Juiced has been hard to miss
lately, at least on television. The marketing campaign to establish the title as
a big hitter in the underground racing franchise was a lot like trying to make
Ben Affleck look hardcore in Dare Devil. In fact, it is my belief that
publisher THQ spent more money marketing this game than on development (Juiced
was let go from bankrupted Acclaim about a year ago). But how does the game
play? Underneath the fine coating of media misdirection, Juiced fails in
many respects to deliver an innovative design different from the hugely
cluttered racing market and even lacks substance as a typical title.
I’m not going to lie: my first race
in Juiced was boring, and the game didn’t improve much from there. I
immediately started off by racing for $40,000 dollars against a rival crew
leader to afford a car of my own to trick out and race. Why the leader was so
generous in letting me borrow a car to race him for his own money is beyond my
comprehension (maybe he is a card-carrying member of Oprah’s Book Club who also
does laundry for the elderly in his spare time), but for the sake of the review
we’ll move on. The racing can only be described as “yawnish” because it tries to
make an underperforming game engine with customizable racers using basic and
repetitive tracks. It gets old way too quickly, even with the ability to take
the car to the shop for upgrades and fixes any time you please. Unfortunately,
you’ll be taking it in more often than you’ll like paying for repairs after each
race, from minor paint scratching to full-on “Red Asphalt” incidents.
The boring racing is
coupled with awkwardly unresponsive controls, almost as if the cars are wearing
training wheels for slower turns and movement. The game simplifies your driving
technique by displaying when you should break during turns. However, I find the
tips to be grossly inaccurate and can cut my clock times tremendously by
following my own rules of the road (blinkers are for suckers and left turns are
tough at 90 mph). To top it off, it’s one of the slowest underground racing
games I have ever played, which means turn up the NOS or you’ll be giving up
your pink slip. That’s right, on occasion, you’ll be able to put your car on the
line for high-stake action once you gain enough respect and cash from past races
with rival crew leaders. The advertisements for Juiced have really shined
the spotlight on this game feature, although it’s hardly something you will do
on a race-to-race basis.
Eventually, when you got
the cash and the street cred, you will be able to form your own crew. Crews can
gain skill and experience just like you, but having to sit through every single
race your boys take on just feels meaningless and unnecessarily slow in
progression. The cash system has been getting a lot of complaints from players
and critics alike. There are a lot of options to how you spend your cash, but
its extremely tough to gage the amount of money you should spend on your vehicle
for upgrades and damage repairs and on cash bets. A couple races in, I had the
right status, ride, and reputation, but lacked sufficient funds to put the pedal
to the metal. I’m not looking for the developers to hold my hand as the game
progresses. But setting up some system that increases cash winnings depending on
your position within the game would make the whole process less frustrating.
Besides the story mode, Juiced
features online multiplayer that lets you race PS2 gamers worldwide for the pink
slips to their rides. Xbox Live has been established as the current number one
online console setup for the 3 systems. Although PS2 network connection is free
from subscription services, you lose the well-managed community associated with
a uniform online gaming service. This makes it far less satisfying in racing for
pink slips and rubbing it in at your defeated rival. Anyone who is looking at
purchasing Juiced for the online setup should best aim for the Xbox
version.
Graphically, the game comes out
fair. The box boasts the possibility of trillions of car combinations to trick
out your ride. However, although the options are close to unlimited and the car
damage can be seen where inflicted, the car models lack the appropriate detail
other underground racing games are infamous for. The city street tracks, which
look more like well organized family events instead of illegal street races, all
look identical. The audio is filled with recycled car sounds you’d expect from a
racing title and awkward voice acting, but it also features some of today’s
hottest rap artists (I’m not a fan, but I just assume they’re “hot”).
So, what’s underneath
the hood of this so-called underground racer that forces you to put it “all on
the line?” In truth, Juiced is nothing more than an unusually repetitive
driving simulator with many different kinds of cars you can buy. Of course, if
that’s what entertains you, you’re better off visiting a luxury car dealership
and forcing the salesman to test drive every single vehicle on the lot (he’s got
to EARN his commission).
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Gameplay: 6.5
Racing games are a little repetitive, and this one is
no exception. Juiced also lacks that authentic underground feel that so
many other franchises have captured.
Graphics: 8.0
So many car options, so little cash! If only the
racing tracks didn’t sport the same look and feel.
Sound: 7.3
All the music that I never listen to is packed right
in this CD. It’s just a shame they didn’t make more room for sound effects and
decent voice acting.
Difficulty:
Medium
Concept: 5
We get it, we get it! Juiced
lets you race for pinkslips (sometimes). Anything else? No? Let’s move on.
Multiplayer:
6.0
Simply put: If you have XBOX Live, might as well pick
up the other version (although from what I hear, the online gameplay on XBOX
isn’t much better)
Overall: 6.5
The idea of racing for pinkslips is a very interesting
one, so I hope future titles can pick up the feature. I would recommend that
only true-racing fanboys pick up Juiced (don’t rent it, the customization
of vehicles requires some time to fully control), and hopefully the $49.99 price
tag will drop.
