Take two parts Twisted Metal, one part Blast Corps and one part San Francisco Rush. Now, grab all of these and throw 'em into a paint mixer. After the whirring of the blades has stopped, you'll most likely be left with Auto Destruct (either that of a big pile of broken CDs...but hey, that's fun too, right?). Never on to miss a trend in gaming, EA picked up on the fact that folks like driving around AND blowing the stuffings out of anything and everyone around them. Furthermore, the developers realized that when said destruction is actually framed by a plot, people love it even more. Enter Auto Destruct. Hopping behind the wheel of a fully-loaded (in more ways than one) car, you need to drive around and squash the evil plans of some cat by the name of Lazarus. Sound fun? If it does, then lock on, load up and hit the road!
General Strategies
Cheaters Always Win
The Cheat Menu
Extra Nitros
Mission 1
Mission 2
Mission 3
Mission 4
Mission 5
Mission 6
Mission 7
Mission 8
Mission 9
Mission 10
Mission 11
Mission 12
Mission 13
Mission 14
Mission 15
Mission 16
Mission 17
Mission 18
Mission 19
Mission 20
Mission 21
Mission 22
Mission 23
Mission 24
Mission 25
What would a game like this be without a bit of cheating? To be sure, EA has included a whole boat load of cheats to make you salivate.
To access the Cheat Menu, pause during any mission, then press Up, Down, Left, Right, Down, Right, L1, R1, R1. The following options will then become available:
Press L1, Circle, Down, L1, Up, Square, Circle, R1.
Extra Money
Press L1, R1, Up, Circle, Down, Square, Right, R1, L1.
Add 1 Minute To Time
Press Down, L1, L1, Circle, Circle, R1, Up, Square, L1.
Invulnerability
Press L1, L1, L1, L1, Left, Circle, Circle, Square, L1.
Infinite Fuel
Press L1, Circle, Left, L1, Circle, R1, L1, Up, R1, Down.
Car Tuneup Menu
Press L1, R1, L1, Up, Down, Circle, Down, Right, Left, Square, R1.
Make "New York Time Trial" Available
Press L1, Right, Down, Left, Up, R1.
Objective: Training.
As the objective suggests, this level is just meant to acclimate you with the game's controls and gameplay mechanics. The biggest and most useful piece of advice that I can give you with this one is beware of the water! For some obnoxious reason, your car can take round after round of heavy flak, but if you even so much as touch the water with the edge of a tire, you have to start all over again. Grrr.
Objective: Chase down the baddies in vans.
This is where the challenges start to present themselves. Right after you start, beeline it over to the foolball stadium-like structure and chase the vans to the far end. Not so tough, right? Things get interesting when the baddies change up their vans for copters and fly off. Get your booty over to the military base PRONTO and pick up some homers so you can take them out. If you don't do it quickly, you'll spend twenty minutes hunting around for them and you'll fail the mission anyway.
Objective: Defuse Bomb and Save Mayor.
The first part of this mission is the most critical. Go as fast as you possibly can to pick up the bomb guy and make a beeling for the bomb. If you dilly-dally at all, you'll blow the whole mission. After that, you simply have to protect the big man's limo. Not a prob if you're duly armed.
Objective: Grab Lazarus' laser and kill as many disciples as possible.
This level is pretty much a cake walk until you have to locate the final group of baddies to kill. The key here is in (a) finding the jump you take to them and (b) jumping without killing yourself. The ramp is up to the north of the map. Give yourself a little time and bomb it so you make adequate speed to get across.
Objective: Escort police informant out of the city.
First, go pick up the suitcase and kill the three baddies protecting it. Not a big deal; you should be able to handle them with minimal firepower. Now, head southeast and pick up the other suitcase. Immediately - and I mean immediately - head off to the northeast to pick up the guy. If you hesitate one bit, you'll fail.
Objective: Take out Lazarus' trouble makers at the mall.
First off, you're going to need the weapons that the 'copter drops off to take out the big tank. Once you've done that, follow the 'copter over to the car chase. Now it gets critical: You must take out the cars before they reach the dock. Make sure you save some powerful, long-range weaponry for the job. After you've taken them out, head over to the dock and finish off the rest.
Objective: Five bombs around the city need to be defused.
This is as Blast Corps-ish as it gets. The most critical piece of the puzzle is getting the informer (who will tell you the locations of the bombs) as quickly as possible. Once you have him, tear ass around the city and defuse them. If it weren't for that infernal water in this level, it would be fairly simple, but one wrong turn, and you have to start all over again.
Objective: Lazarus has split to San Francisco and you need to go find an informant that'll help you track him.
You'll find that the first batch of rogue cops you run into are a lot tougher than they appear. After you git the first way point, slow down - there's water just beyond it that can easily end it all. When you pick up the informant and start heading around picking up the boxes of his goods, be wary of the third box. While it's underplayed, it's almost an ambush.
Objective: Attack the retreating Lazarus.
Again, this one boils down to speed, speed, speed. Immediately after starting, head southwest picking up every weapon you possibly can along the way. Ideally, you'll catch up to him before he gets away.
Objective: Lazarus is moving to New York City. Familiarize yourself with the city and find out what you can.
You must save the first batch of guys down in the park from Lazarus' men - and fast! Now, go from warehouse to warehouse and load up on goodies. When you get the message saying that a bus is leaving for the dock, leave IMMEDIATELY to stop them. The bus is easy to blow up, but it's quick.
Objective: Go and get secrets from Little Johnny, a disgruntled mechanic.
After picking off the wayward cops' cars, head off and pick up Maria. Now, head off and make sure that freakin' Mack truck doesn't go off the edge AND escort the ambulance. If Maria gets hurt, you've got big problems.
Objective: Meet up with McNally and get info on Lazarus.
This is where you get your first taste of subterranean driving. Follow McNally down to the sewers and head in. Take the first hall on the left all the way down to pickup the stuff you need. Now, come out and go find the tunnel that'll take you to the Statue of Liberty. The most difficult part of the level is the last part; you need to survive a seemingly endless barrage of baddie cops at HQ.
Objective: Go save Fat Tony and Maria from Lazarus' men.
You're going to start off, as Austin Powers says, going from port to port. After picking up Maria, you need to blow the helicopter out of the sky with extreme prejudice. It'll run, leading you on a chase over a very long bridge. Be wary as you go over this bridge; there's a huge Mack truck that'll do everything in it's power to stop you. Just go around it.
Objective: Fat Tony wants revenge on Lazarus and you want to help him.
The most dangerous part of this level is right at the beginning, because you can lose it so quickly and so easily. As SOON as the level starts, rush over to Little Johnny's and use your lasers to take out all the baddies attacking him. If you miss even one for very long, you'll fail the mission.
Objective: Race Dupont for a suitcase containing info on Lazarus.
Obviously, the most difficult thing you'll have to do here is to win the race. In order to do that, you'll have to have a firm grasp on the shortcut through the park. All you need to do is follow the directional arrow with one big caveat: Watch out for that water!
Objective: Lazarus has escaped into an underground subway system. Chase him down and destroy him.
If you're like me (and I'm sorry if you are), your initial action in this level will be to drive around and chase after the red crosshairs. Don't do it. Instead, find a subway platform and wait. Pick off the baddies one by one and the rest will fall into place.
Objective: Lazarus has gone to Tokyo. Go scope it out and see what you can come up with.
The thing I found most frustrating/challenging about this level occurred just after the second waypoint. I didn't want to leave for the third waypoint to collect ammo - I wanted to stay there and kick butt. Learn from my mistakes; you must proceed to the third waypoint if you want any chance of taking out these godless baddies.
Objective: Go check out "The Coot's" oil refinery and see if Lazarus is around.
Surprisingly, the biggest challenge here isn't in the shape of a particular baddie or group of baddies - it's the water around the shipyards through which you need to race at break neck speeds. Work to the wise: Count on experimenting with a life or two just to find the quickest and safest way through the shipyards.
Objective: Go grab Maria from the docks where her plane landed.
Without question, the hardest thing to do here is drawing a diversion at the set of bridges. Here's what I did, and it seemed to work: Bum rush the first bridge you come to and take out all the baddies with lasers. Go grab the goods and take out that Mack truck.
Objective: Stop the suicidal driver.
Again, speed is of the essence here. Your most significant challenge is going to be taking this psycho out quickly. From your starting point, go to your left and pick up the weapons you see there. Now, turn around and wait for the psycho to drive past. If your aim is good and your timing is even better, you should be able to wipe him out before he reaches more civilians.
Objective: Johnny's been captured, but he's finding out some good info for you. Go find him.
Getting Maria into Lazarus' park base is the toughest part. In order to make an adequate distraction, you have to position yourself in the way of laser towers, tanks and enemy cars. The rule of thumb for approaching the base is this: Lasers outside and homers inside.
Objective: Meet and race a disciple driver.
At this point in the game, your car should be wicked fast. So, the hardest part is keeping the thing on the track as you go round and round. Just remember, though (should you get lost), the track is nothing more than a big counterclockwise rectangle.
Objective: Little Johnny got the info you want. You need to get to the dock before Lazarus tries to off him.
The toughest part here is also the easiest to describe: Get the trucks before they get to the dock...at all costs! Use any and all lasers at your disposal to get the job done.
Objective: Lazarus' units are in a state of disarray. Now's your chance to take out a whole bunch of 'em.
The killer here is getting all of the baddies. Instead of seeing them in their usual packs of three or four, you're going to see a whole bunch of baddies mindlessly driving around by themselves, very fast. You need to be patient and very quick with your most powerful weapons to take them out one by one.
Objective: Go to Lazarus' HQ and confront him.
The thing that's going to waste you in this level is the initial run-in with the Lazarus clones. There are four of them and they can take you out in a heartbeat. Know where the garage and ammo dumps are and be sure not to get very close to them if you want a chance at survival.