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Stuntman for PlayStation 2
In Stuntman for PlayStation 2, you drive the vehicles a film crew uses to shoot chases, jumps and crashes. The director gives instructions along the way: slide past a camera, hit another vehicle or land in the agreed spot after a jump. You must perform these actions in the right order while other cars and props move to their own schedule. A fast run is therefore only successful if you also reach the next stunt exactly on time.
Your career takes you through six fictional films with different locations and vehicles. A tuk-tuk handles differently from a sports car or snowmobile, so each production calls for fresh practice. If a take fails, you retry the scene and discover where to maintain your speed or slow down. After completing a film, you watch a trailer that edits your driving action into the other footage. You can then see what all that precise steering was needed for.
Away from filming, you build your own obstacle course in the Stunt Arena using unlocked items. Place ramps and obstacles, for example, and explore how much run-up a jump needs. This original PS2 game is for one player with a DUALSHOCK 2 controller; there is no local two-player game. The variety comes from short, pre-planned film runs and test setups of your own, rather than a championship in which you must keep crossing a finish line first.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 2 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
Stuntman for PlayStation 2 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of Stuntman
Reflections Interactive developed Stuntman, which Infogrames released under the Atari label in 2002. The European PlayStation 2 edition arrived in September that year. The British studio already had experience with cinematic chases through the Driver series. For Stuntman, the focus shifted from a driver within a crime story to the person performing dangerous driving for a film. That also changed the purpose of the driving: an assignment had to look convincing at exactly the right moment.
At launch, Infogrames emphasised its work with stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong and the interaction between vehicle handling and damage. The film crew, camera positions and events along the route turned each scene into a carefully constructed sequence. The director set the pace with spoken instructions. That design explains why the game often demands repeated attempts: a small deviation in an early corner can leave you too far from the next marker a few seconds later.
The presentation also followed the film-production theme. Successful actions returned in trailers, and the disc included material about the making of the game. The arena also gave players room to experiment with ramps and collisions themselves. In 2007, Stuntman: Ignition appeared, developed by Paradigm Entertainment and published by THQ. The Stuntman offered here remains Reflections' original work, however, with its own films, tightly timed takes and solo career, rather than an edition of that later sequel.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
Stuntman: Ignition also has you film vehicle sequences for fictional movies, but it rewards linking additional dangerous actions between the required stunts too. The original Stuntman places greater emphasis on precisely performing the predetermined scene. Both demand repetition and timing, after which you see the result as film action. Ignition adds local contests for two players on PS2; Stuntman itself remains an experience for one driver at the same console.
Burnout 3: Takedown shares the high speeds and spectacular crashes, but lets you deliberately eliminate opponents to turn a race in your favour. Its separate Crash challenges focus on causing a huge pile-up. In Stuntman, by contrast, a collision is an assignment within a film shoot: the right place and moment determine whether the scene works. You therefore practise a fixed sequence of events here instead of constantly reacting to rivals.
FlatOut 2 uses damaged cars, parts breaking loose and stunt challenges for a different kind of driving action. In its minigames, you launch the driver through the windscreen towards targets, while regular races allow contact and destruction. Stuntman keeps you behind the wheel and mainly judges how you perform a planned film run. Both involve speed, jumps and reading obstacles; the difference is whether you follow a competition objective or a director's instruction.
Driver: Parallel Lines also comes from Reflections and combines chases with a cinematic story. You drive through New York in two time periods and choose your own destination outside missions. Stuntman divides its action between separate film sets with predetermined events. Both demand control of a car among traffic and obstacles, but Parallel Lines gives you room to explore a city, whereas Stuntman has you perform the same short take with increasing precision.
Smuggler's Run has you transport contraband through large landscapes, with pursuers trying to push you off your route. You choose how to use hills and open terrain to complete a delivery. Stuntman also demands jumps and vehicle control, but ties them to fixed camera moments and a predetermined stunt sequence. In one game you therefore seek a workable route; in the other you learn to execute the intended route precisely.
