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It was the brand new beginning for one of the most anticipated game systems of the year – the Xbox 360. While titles trickled in, one game promised all the speed of Burnout along with all the destruction of Twisted Metal. Full Auto came and went with little fanfare and fulfilling none of their promises. Mounting guns on your car doesn’t make you Twisted Metal just like putting wheels on doesn’t make you Burnout.

A second launch gives this mostly overlooked game a second chance to bang out the lackluster control scheme that marred the last year’s model. Or they could simply drop the previous game into the PS3, add in a couple of extra cars, and not address a single issue that kept the first game from crossing the finish line on its first lap around the track.

The Track of Good Intentions

As the numbers count down and the tires squeal, you find yourself in a post-apocalyptic but fairly well maintained world of Full Auto. Nothing lasts forever as tanks explode, glass smashes, and deceptively light pipes litter the road. Tracks and arenas receive a few extra exploding bells and whistles over the previous installment. With a couple of well placed shots, massive ships sway and bend under massive girders to topple and crush your adversary. That is if they’re following behind you rather closely, and you’ve managed to actually hit anything accurately with your guns. Otherwise, like most of the new additions, the ideas appear bigger in the press release than they actually are.

Full Auto 2: Battlelines pulls out a half dozen new cars along with a couple of new weapons to mark up those pretty little paint jobs. From the classic style of the Sidewinder to the new muscle of the Executioner, Full Auto knows that a little car porn can go a long way in any series. Players can also customize their cars with a number of new skins to be unlocked in the single player campaign.

Along with the new rides come a couple of new ways to wreck them. Up to eight players race it out online or rip into chrome with the new deathmatch and team deathmatch modes of play. While Full Auto throws in a few other modes of play just to fill out the roster, I still get that feeling of jousting on a fat cow as I circle around my competitor to get a shot off. Don’t give me more options. Give me a car I can control.

Speaking of giving, Full Auto gives away nothing. You have to earn it and that’s when I nearly broke the controller.

Mission: Aggravation

Cars, decent weapons, and countless paint jobs; all of this has to be first earned in the single player campaign.  Each stage focuses on a specific area and a car that you’ll eventually unlock after completing the mission. For three of four races then, you’ll be staring at the same track, the same competitors, and slam into the same wall as your car loses all sense of physics as well as the idea of a breaking system.

Do or do not – you’ll have to try again. The mostly linear missions forces you to compete against competitors with better weapons and better cars. I have no problem with a little challenge but I need to feel as though I’m moving forward instead of getting stuck. Missions also add in multiple objectives per race. Finishing first just isn’t good enough. Try finishing first and taking out your main competitor or a couple of additional cars in the process.

Want to go online with more than a smoke screen? Would you like to play a game with friends where you all have different cars? You’ll need to spend some quality time cussing, yelling, and doing things your mama wouldn’t approve of while trying to unlock even the most basic weapons in the game. Full Auto 2 is a game that gives you what you want, but only after you suffer for them.

My Car is Broken… Let’s Paint it!

Sequel means that the game has somehow expanded beyond its tiny walls to look back on mistakes of the previous game. With the most of the same material getting rehashed on a different system, Battlelines needs an overhaul and not just a quick paint job. Cars skid for no reason. Frames slow down just as the action heats up. Full Auto 2: Battlelines spins its wheels keeping the same controls and not improving the over all experience.