Stuntman: Hollywood Preview – I never realised how much I missed being a stuntman
by Nick Petrasiti · tsaSome games can send you back into your memories almost immediately. Within minutes of playing Stuntman: Hollywood at Gamescom, It was like the 20 years since the last game had barely happened. The timing, the pressure, the constant need to hit every mark perfectly and the inevitable desire to immediately replay a level because you know you can do it better all came flooding back.
The biggest difference this time around is that we’re no longer pretending with legally distinct movie homages. Stuntman: Hollywood puts you behind the wheel within some of the biggest movies and TV shows around, recreating iconic scenes from properties including Fast & Furious, Back to the Future, Knight Rider, Miami Vice and Death Race. And now Jurassic World is joining the party too – revealed during the Xbox Gamescom broadcast with a bunch of dinosaur-filled stunt sequences.
Having the licensed films is fantastic for this game, because it makes the fantasy of being a stuntman feel considerably more real. You’re not simply driving a car around a track; you’re effectively performing a scene for a movie, with the camera waiting for you to hit every mark.
And if you mess it up, you do it again. And again. And again.
Replayability has always been at the heart of Stuntman, and Hollywood seems determined to preserve it. The levels are short, focused bursts of controlled chaos. You’re given a series of objectives to complete during each scene, which can involve drifting through a particular section, hitting a specific point at speed, performing a jump, dodging obstacles or executing a particular stunt at exactly the right moment.
Then there are the optional challenges. These are where things can get dangerous for your free time.
The game awards stars based on how well you perform, with the goal being to achieve the maximum possible score. Every level becomes a challenge to yourself: Can I get another star? Can I complete that stunt without crashing? Can I hit the mark more precisely? Can I get through the whole sequence without making a single mistake?
Before you know it, you’re replaying the same level for the fifth time. Then the sixth. Then the seventh because you *know* you can do better. It’s an incredibly simple loop, but it’s also ridiculously addictive.
The licensed content makes it even more enjoyable because the scenarios aren’t these generic stunt courses. They’re recreations of scenes inspired by recognisable films and shows, with the environments, vehicles and objectives built around the property you’re playing.
The Jurassic World section was a particular highlight for me. There’s something inherently entertaining about trying to perform a perfect stunt while dinosaurs are causing chaos around you, and it demonstrates just how much potential there is in combining the Stuntman formula with established movie franchises.
Miami Vice was another highlight during my session, giving me a very different flavour of stunt sequence and showing that the game isn’t simply going to rely on explosions and increasingly ridiculous car crashes.
Stuntman: Hollywood needs that variety. The basic gameplay loop is deliberately repetitive, that’s the point, so the environments, vehicles and challenges need to keep giving you reasons to come back. Thankfully, it looks like Saber has plenty of ideas.
Each film is split into episodes, with different vehicles, environments and gameplay twists. Beyond the main movie sequences, there are also B-roll episodes, stunt arenas and additional challenges designed to give you even more opportunities to chase high scores.
There’s also a garage where you can keep track of your collection, with new vehicles, trophies and other rewards being added as you progress. There also looks to be a lot of vehicles to unlock.
The roster includes everything from high-speed cars and muscle cars to motorcycles and some genuinely iconic Hollywood vehicles. K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider and the Back to the Future DeLorean are already confirmed, alongside a much broader collection of vehicles.
That variety should help keep the replay loop interesting, because mastering one car isn’t necessarily going to prepare you for the next. And that’s something I remember about the original Stuntman games. You aren’t simply learning the levels. You’re learning how the game wants you to drive.
Speed, timing, positioning and precision all matter, and the slightest mistake can ruin an otherwise perfect run. It’s the sort of game where failure doesn’t necessarily make you angry because you know exactly what went wrong.
Stuntman: Hollywood feels like it has taken the original formula and modernised it without losing the thing that made it so enjoyable. The presentation is obviously much more polished, and the addition of genuine film and television properties gives the whole experience a new sense of spectacle, but underneath all of that is still the same simple idea.
Perform the stunt, hit the marks, don’t crash, get as many stars as possible, then do it again.