ic-games Review - Juiced - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

ic-games Review - Juiced - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii ic-games Review - Home - Review, Preview and Interview for PC, Xbox,Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

Juiced

Information
Reviewer: James Collins
Developer: Juice Games
Publisher: THQ
Reviewed: PC, PS2 and Xbox
Genre: Racing
UK Release: 17th Jun 2005
Article Date: 14th Jul 2005
Difficulty: Medium
Retail Price: £39.99
Price Comparison:
0

Score Breakdown

Experience:
Game Play:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 82%

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Pros

Brings new ideas to the table

Carear mode works well

Online 'pink ticket'

Cons

Its a flooded market right now

In game help, doesnt.

Six car limit on Live

Screenshots

27 of 70

By now you should all know the story about Acclaim and their bankruptcy proceedings. You also probably know that ‘Juiced’ the game was very nearly an unintended victim of their monitory woes. That was until Juiced Games found a brand new publisher in the guise of THQ. The biggest problem was that in all this time other games in the genre were getting released, ultimately Juiced now had to battle the heavyweight might of Rockstar and Electronic Arts.

So what exactly does Juiced offer over the successful Midnight Club 3 and Need For Speed Underground series of games? And there you have the biggest problem for this ‘old’ new kid on the block, sure Juiced allows you to race (and own) over 50 cars competing on around 99 different circuits. And we can’t deny that it also allows you to ‘mod out’ your car with neon strips, impressive rims and nitrous but haven’t we seen all this before?

Actually not all of that is fair, and Juiced does seem to be getting some harsh press. It’s worth noting that Juiced does indeed do a few things better than either of the two aforementioned games, but it simply isn’t enough to propel this title into greatness which is a shame. We love the idea of racing other people online with the chance to win their cars (or lose ours) with the pink ticket races. The online side in our opinion is what sets this game apart from the others. Step into Xbox Live and the multiplayer side gets even better with full leaderboards, 6 player races and of course that pink ticket race system. So much so if you have Xbox Live then you really are in for a treat.

The customisation of the cars is also an impressive area, THQ boast that with the 50 cars available in the game you have access to around 7 trillion different modifications allowing you to really add that personal touch to every car you own. Some of these modifications are of course not just for looks, you can upgrade the engine, brakes and countless other details to push the car to the extreme.

So much so that each car online, and in career mode, is measured against a class system. To enter some races you may need to be armed with a car in a certain class, if your favourite car is not up to the job you can always upgrade the parts so it can compete, or you can attempt to win one using the pink ticket system. It is however normally better to get the vehicle’s stats as high as possible in the class it excels in unless you really are prepared to fork out.

As far as graphics and sound goes Juiced again lacks behind the successful giants, but unlike the gameplay, the overall look and feel of Juiced is a much closer match. The translation between Acclaim and THQ has seen the developer Juiced Games touching up on the look and feel and it feels a much better game than it ever was under Acclaims hands. The cars look pretty close to their real life counterparts. We would have liked to have seen a more impressive damage model but apart from that Juiced looks pretty impressive. And it doesn’t end there, the soundtrack features some decent tracks and the adequate voice acting helps maintain a decent career environment.

The only real area in which Juiced failed to deliver was with the in-game help system (an oxymoron if I ever did see one - do yourselves a favour, turn it off). At key moments during the race (approaching a corner for example) text will flash on the screen advising you to ‘slow down’ or ‘brake’, the problem here is that text isn’t the best medium for helping someone judge a corner. You can see it now, there you are racing along at 132 MPH, you approach a bend and get ready to ease off the gas. Suddenly the game puts up its warning, ‘SLOW DOWN’ followed closely by ‘BRAKE!’ You read the warning and press down on the brake. Problem is the distraction has already seen you crash headlong into the barricades. Sorry, for me it just didn’t work. A much better method was seen in Forza Motorsport and it achieved its goal much better than this. At the end of the day though, as mentioned, you can remove this particular problem via the option screen.

"Juiced really is an addictive online racer, as long as you have the metal to participate.."

The career mode will either infuriate or you’ll have a blast it really is as simple as that, and to be honest it all depends on what type of gamer you are. The biggest complaint that some people are throwing towards Juiced is that it really is very easy to lose some of your most precious vehicles. Personally this has always puzzled us here at ICG, as it’s this sort of high risk gamble that actually makes games addictive. The basic idea is that when competing in ‘pink ticket’ races you get to gamble your car against the person offering the race. Rockstar had a similar element within Midnight Club 3, but the spin with Juiced is you actually have to give up your car if you lose. Yep that’s right, that beautiful car you spent thousands on will be lost for good if you are not up to the job. As Bruce Forsyth once said, 'are you sure you want to gamble'?

It’s not even safe on Xbox Live, impress others online and you may get some interest in your car and some pink ticket requests may come in from online participants. Juiced really is an addictive online racer, as long as you have the metal to participate. Even if you are too chicken to gamble your car, it’s also worth a mention that the offline career mode can be tied into Xbox Live to a point that you can gamble your career mode money online in hope of grabbing some more cash for your single player experience, and that’s gameplay genius in our book. You can also form teams and participate in 3x3 or 2x2 races against other rival teams (There is a six car limit on Xbox Live). If you do not have access to the Xbox Live service then your enjoyment of Juiced sadly won’t be as profound. You can take part in split screen races or utilize the system link but they do not compare with the functionality and the rewards of the Live! matches.

Yes, ultimately Juiced may lie in an already crowded market and certainly the demise of Acclaim didn’t help this particular racer, but we still believe it has something to offer. The career mode, the online features and the customizations alone demand at least a look, and with Juiced currently running high in the charts it seems that’s exactly what most people are doing right now.

DETAILED GAME INFORMATION

Version Reviewed: Xbox Promo
Other Versions: PC, PS2
Muliplayer: Yes + Preferred
Xbox Version Price: £39.99
Age: 12+

Jucied Trailer - DOWNLOAD HERE

USA Release date - Out Now!
UK Release date - Out Now!

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