So I'm strolling through the pandemonium and utter monotony of the second day of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (better known to the average carbon-based lifeform as E3), and I happen to come up to Midway's booth. I had heard there was a new incarnation of the Spyhunter franchise being released in the fall, so my delicate and twisted sense of intuition told me to see if Midway had some form of a demo on the new title.

And wouldn't ya know it…. Next to some of the other bigger and anticipated releases, Spyhunter 2 beckoned at me to check it out.

Now keep in mind, E3 is generally showcasing new stuff that developers haven't finished yet. Or, it's finished and they love to tease you with it for another six months before launch. Or, it's finished but they want the investors and developers and geeks to check it out and see what their opinion is of that company's latest and greatest. I went in with this mentality, and I was not disappointed.

To boot, the game was obviously not complete. The proper start-up screens weren't there (and if what I saw was the start-up screens, then Midway went cheap on this title), you simply had two options: Start, or Resume. Naturally I chose Start.

On the main screen it showed an action shot of the latest Interceptor that you would be controlling. Once again, I was blown away by the overall sexy appeal and borderline ferocity that the designers wanted to convey. It also looked like the car was more "beefy".

In the game though, I was meagerly impressed. Now please keep in mind, this wasn't the finished title. As I started the game, there were very little to no mission objectives (it was based on ye ol' Nintendo philosophy: all things on the screen must die), half of the controls were explained on a little control layout diagram towards the bottom of the TV screen, and it was (curse me for saying it) overall kind of boring. The map you got to roam around on was almost like a loop, with a steady stream of enemies being reloaded once you blew away a certain number of them. Again, no objectives or anything…I found my rocket launcher and machine guns control, at this point those two things were all that mattered as I constantly targeted and hammered anything that could be targeted.

Now don't get me wrong, this isn't my "passing final judgement" here. There were some interesting and cool things about this beta pass though. Everything had a more futuristic look to it: the weapons van was a lot more sleek, the loading and unloading of the Interceptor was new (you'd drive in through the back, only this time the weapons van didn't stop. The left side would open, and a crane would lower your car to the ground. A bit irrational though…I mean, call me crazy but didn't KITT used to drive in and out of the same ramp on Knight Rider?), since the Interceptor had a new design they also incorporated a new boat design. The front "mandibles" of the car were now tapered off and the entire car looked like a massive arrow shooting through the water. I didn't get a chance to see what the new vehicle looked like in bike/jet ski mode, which was unfortunate.

Few things about the car: on this new version, you start the mission with no weapons deployed, offensively or defensively. This was kind of nice, however when you deployed the guns or the rocket launcher I was kind of disappointed that you could not retract the weapons after using them. Maybe it's just me and my anal-retentiveness of making things look smooth and clean. Also, one feature that eluded me was some type of railing or possible defensive feature that was deployed on the car when you pressed the Triangle button. Perhaps it was to increase the radio range… maybe this new version you use a cellphone, and that was the antenna?

And where was the turbo? I double-tapped every freakin' button on that damn controller, but no turbo! Lets hope that is in there and I just didn't press the right button (there's only like, 16 buttons on that simple-to-use PS2 controller, right?).

Either way, despite the elusive features and overall play of the game, I cannot pass judgement on this right now. Simply put, the game still needs a lot of work, and I can't blame them for not having it finished in time before the convention. But, given a taste of what is to come, I am optimistic for the future. Midway did a great job with the first re-make, so I am confident that they will pull through and make another blockbuster hit, guaranteed to be filled with high speed, big guns, many missiles, and an overall adrenaline rush.