Crash Time: Autobahn Pursuit

Screenshot from Xbox 360 version of Crash Time: Autobahn Pursuit.

The player assumes the role of one of several officers in the fictional Cobra 11 team, from the television series Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei, a police unit in Germany assigned to patrol the Autobahn and other road networks. The player usually takes the role of either Chris Ritter or Semir Gerkhan, but there is one early mission (Beginner's Luck) where the player takes the place of a contender. The officers are in charge with stopping and questioning suspects about various criminal activities. The game presents the player with a series of fictional "cases" that need to be solved to progress. The cases themselves are set in 2007.[1]

The game was developed for the Xbox 360 by Synetic and published in North America by Crave Entertainment with a release date of 5 August, 2008.[2] In Europe the game was published by RTL Playtainment, a subsidiary of RTL Television, and was released on 9 May, 2008.[2] The PC version was released on 7 November 2007.[3]

Using an improved version of the Crash Time: Autobahn Pursuit game engine developed for Mercedes-Benz World Racing,[4] Synetic also developed a "pathfinder" system to allow AI controlled vehicles to choose their own route to a destination, so that no two pursuits are the same. According to Andreas Leicht, product manager at Synetic, creating the "pathfinder" system was the most difficult and time-consuming part of the development cycle.[4] The scenery runs at a polygon count of 1,200,000 triangles per scene[4] with a damage model based on physical impulses during a collision, in which the vertex basis is deformed. Also, visual damage to the animated model is triggered if the deformation exceeds specified limits, meaning that the cars not only deform but that parts can break and fall off.[4]

City design for the game was based on real-life architecture using industrial buildings, inner-city districts and railway stations as models, although the game does not contain an entire real city. The development team sourced several thousand photos, texture DVDs as well as researching books and videos to obtain a "real" look for the cities.[4]

The IGN Xbox Team rated Crash Time: Autobahn Pursuit as one of the five worst driving games on Xbox 360, mainly referring to the German police setting to the game, and the poor voice acting in the English-language versions.[12] In a review for IGN by Ryan Geddes there was criticism that what could have been an exciting game has been reduced to the mundane.[7] The difficulty curve was labelled "inconsistent", with "cakewalk levels being followed immediately by nearly impossible ones".[7] The "Cases" mode was criticised as the player cannot tell how many missions are left until the case is completed, making the planning of a game session impossible. The missions have been described as boring and dull.[6]

There was praise for the crashes,[7] and it has been noted that the explosions are poor, but their resulting debris is a nice touch. Francis Clarke of AceGamez stated that the graphics are not acceptable for a modern game with textures not standing up to scrutiny and a clipping effect when driving through fields.[13] There has been criticism that the vehicles in the game pop-up, which is emphasised by the speed at which the player is travelling.[6]