Neversoft
May 2002
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Wii: Excite Truck
Well, I can honestly say that I had ZERO interest in this game until The404 mentioned that it was only 20 sobs at Gamestation, so I've bought it and intend on trading in Warioware later on this week... Warioware aint a bad game, it's just not my thing and is quite short lived.
So, yeah, Excite Truck! With a name like that you'd expect it to be "exciting" and thankfully I can state that the game isn't as utterly gash as I'd expected it to be.
The basic premise of the game isn't to "win" races as such, but simply to build up enough points to qualify for the next race - the points are earned by performing certain feats during the game, be it jumping chasms, smashing trees, ramming cars, doing stupid stunts and all sorts of other shit. You have opponents in the race but they're really just to aid you in your quest for points.
As with most "1st gen" games, the options are a bit limited. I suppose they have to draw the line somewhere and get the game out of the door but it lacks certain features typical of racing games such as car customisation, online play, fuckloads of tracks and a soundtrack that isn't a load of cunt.
What game there is though, is pretty damned nice. The tracks scoot along at a crazy pace more akin to FZero than a car racing game. The closest I can think of is San Fransico Rush or Beetle Adventure Racing on the N64... Fuck the simulation and just blast down the track! Control is handled by turning the Wiimote on it's side anbd using it like a steering wheel. The d-pad providing the "Boost" button (boost is infinite but causes your car to overheat - you cool it by either waiting before you boost again, going over jumps or better still; driving through water). The 1 and 2 buttons used to brake and accellerate. You can also tilt the Wiimote forwards or backwards to tilt the cars nose and offer some control over jumps - landing all four wheels simultaneously also gives you an extra boost when you land.
Car selection is a bit crap, consisting of a "bunch" (I didn't count them) of 4x4 off-roaders. Most aren't available at the start and I couldn't spot any major differences between the ones that are enabled... The game is too fast to notice that car "A" can jump .5x further than car "B". You can't customise cars beyond the colour either, unless that appears later in the game.
The graphics are pretty nice. Nothing that screams "OH MY FUCKING GOD" but they are quite nice and appear glitch-free and there's no noticable slowdown. Blurring effects and light blooms are everywhere and the cars are fairly shiny. Water effects aren't bad and overall the graphics have a "fun" feel as opposed to accurately rendering 10 trillion dust particles. It IS somewhat lacking in textures but overall I like the graphics - I have no doubt that the Wii can do FAR better though.
What the game gives with one hand it takes away with the other. The sound effects are reasonable but the music that comes with the game will have you wanting to dig out your eardrums with a screwdriver. It's generic "rock shit" that should have been banned after it's overuse in wanky wrestling games for the last decade. Oh christ it's bad! Bad, bad, bad! In fact, I would rather listen to a 20 minute Shn monologue on why life is great. Luckily, as if the programmers realised that the music was a load of palsied twat, they added the option of playing your own MP3 tracks off your SD card - if you have one.
Overall the game plays pretty well, looks good and offers a reasonable 2 player split screen mode. It's let down a bit by the soundtrack and generic cars and tracks but the overall package is fun... Just not with a capital "F". In other words, it's not worth the full RRP but at £20 at Gamestation, its a bargain.
Gameplay 7/10
Graphics 7/10
Sound 5/10
Overall 6/10 or 8/10 (depending on if you pay RRP or £20)
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03-13-2007 06:27 PM
