. NBA 2K6 is the predecessor to NBA 2K7 in the NBA 2K series and is the first NBA 2K title to be released by 2K Sports. This is the first game in the series to be released for the Xbox 360.

<i>Juiced</i> (video game) 2005 video game

Juiced is a racing video game by British studio Juice Games for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and mobile phones. The game was delayed for release in 2004 because the original publisher, Acclaim Entertainment, went defunct. Juice Games and Fund 4 Games retained ownership of the property and sold the game to THQ, who funded the project for a further six months of improvements. In early 2006, British software publisher Focus Multimedia re-released the PC version of Juiced at a new budget price as part of its "Essential" games series. The game offers different modes including career and arcade that present the player with challenges of increasing difficulty. The player can customise the car to suit their style and unlock new ones in arcade mode. The game features nitrous boosts, similar to that of other racing games. Juiced went to number one in the United Kingdom MCV sales charts and its first version sold 2.5 million units.

<i>FlatOut 2</i> 2006 video game

FlatOut 2 is a 2006 action racing video game developed by Bugbear Entertainment and published by Empire Interactive in Europe and Vivendi Universal Games in North America. It is the sequel to the 2004 game FlatOut.

<i>NHL 2K6</i> 2005 video game

NHL 2K6 is an ice hockey simulation made by 2K, and published on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Xbox 360 consoles. It features goaltender Marty Turco on the cover of games sold in the United States, and forward Mats Sundin on the cover of games sold in Canada and Europe.

<i>NHL Hitz Pro</i> 2003 video game

NHL Hitz Pro is an ice hockey video game developed by Next Level Games and published by Midway Games, in the NHL Hitz series. It was released on September 25, 2003, for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox. Unlike the previous titles in the series, it has 5-on-5 gameplay instead of the usual 3-on-3 gameplay with the earlier titles. The game does not include penalty shots, and it is still an arcade-type hockey game like its predecessors. It also has a lot of hard hitting. The cover athlete of the game is Nicklas Lidström, and features commentary from Tim Kitzrow and Harry Teinowitz.

<i>Backyard Wrestling: Dont Try This at Home</i> 2003 video game

Backyard Wrestling is a fighting game developed by Paradox Development, and published by Eidos Interactive in 2003 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

<i>SpyHunter</i> 2001 video game

SpyHunter is a vehicular combat game. It is a remake and sequel of the 1983 arcade game of the same name first released for PlayStation 2 in 2001. It has since been ported to GameCube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Tapwave Zodiac. In the game, the player drives the G-6155 Interceptor, an advanced, weaponized spy vehicle. Unlike the original's top-down view, the remake is played with a chase camera, similar to a racing game.

<i>SpyHunter 2</i> 2003 video game

SpyHunter 2 is a video game published by Midway in 2003 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. This game is the sequel to the 2001 remake of the 1983 game Spy Hunter. The player's first mission begins in Russia, right where the last level left off from leaving Petra, Jordan and the NOSTRA organization completely decimated initializing a sequel from the 2001 remake; he begins his cooperation with Agent Duvelle, traveling in various locations all around the planet including Russia, the United States, Asia, Switzerland and Antarctica. The weapons van is brought back again and equipped this time with an automatic turret / machine gun being that the player can utilize in extreme vehicular combat resolutions. The newly acquired Interceptor SpyHunter vehicle can enter off-road mode and transform itself into a jet-ski, a snow-mobile, a motor-tricycle, and a speedboat. The player can also choose from an arsenal of weapons inspired by James Bond 007 and Mission Impossible. Available weapons include Mines, Smoke Screen, Oil Slick, Machine Guns, Rockets, Missiles, Lasers and Cannons. The soundtrack features the song "Dark Carnival" recorded by Vanessa Carlton.

<i>Madden NFL 07</i> 2006 American football video game

Madden NFL 07 is an American football video game based on the NFL that was published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It is the first in the video game series to debut for the PlayStation 3 and Wii consoles as launch titles and the last Madden game to be released on the Game Boy Advance. Former Seattle Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander is on the cover.

<i>NHL 07</i> 2006 video game

NHL 07 is an ice hockey video game, which was released in 2006. The game improved the series' gameplay with more realistic features, such as stickhandling and a wider variety of controller schemes. As NHL 07 was released on the Xbox 360, this is the first game in the NHL series to be released on a seventh generation console. It was also the last NHL game to be released on the Xbox and the only installment to be released on the PlayStation Portable.

<i>Celebrity Deathmatch</i> (video game) 2003 video game

Celebrity Deathmatch is a professional wrestling video game by American studio Big Ape Productions, based on the MTV series of the same name. It was available for PlayStation, as well as Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game features celebrities and movie monsters as playable characters.

<i>NHL 2K7</i> 2006 video game

NHL 2K7 is an ice hockey video game made by 2K, and published on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Xbox 360 consoles. It features San Jose Sharks centre Joe Thornton on its cover. Bob Cole and Harry Neale return from NHL 2K6 to provide commentary. David Vyborny appeared on the cover of the PS2 version in the Czech Republic.

References

  1. 1 2 "Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on April 23, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run". Game Informer . No. 163. November 2006. p. 130.
  4. 1 2 Davis, Ryan (September 15, 2006). "Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run". GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 1, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  5. 1 2 Vasconcellos, Eduardo (September 11, 2006). "GameSpy: Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run". GameSpy. Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run Review". GameTrailers. September 24, 2006. Archived from the original on February 12, 2007. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  7. ↑ Pettinelli, Derek (September 17, 2006). "SpyHunter: Nowhere To Run - XB - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  8. 1 2 Perry, Douglass C. (September 11, 2006). "Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run Review". IGN. Archived from the original on May 20, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run". Official Xbox Magazine . December 2006. p. 76.
  10. ↑ Van Leuveren, Luke (September 19, 2006). "Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run Review - PlayStation 2 Review". PALGN. Archived from the original on September 9, 2007. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Review: Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run". PSM . December 2006. p. 84.
  12. 1 2 3 Toby, Al (October 8, 2006). "Recent releases: 'Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run'". Detroit Free Press . Archived from the original on October 28, 2006. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  13. 1 2 McNamara, John (September 16, 2006). "Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run (PS2)". The Times . Archived from the original on September 29, 2006. Retrieved November 4, 2016.(subscription required)
  14. ↑ McCarver, Chris (September 14, 2006). "Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run (PS2) Review". 411Mania. Archived from the original on October 30, 2006. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
  15. ↑ Johnson, Dwayne (December 9, 2017). "The Game Awards 2017". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-17.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.