Game Review: Pimp My Ride

Game: Pimp My Ride
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Eutechnyx
Release Date: 21st November 2006

Once MTV were done with advertising Juiced and L.A. Rush in the advert breaks of Pimp My Ride, a game was made featuring the concept of the television show itself. Players are given a choice of customers whose rides need to be improved and more are unlocked as players prove their skills at tricking out the cars. I had been expecting some racing to feature in the game's main mode, but instead there are only two phases to gameplay.

Firstly, after choosing which customer's car to pimp, players earn money by crashing into other vehicles, cruising past strangers, ghost-riding the whip (more details to follow), and collecting items. Once the desired total has been reached, players must race back to the customer in order to watch a cutscene based on the TV show where Xzibit visits the customer's house and discovers their likes and dislikes. Once this has happened players race around the city, visiting all of the upgrade shops they're able to within the time limit to upgrade the car's rims, bodykit, in-car entertainment, paint and custom upgrades. When time runs out, the customer judges whether the player has done a better job than a computer opponent at improving the car, and chooses the best car of the two.

Driving around in game isn't particularly enjoyable; the car handling has a heavy arcade feel to it, and collisions are particularly uneventful without any vehicular damage modelling. There's a decent sense of speed, but without opponents to race there's no real need to rush, save for the final rush around upgrade shops. The challenges required to earn money aren't particularly fun, and usually consist of pressing buttons in a displayed sequence.

'Ghostriding the whip' is a major feature of the game; a street trend of dancing alongside a slow moving car whilst it makes its way down the street. The minigame for this consists of pressing 12 sets of 3 or 4 button sequences within a certain time limit. Depending on how much of the sequence is done correctly, players earn a monetary bonus. It doesn't take long to earn the funds necessary to pimp a car, but the process of doing so is monotonous, even with 3 different minigames.

The pimping stage of the game lacks much choice for players, as they're given a set of 5 or less options at each upgrade store to choose from, each with different costs and star ratings which must be considered against the customer's interests. There's a short minigame at each store which can reduce the price of the current upgrade, but isn't always relevant or fun. Often it's difficult to assess what each specific customer will like, and the best policy is to buy the most expensive items available.

Being constrained by the time limit, this stage of the game is often more of a chaotic rush around the small town featured in the game than an enjoyable customisation experience. Once all is done, the cutscene featuring the customer and Xzibit is particularly cringeworthy with awkward pauses and half sentences before showing off the rival's effort. In the early stages of the game it's almost impossible to lose to the rival garage, but I'd assume it picks up later on.

Graphically the game features rather scary looking representations of people, especially Xzibit and the customers. The cars and other details aren't rendered too badly, but there's nothing particularly impressive visually in the game as a whole. Musically there's nothing of note besides a few songs that featured in many games of the time, and the original Pimp My Ride theme tune.

Overall a game based on Pimp My Ride could have been much better; with many customisation options and less of a focus on earning money via minigames, in favour of more racing and perhaps even a look inside West Coast Customs, fans of the series could have found more enjoyment. As it is, customers only take 10-20 minutes to get through from start to finish, and there's no real appeal anywhere in the main gameplay. Having watched MTV as a 14 year old, I wouldn't have been satisfied with this then, and I'm still not.

Rating: 40/100
Grade: E