American Fugitive published by Curve Digital and developed by Fallen Tree Ltd is available now on PlayStation 4, PC and May 23rd for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch May 24th.
Story
American Fugitive places you in the shoes of Will Riley, a man whose father has just been murdered. Someone out there has framed Will for the murder and while not whiter than white, Will has never committed murder. Although he is known to the police it was only for petty crime. Now Will has to go to extreme lengths to prove he didn’t kill his father.
I kept thinking through-out my play through of American Fugitive he’s trying to prove his innocence but then I had a shootout with 7 corrupt cops which is still killing in the end so while he’s innocent when it comes to his dad, he’s still killing people later on, I thought it was quite ironic. American Fugitive feels like GTA in many aspects including the whole, “well I’m trying to be a better person” but earlier you just mowed down an entire street. This doesn’t mess with the story though, it’s still an interesting premise and I like the contact style missions given.
Gameplay
American Fugitive takes inspiration from the classic GTA games with the top-down view and its wanted level system but throws its own twist into it by making it more of an RPG, survival type game. The first thing I noticed when the trailers were released is how incredible a concept it would be to have an open world sandbox video-game where I’m a criminal on the lose and I have to survive the onslaught of criminals and police and prove my innocence. All of this made me feel so tense due to being so high on the wanted list. The game goes as far as the police blocking each bridge so it feels like sometimes there’s no place to hide.
Throughout my play-through I was getting in trouble a lot, mainly crashing into cars by accident as I found the driving a little hard to get used too. Constantly crashing into cars and getting the cops on me did get a little tedious at times but at the same time it was realistic and kept me on my toes because I had to start taking care while driving. The driving mechanics I did find difficult as mentioned before, I feel like perhaps because I don’t know what’s in-front of me and I don’t drive carefully at all in any video game and in American Fugitive being cautious is the key to survival, I got extremely wreckless and I was punished for it.
The open world that has been created for American Fugitive gave it a real Dukes of Hazard like feel, it’s perfect for the criminal activities you’ll be getting up to. The activities range from, burglary, robbing people, murder, racing, time trials and much more. All of these tasks are plentiful and fun and my favourite thing to do was rob houses and sell all their stuff to a pawn shop. Of course with these crimes the cops will follow and they do put up quite a good chase. I love how the cops remember the clothes and car you’re using and you’ll have to resort to getting new clothes or grabbing a new car or taking the chase on foot through a forest or farm. American Fugitive is a very fun sandbox to play in. Being more of an RPG than GTA is, the range of items is large, from different types of guns with different stats to food and drink to get your health up. All these items have use whether it’s for money to upgrade your skills, weapons and tools to commit crime or defend yourself or again good and drink for survival.
Graphics and Sound
The graphics are really nice and fitting for what the game is trying to pull off. The detail put into each location is great and I LOVE the destructible style environments, just blasting through a brick wall knocking each brick out during a chase is so brilliant. The story also features hand drawn and animated faces which gives it a nice little touch and lets you see each of the characters rather than from the top-down view. I had no issues with frames per second or graphical glitches. The sound track is brilliant, you have the country/rock style music that totally fits with the theme and aids in making the chases and missions more engaging.
Verdict
American Fugitive is a game I really enjoyed, the concept of being a criminal on the run constantly having to hide your identity and prove your innocence was really tense and enjoyable. There are a few issues with the driving I had and some of the AI civilians sometimes walk into stuff quite often but nothing game breaking. I recommend it to anyone who wants a similar experience like GTA gives but also RPG and open-world fans might feel like this is a different one from your normal RPG styled games.
8/10
Nerdy Bird Games 