Game: 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Deveoper: Sega
Release Date: 14th November 2001
Running on the same Arcade hardware as Power Stone, Crazy Taxi, and The House of the Dead 2, 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker should have been at the very least enjoyable when ported to home consoles in 2001. Before its release in arcades, there wasn't really even a "truck racing" genre of video games, however the home console conversion doesn't seem to feature anything that should suggest a genre-defining title.
First of all, the number of game modes is very low; Arcade, Rival Chase, Parking and Versus modes being the only options. Arcade mode is the main game experience and allows players to race over 4 stages from Key West to San Francisco, with checkpoint racer style gameplay. Time counts down, and can only be replenished by passing checkpoints or hitting special bonus cars. If players don't make it to the goal in time, the game is over and they have the option of retrying the level.
There's usually only two checkpoints in total for each stage, with one of them being the end goal area. Parking minigames take place between each level, but aren't anything special. The main aim of each stage, besides finishing is to beat your rival to the goal, however given that there's hardly enough time to reach the goal, let alone worry about racing, this ends up being more of a side effect of beating a level. The AI truck also tends to drive very badly, swinging wildly across the road and stopping players from getting any real speed up. Despite trying my hardest, and setting the difficulty level to "Very Easy", I was only able to reach the 2nd stage of the game.
Graphically the game's textures are sub-par, and most of the visuals seem unimpressive. Character models are dated, as is the in game voice acting and the whole package seems to have a sense of little effort being put in. The music which plays behind races is of a generic country style and doesn't really help or hinder the experience in any way. Overall it's a disappointing arcade conversion which is far too difficult to progress through and offers nothing in the way of replayability.
Rating: 45/100
Grade: D
Game: The King of Route 66
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 18th March 2003
Shockingly 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker was deemed good enough by Sega to release a sequel. While there were some changes to gameplay and more extra modes added than in the last instalment, it's still fundamentally the same game and fans of one are likely to enjoy the other. This time the game features King of the Road, Queen of the Road, Route 66 Challenge, Rival Chase and VS mode as options, though these offer less than you'd expect for 5 game modes worth of play.
The main two modes of the game are King and Queen of the Road. King of the Road mode guides players through an utterly contrived storyline about a trucking gang on Route 66, and features basic short mission type races against both the clock and opponents. Once again, the AI is horribly difficult to beat due to rubberbanding, even with newly introduced nitro boosts. Queen of the Road mode sees players completing different challenges set by the "Queen" of each state on Route 66. On most missions the time limit is very tight and overall the gameplay of this mode is pretty unenjoyable.
Graphically the game doesn't make the best use of the Playstation 2, especially given that it was released in 2003. Almost everything about the title feels like it should be a budget game made by the likes of Midas or D3 Publisher, rather than Sega. The Route 66 Challenge mode is particularly broken and doesn't even allow players to retry a challenge directly after failing. Musically the game is inoffensive, but utterly forgettable, so much so that I'm unsure of what type of tracks were included, mere minutes after playing.
Overall it could be argued that The King of Route 66 is worse than 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker. There are more stages, but they're shorter, there are more modes, but they're unenjoyable, there's more to do storywise, but there's almost no emotional investment for players and the gameplay is just as bland as the original game. On the whole I'd avoid both titles as there's very little to gain from playing them.
Rating: 42/100
Grade: E
Game: Big Mutha Truckers
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Eutechnyx
Release Date: 16th June 2003
The best way to describe Big Mutha Truckers is if I ask you to imagine a cross between the open world 3D Grand Theft Auto games and Euro Truck Simulator. The two of these are both fun games in their own right, but I'm not sure that they're the sort of game mechanics that should be combined. In Big Mutha Truckers' main mode "Trial by Trucking", players attempt to earn as much money as they possibly can by transporting various loads across the map. You're allowed to choose what's carried, and there are tips on which places are currently paying high prices for different cargo.
While driving to a destination, there's very little to do. The in-game radio is almost entertaining with GTA style humour and ads inbetween a few licensed songs. Other than this though the roads are pretty bare and there's nothing to see in any of the game's locations. The main mode lasts for 60 in game days, after which the amount of money players have made is evaluated, though I didn't make it that far into the game.
Other than the main game mode, there's a mission mode which plays a little more like the 18 Wheeler series, with checkpoints and objectives whilst driving. Unfortunately it plays a little too much like the other series as the difficulty and time constraints are through the roof. Graphically the game is pretty average, there are some parts which are bearable, but the locations featured are mostly barren roads between cities. The licensed music can be enjoyable at times and the radio humour isn't bad, but it's not a major selling point.
Overall Big Mutha Truckers feels like a bland mix of ideas and although the buying/selling of cargo works well when combined with transporting it from place to place, 60 in-game days is far too long to expect players to do the same things over and over. It's obvious that attempts have been made to spice the gameplay up, such as races and chases but it's not interesting enough to warrant playing for too long.
Rating: 47/100
Grade: D
Game: Big Mutha Truckers 2: Truck Me Harder
Console: Playstation 2
Developer: Eutechnyx
Release Date: 23rd August 2005
Big Mutha Truckers 2 sees Eutechnyx rehashing the formula of the first game, this time asking players to raise money in order to bribe jury members for Ma's trial, to get her out of jail. Just like the first game, players earn most of their money by transporting goods from one town to another, and earning bonuses along the way. There are also minigames which can be played to earn additional money.
The handling of the first game was strange, but definitely felt as if the trucks had a lot of weight. Players had to slow down before taking corners and although it could be a little boring to travel so slowly, the handling was somewhat realistic. In contrast, Big Mutha Truckers 2 has more of an arcade style to its handling, with extremely fast acceleration for its trucks, and no real need to slow down for corners. This aids players in their efforts to reach their destination before the time limit runs out, but also makes it far more difficult to drive.
Graphically the game is a small improvement on the first game and its locations are slightly more interesting, however journeys are now mad scrambles across town to beat the timer, rather than scenic drives of any kind, so there's no time to appreciate any extra effort put in. Musically the game features more licensed tracks and radio humour, although just like the rest of the game's humour it feels as if the creators are trying too hard to be funny.
Overall neither of the games in the Big Mutha Truckers series are particularly impressive. The first game is a boring, repetitive mix of game dynamics from other franchises, and the second game attempts to add excitement in all the wrong ways. If you enjoy these games then they're likely to be somewhat of a guilty pleasure more than a complete favourite, because there's way better driving and action to be had elsewhere.
Rating: 50/100
Grade: D
No comments:
Post a Comment