Smuggler’s Run: Warzones really surprised me. I’d heard a few good things about the PS2 versions, but the GameCube’s entry to the series is chock full of off-road driving fun and several excellent modes.

The game puts you in the shoes of a smuggler operating in Russia and Vietnam. Exactly what you’re smuggling is never too important, unless it’s highly explosive. What you really care about is getting the contraband from one point to another, while dodging rival gangs and the cops on the way. All of this would be pretty uninteresting except for one thing: it’s all off-road. In fact, Warzones has a better grasp on the off-road concept and the great things that premise can do than any racing game I’ve ever played.

In a typical mission, you’ll be picking up and delivering anywhere from two to six illegal packages. Along the way, you’ll climb and fly off mountains, skim through rivers, and sneak through villages, all while trying to slip away from the po-po. With obstructions literally built into the terrain at every turn, there are many strategies to test out and many paths to success (and failure!) in each mission. All of this also makes your vehicle choice much more important than in a traditional racing game, and few of the selections are strictly better than any other.

Each vehicle also packs a unique set of two countermeasures. These things aren’t your typical missiles or banana peels (yes, that’s a joke); they’re meant only for escape. Many missions will ask you to ditch all of the police following you once the last delivery has been made. With your fuzz fan club often numbering six or eight members, driving various cars and trucks, escape can be rather challenging without some help. The oil slicks, speed boosts, jump jets, and other countermeasures really come in handy during these times.

When you’ve had enough mission-running, there are several other modes in Warzones that are more than worth your time. One is a soccer-like game between teams of vehicles, where you compete to grab a package and deliver it to your base before the opponents can steal it away. A few of the main game’s missions resemble this mode, but it’s a lot more fun when you can adjust the rules and let up to three friends join in. Plus, you’ll have access to the full vehicle roster, which makes a huge difference in strategy. There’s a great race mode, also multiplayer (or against the computer), which lets you run various courses plotted over the regions you’re already familiar with from the main mode. The races are surprisingly challenging and fun, and some of the courses are ingeniously laid out. Finally, Warzones includes the most enjoyable free-ride mode I’ve ever played. Usually such features are boring and a waste of time, but given the huge off-road environments in this game, you can actually spend quite a lot of time just goofing off and exploring by yourself. I once spent ten minutes riding around backwards in the first-person view. It was like riding a roller coaster, thanks to the wild landscapes.

Warzones is clearly aimed at a teen/adult audience, and other than a few mild curses, that focus is mainly evident in the game’s challenge. It’s not overly difficult, but the game does seem to be partially designed around a trial-and-error basis, much like Factor 5’s Rogue Squadron series. You are given a specific mission objective, but often no clear directions on how to actually execute that goal. So you ride around and try a few things, gauge the results of each method, and form a new plan to succeed. You can expect to play many of these missions several times before figuring out what to do, and even then, your driving skills may need improvement before you can actually complete the mission. It’s not really frustrating, but you probably won’t breeze through the game either. I personally like to be challenged a little, so it didn’t bother me at all.

Overall, Smuggler’s Run: Warzones is a borderline excellent title with a whole lot to love. Even GameCube owners who don’t normally go for driving games should rent this one and see what they think. There’s as much exploring and strategizing as there is “racing”. The mix was definitely a pleasant surprise for me. With its level of polish and ample multiplayer offerings, Warzones is a very worthy purchase for anyone who enjoys its unique gameplay.