Juiced

The Good
Firstly, the game drives really well. It's not as simple and arcadey as the Need For Speed games, but not as realistic as proper race sims. Nicely in the middle. Good driving technique is well rewarded and it really feels great with an force feedback wheel.

The cars all handle well and are interestingly different enough from each other so you want to try them all. The lower horsepower FWD cars are a doddle to drive and provide a great way to get used to the game before you move up to the high power RWD monsters.

The graphics are very good and the cars are beautifully modelled, and the textures and lighting are excellent, assuming you can run at high enough detail levels (and you'll need a pretty hefty machine to do so). Sound effects are good enough and well detailed, with some nice subtle background touches - cheering and booing from the crowd, the pitter-patter of rain on the road, and so on.

The betting system is really neat, and a great way to make pots of extra cash, accelerating your progress through the game. Plus it adds a real incentive to the races knowing that several thousand of your own dollars are riding on the result.

The respect system seems odd and a little frustrating at first, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes very easy to crank up the respect of the other drivers earning you plenty of additional racing opportunities.

While there is no free-drive mode, this game is still fun just to climb in and have a blast as well as for some serious racing.

The Bad
This is a pretty good game and quite addictive, just for the fun of driving - but there are a few annoyances.

The wonderful ambient sounds are lost if you race with the in-car view, like all do because all you can hear is engine noise.

The AI of your team drivers can be really annoying. Even with maxed out skills they still spin out for no good reason, they'll often brake rather than overtake, and they treat you (their team leader) like any other driver and ram you off the road if you cross their line.

Not the greatest range of cars. Sure there's 52 to choose from, but 11 of those are Hondas. Some are even the same car: the Honda NSX is identical in every way to the Accura NSX, so why have both? Plus, this game is obviously set in the U.S., so why have a handful of European super-mini's which aren't even sold in the U.S.? Don't get me wrong, I like the cars - the 206 is an excellent starting car, but surely a Cavalier or Sunfire would be more appropriate.

The Bottom Line
In a similar vein to NFS : Underground, this game is based around street racing in highly modified domestic and import cars. You start with $40,000 dollars and a choice of just 3 cars to start with. The cars start off stock, but as you race them and do well you earn the right to buy various modifications - both performance and styling mods.

There are 8 other teams in Angel City, and you'll get to know each of there team leader's quite well. Each team have their own styles, attitudes and preferences, and they each respect different aspects of your racing and your cars.

You get to attend street races held by the other teams, or host your own races on your own racetrack. Winning races earns you cash and respect, and betting on the races can really bring in the bucks. Once you respect levels are high enough, you can host races on other gang's turfs for bigger rewards. You can also race for pinks, betting your car against another driver, for that extra incentive to win.

The cars are split into various groups based on horsepower, and you can only race against cars in the same group. This keeps the races relatively fair and means you can work your way up from 118hp Peugeot 206 to 1042hp Dodge Viper. There's lots of variations and opportunities at every level so the game can be played to suit your own abilities/preferences.

There's also an Arcade mode which provides some additional challenges, and the game can be raced both on a LAN and online, although I have not had the opportunity to do either yet.

The Good
The graphics are really nice and the game has a large collection of cars for the player to choose from. The soundtrack is also great and the overall experience makes the game really awesome.

The Bad
Controlling class 7 and lower cars gets really, really difficult. I have played the game on the XBOX as well. Of course, the steering sensitivity difference between class-different cars is still present but with the analog stick it's easy to get used in a matter of minutes to each type of car. I recommend using a console-like controller on the PC (the analog stick is a must). It really makes things easier! I haven't tried a steering wheel, I don't know if the game supports any but I guess it would be even better than using an analog stick. Over time you get bored of the same opponents and tracks. However, after some time you always feel like going back to racing on them.

The Bottom Line
Juiced is a great racing experience. Not as good as the Underground games from the Need for Speed series but still, a great game. Juiced is a bit different from NFSU. Although all the racing takes place on city streets, it's not illegal. There are spectators on the side of the road, which is marked appropriately. The lack of traffic also suggests legal racing. Pink slip races, when you're being challenged by someone, are known to be "unofficial" and for the final proof, there are sponsored events, in which you may win prototype parts for your ride. There are lots of cars to be bought. Cars get unlocked after some time in the dealer's shop. If you can't afford a new car, you may choose to buy a used one (if available). It's cheaper but has some flaws. The cars are split into 8 classes by their base horsepower. You start with a class 8 car (1-199 bhp) which of course, can be customized to your liking. You may add spoilers, vinyls and neons to your car, change the window tint, tune the performance by installing new parts and much more! The vinyl customization is a bit poor in my opinion... You may only choose one vinyl per car and all of them seem too small to me. There are different race types. There's the classic circuit racing, point-to-point racing ("sprint" from NFSU), sprint racing ("drag" from NFSU), show off ("drift" from NFSU) and team racing. Team racing requires at least one other crew member to join in. Drivers join your crew after some time, although nothing much is told about them. You just know their name, their driving skills, and the fact that they want to join your team. After each race, their driving skill improves. You may also control their driving style in-race, which may vary from "low" (laidback) to "high" (violent). You need money to buy cars and upgrade them. You also need money to join certain racing events which are grouped on a calendar. You get money by winning events and betting with opponents. You may place a bet when events start and if you get to the finish line ahead of your betting partner, you win the bet. If you can't join any event on the calendar, you can start your own! Opponents will join automatically. Interacting with your opponents influences the respect each one has for you in different ways. Damaging their cars will decrease their respect, winning races will increase it. Different opponents raise their respect towards you for different reasons, some for winning races and others for having the best car on the track. As I said before, the game is great. It's fun and it feels unique in some way. It's definitely worth a try! With a gamepad.