Stuntman: Hollywood is a brilliant idea with uneven execution

Saber Interactive has revived the early-2000s Stuntman franchise and retooled it around licensed Hollywood films from Universal Pictures. Players take on the role of a professional stunt driver, reenacting sequences from franchises such as Fast & Furious, Back to the Future, and Knight Rider.

At Summer Game Fest I played five levels from a demo, including Fast & Furious runs that end with a train escape and a Back to the Future chase. The director calls stunts on the fly — jumps, close passes, knocks and a lot of drifting — and you’re graded in real time.

Landing big tricks felt great, and retries are quick compared with past Stuntman games, but drifting didn’t always feel intuitive and the experience remains one of trial and error à la Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. Licensed set pieces sometimes create odd dissonance — the Back to the Future chase swaps one VW bus for a fleet firing AK-47s — yet other moments land well; an Earthquake level captured frantic destruction and felt the most thrilling.

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