August 8, 2005 - Have you ever been on that perfect first date where everything seems new and wonderful and the future seems filled with dreamy possibilities? The date ends at just the right moment and leaves you invigorated and thinking of that person long after the fact. That night you have the best sleep of your life and the next day the birds are out in full force chirping away and everything in the world seems right and fine and good… And then you have a second date and you wonder what new bread of creature spawned this thing and how you can send it back to its maker pronto? Yeah, we’ve all been there. And Juiced, for all its wonderful possibilities, feels an awful lot like that as well.

Juiced is a game that almost didn’t see the light of day. Originally set to be published by Acclaim, the game’s future was in serious doubt after the company closed its doors. THQ managed to snag the publishing rights to it however and the rest is history. Previously, a demo had been released by Acclaim, along with customization figures numbering in the trillions, that showed a game rife with possibilities but also a floaty physics’ engine that would have to be looked into prior to release. In the meantime though, EA released its much anticipated Need For Speed: Underground 2, Namco released Street Racing Syndicate and Rockstar put out Midnight Club 3. Where Juiced may have had a fighting chance early on due to market exclusivity, being released after all those solid titles would bring endless scrutiny down upon it. Yes, Juiced does bring a few new concepts to the table and hopefully, other developers will take note, but in the end, the game fails miserably where it matters most; the racing itself.

As with all other street racing games of late, this one comes with the same old tired story we’ve seen at least 3 other times in the past year. When will developers actually put a little effort into wrapping a street racing game into a logical and plausible story? The Fast and the Furious (and even 2 Fast 2 Furious) may not have been Pulitzer Prize winning creations, but they had depth and enough going on to keep your attention. This is not aimed at Juiced exclusively, but since the game was all but ready to be mass produced by Acclaim at the time of its demise, I wonder what was done to it while we waited for THQ to release it. Surely the “story” could have been scrapped in favor of something, anything, better than the typical “new racer wants to make a name for himself” garbage we’ve had to endure time and again. On the flip side, the developers did try to at least bring life to the game by making your rivals feel like real people. You will often hear from each one during and after a race as well as when you initiate a challenge/wager. These are, for the most part, voiced appropriately and well motion captured, but unfortunately, these get repetitive quickly and will soon drive you to the brink of insanity and back.

As mentioned, when you first begin your “Juiced Journey”, you will be enamored by it. This game does try to distinguish itself from the pact by presenting things in a much different way. Yes, you will find the mandatory garage somewhere in there where you will be able to upgrade your car (with real world after market parts) or choose to upgrade in kits/packages which takes a little bit of the fun away but which is infinitely quicker. Much like Forza, Juiced keeps track of the “class” of your cars and restricts you from making a car that will completely blow-out your competition. You’ll also be able to customize the look of your car (although body kits are nowhere near as extensive as in NFSU2 or MC3) and paint your car to you liking. It must be frankly stated that Juiced does contain, hands down, the greatest paint schemes of all racing games ever made. The idea is so simple that I’m surprised no one else has done it. Juiced allows you to use all 3 paint types on your car at once (Base, Metallic & Pearlescent) letting you create a look/finish that is original and breathtaking. The decals and vinyls are limited though and not much fun to play around with.

The real hub of the single player career mode is the calendar screen which shows you at a glance all the upcoming events as well as the ones you can participate in. Most events have level/class caps, specific entry conditions or are simply sponsored by a rival gang that you haven’t impressed enough yet. On “free” days you can create your own events, with your own conditions and invite other gangs to come race on your terms. This is a nice additions and a quick way to gain respect and money but like the entire calendar concept, it feels repetitious very early on and more of a chore than anything else. Betting against rivals before each race does at least give you some incentive to keep going, but the penalties for hitting other cars (or being hit by them - the game doesn’t seem to distinguish between the two) are hefty in both coin and respect lost. The career mode basically follows this pattern: check calendar, race, win parts, get respect, upgrade car, check calendar, create event, win cash, get respect, upgrade car, check calendar, etc. It may all seem new at first because the interface is different, but you’ll soon realize how limiting it is and how quickly it gets old.