Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

World’s Scariest Police Chases throws you behind the wheel of a squad car in a sprawling open-world version of Ashland, inviting you to choose between routine patrols and high-octane pursuits. Much like the classic Driver 2, you’ll weave through traffic, swing around tight corners, and navigate highways as you tail suspects. The game’s core loop is deceptively simple: follow, pursue, and either wear down your target or force them off the road.

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The twenty-mission structure strikes a solid balance between guided objectives and free-roaming mayhem. The first four missions serve as a comprehensive tutorial, teaching you tailing protocol, pursuit etiquette, and when to switch from a hands-off chase to a full-blown takedown. As you progress, criminals evolve from low-stakes DUI offenders and petty car thieves to armed bank robbers, drug rings and eventually even a runaway tank. Each escalation keeps the tension fresh and the stakes sky-high.

Mechanically, the game feels tight and responsive. A dynamic status bar at the bottom of the screen tracks your progress: the blue meter shows how long you’ve held the chase, while the red meter gauges damage to the suspect’s vehicle. You can end a pursuit nonviolently by keeping pace until the bar fills, or violently by ramming and shooting until the red bar depletes. The two-player co-op mode adds another layer of strategy—one driver, one shooter—turning every high-speed shoot-out into a coordinated dance of acceleration and trigger discipline.

Beyond the main missions, hidden areas peppered around Ashland—like an abandoned airport runway or a remote hilltop church—provide opportunities for off-beat challenges. Unlockable game modes such as a Halloween-themed spree or a gravity-bending low-gravity chase keep the formula from growing stale. These Easter eggs are neat rewards for exploration, encouraging players to stray off the beaten path even after they’ve wrapped up the campaign.

Graphics

Ashland is rendered with a surprising level of detail for a game of this era. The city’s streets pulse with dynamic traffic patterns, bustling pedestrian crowds, and weather effects that range from bright midday sunshine to foreboding thunderstorms. Each district—from the industrial port to the leafy suburbs—carries its own visual identity, making patrols feel genuinely fresh as you cross from one neighborhood to the next.

Car models feel robust and well-polished, with distinct silhouettes that let you immediately identify suspect vehicles in traffic. Damage modeling is satisfyingly visceral: see panels dent, windows crack, and tires shred in real time when you ram or shoot. Headlight flares, exhaust smoke, and skid-mark trails all contribute to a convincing sense of speed and impact during high-speed chases.

While texture resolutions occasionally show their limits on long-draw distances, the game compensates with atmospheric touches—drifting fog, neon glow from storefronts, and the occasional lens flare when the sun dips below the horizon. Hidden modes, like the Halloween re-skin, swap urban grime for spooky jack-o’-lanterns and tombstones, while low-gravity physics lend an otherworldly sheen to every jump and spin.

Story

The narrative spine of World’s Scariest Police Chases hinges on Sheriff Jon Bunnell, a veteran lawman with a reputation for never letting a suspect slip away. From the outset, you’re paired with Bunnell as he mentors you through your first high-speed pursuits. His dry quips and no-nonsense directives give the campaign a personable edge, transforming each mission from a simple driving exercise into a small but satisfying story beat.

As you move beyond the tutorials, the cases grow more elaborate. What begins as chasing a drunk driver on a quiet back road escalates to a multi-vehicle barricade scenario outside a downtown bank. Tension ramps up when the suspects start using weapons and booby traps, reflecting a world where criminals match the player’s own escalating tactics. The runaway tank mission stands out as a true set-piece, blending pure vehicular spectacle with a ticking clock that demands split-second decisions.

Despite the game’s arcade-leaning roots, there’s a sense of living history in Ashland: news broadcasts on roadside TVs, radio chatter from dispatch, and wanted posters plastered in alleys. Hidden transcripts and optional side objectives also hint at underlying corruption in the city government, rewarding players who dig deeper with a glimpse at a larger conspiracy. This light layer of intrigue enriches the procedural mission structure and keeps you invested beyond the next adrenaline rush.

Overall Experience

World’s Scariest Police Chases succeeds as a love letter to arcade-style driving dramas, melding the pilot-seat thrills of Driver 2 with its own brand of cop-centric cat-and-mouse gameplay. Its open world feels lived-in, the mission variety ensures no two chases are identical, and the co-op mode doubles down on the fun when you have a friend riding shotgun. Minor drawbacks—like occasionally blurry textures at distance—are easy to forgive in light of the game’s strengths.

For fans of high-velocity pursuits and anyone who’s ever fantasized about joining the blue line, this title delivers more than just skidmarks and gunfire. The campaign is robust enough to engage solo drivers, yet the hidden areas and unlockable modes offer plenty of post-game content for completionists. Even casual players can relish the pick-up-and-play nature of a single chase, making Ashland the perfect playground whether you have five minutes or five hours.

All told, World’s Scariest Police Chases is an immersive, heart-pounding ride. While it wears its inspirations on its sleeve, it carves out its own niche with deep mission design, entertaining storytelling, and responsive handling that makes every pursuit feel like a personal vendetta. Strap in, engage the lights and siren, and prepare for a patrol you won’t soon forget.

Retro Replay Score

6.9/10