Cars

"An animated film with a sub-par game. How original!"

You're Lightning McQueen, fresh out of the film and ready to enter the Piston Cup! Well not really, that would make the game a little bit short. In order to qualify for the cup, you must complete missions in order to get there.

All of the missions take place around the area of Radiator Springs, so the scenery is all desert. Turn a corner and you get more desert. A new mission, guess what the scenery's like? You guessed it, desert. It gets a little dull after a while. Every so often, you pass through Radiator Springs itself to be greeted by the same shops fronts, the same gas station, all lovingly re-created from the movie. Then it's back to more driving in the desert.

And the actual game isn't much better. The missions are mostly race so-and so for three laps. If you head off the track while racing, you get told to get back on the road in a way that reminds me of Wave Race 64, except you don't retire after a period of time. The other type of mission is a simple drive around and collect x amount of whatevers.

You can pick from most of the characters in the film, all with varying stats and additional decals. A needless extra, since they all look best as they are. And they do look good. The graphics for this game are actually very good, the characters giving you the impression that if any cars were ever alive, it would be these. Maybe it's the eyes ...

However, the controls don't keep up the high standards. You can send your car into a powerslide by pressing L, but I'll be damned if I can work out how to use it to your advantage. Together with the powerslide is the ability to tilt your car. It's beginning to sound like a stunt game. Tilting your car naturally reduces your turning circle to allow you to make tight turns. Since you never need to actually make tight turns, it's a little pointless.

The controls won't bother most people though, because, naturally, as a film-based tie-in, the AI is incredibly easy to beat. Anyone who has ever played a racing game before will probably be able to stick the game in, start a race, crash a couple of times and finish way ahead of the competition.

Aside from the missions, there is also the option to drive around and collect tokens to unlock things. This is if possible, even duller than the missions, with the scenery barely interactive at all. You can't run things over, move them, break them. You just hit them. Woo! Whilst exploring, you may find some of the game's most interesting views. Fences, canyons, sometimes even a shrub! It has got a split-screen multiplayer mode, but it doesn't add much to the game at all and doesn't interest me anymore than the rest of the game.

To be honest, other than the graphics, the only thing I like about the game are the mini-games. My favourite, "Tip Top Fun" is you driving around trying to scare tractors just like in the film. It was funny in the film and it is still funny in the game. Plus it's a great break from the actual game.

The music in the game is not bad, it's just irrelevant. It feels like they needed to put something there so they did, rather than using it to at least try and create an atmosphere. In the cutscenes however, it's really noticeable that the characters have been voiced by the real actors.

In brief:
Gameplay: 2
Graphics:7
Controls: 4
Sound: 6
Re-playability: 1

This is a game for those age 10 and under. They can enjoy the game and not find it too difficult, they can race their friends and they can drive as their favourite character. But for a gamer looking to pick up a light racing game, this is not the one. It's too easy, too dull and doesn't have a shred or originality about it. So unless you have young children, I recommend keeping hold of your money. Don't buy it, don't rent it, don't even pick it up at your local game store to look at.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 10/11/06