Does anyone remember Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012?
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7 reasons to remember a forgotten title from a forgotten genre.
For everyone that loves cars but who feels racing simulators such as Gran Turismo are just as fun as poking your eye with a needle, there is an alternative for you.
The genre is called “car combat”. If you’ve never played it, do you remember the Mario Kart mini game with the balloons floating on your head? Well, it’s exactly like that! But with actual guns. And actual death. And smashing soundtracks.
From this rather obscure genre, there’s three titles that take the spotlight. Of course Twisted Metal is undoubtedly the most famous of the bunch. The fact that Sweet Tooth managed a spot in the roster of PlayStation All Stars tells you pretty much everything. Vigilante 8 is possibly one of the best looking games in the original PlayStation but could never live up to Twisted Metal’s great combat, system and unlovable characters.
Now, hidden in a dark, garlicky and miserable dungeon somewhere lies Rogue Trip: Vacation 2012. It describes a futuristic universe (2012 seemed incredibly far away for some apparently) and the world has turned to shit. Now, I don’t mean Tik Tok cringe from dumb influencers wearing Rolexes. I mean truly post-apocalyptic shit. And yet, people somehow manage to honor our current generations by bitching about the fact that there aren’t vacation spots left to visit. That’s where you come in. As an “automercenary” your job is to drive tourists through the remaining vacation resorts on Earth… while other people in cars try to kill you. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Well, that’s because it was. And today, we’ll remember why.
1. The music
One of my main complaints in the Twisted Metal saga is that I’d have a better chance recalling what I ate exactly five years ago while induced in a coma rather than remembering a Twisted Metal song. I found them to be rather generic and sometimes dull, specially for a combat game.
Rogue Trip’s music selection however is absolutely pristine. There’s everything from hard rock, blues, ska, jazz and whatever the hell Area 51’s theme happens to be. And if that wasn’t enough, both The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Nashville Pussy feature a song each in the game.
