Juiced Review

Alas, not even all this is enough to keep you going. There aren't many special events in the calendar, and though you may occasionally enjoy participating in a showoff event or taking a certain challenge, most of the time you'll be doing circuit and sprint races on tracks that are often too dull and uninspiring. Now this is important, as it finally makes you realize what's wrong with Juiced. And it isn't the fact that you'll be missing races in your calendar, skipping days in search for an event you'd be allowed to participate in. No, it's the fact that Juiced is so damn boring that it could gain an entry in the dictionary as denoting the ultimate boring thing in the universe.

Look at me, I'm wicked!

I thought of adding deer's antlers on the hood, but they kind of blocked my view so I gave up on the idea.

The tracks are boring, most of the events are boring, placing bets and creating strategies is boring, even the driving segment is boring. Nothing helps, not even the additional Arcade and Showoff modes of play. The arcade mode is even more boring than the career, mainly because it doesn't even have a background story, and the showoff mode may be potentially interesting until you learn how to perform all the cool moves. Now I've seen far worse drivers than this one, both in terms of how they play and how they look. Then again, I am so fucking tired of mediocre titles, which cannot be accused of any major flaws, but still fail to offer any exciting content for the player. (Wow, she's right on the money there. -Mo)

So what have we got here: A career mode, which is far from immersive, tracks that fail to impress, poor controls, slightly outdated visuals, etc. Juiced was supposed to ship last year, and the delay had a negative impact on how it looks today. This isn't exactly the best-looking game around - it looks good for the most part, demonstrating some neat special effects, but it also features some low-res, blocky textures and unimaginative environments.

To conclude, Juiced is, in some regards, a decent game but it's not without its faults (some of which are rather major - like the poor driving controls). The problem is that the fun factor is somehow missing from this title, so most of the time I couldn't care less about the outcome of the race as I drove with little or no motivation. The opponents at least put up a decent fight, displaying a solid AI and thus being capable of hitting you or cutting you off. The realism is further emphasized by their ability to make mistakes and follow different strategies, but the AI, sadly, doesn't save the day.

There is of course no direct comparison between Juiced and Gran Turismo, as they play on different principles, but I must state that Gran Turismo is what I call an exciting game. Winning a race or unlocking new content in Gran Turismo gives you a completely different feel than what you experience in Juiced. I intend to play Gran Turismo as long as Polyphony decides to make new sequels simply because it's fun. Juiced, on the other hand, is not.