Cars

"Cars isn't all that bad but far from perfect."

Cars is fun. It's fun for a while until it's all over in a matter of hours. With Cars, you can do more than just racing. The main gameplay of Cars revolves around you racing to earn yourself some trophies. Aiming for gold should be fairly easy but you can still progress by getting a silver or bronze trophy. Eventually, after you have gotten so many trophies you can race on one of several speedways.

The racing works fair and later you can earn "boost" to help you out. Turning corners is fairly easy thanks to the powerslide. It works good most of the time but at some times it just feels unresponsive to your actions. You don't really have to slow down a whole lot. It's a simple "hit the pedal and win" type-of game. Aside from racing you can do some various other activities. One of these includes the postcard hunting. This is where twenty postcards have been scattered along the map. This can take some time and there are a few annoying jumps to get some.

Another activity involves you disturbing tractors in the night. Some of the later levels in this activity prove challenging and it just gets boring so quick. During the game, you'll learn new tips which enables the action given in the tip. Of course, there is not one instance where you are away from a vehicle but there are times where you can play as other vehicles during the career. This is only for a temporary time, however. For the most part, you play as the red car - Lightning McQueen. There is a sheriff's vehicle that you can take control of during the career. The missions here are to chase down the offending speeders before they get away.

It would of been nice to see some polished up graphics for the Xbox 360 version but it just seems like a straightforward port from the PlayStation 2 or Xbox game. Voice acting is a big plus in Cars. It's clear and humourous - I recommend watching through the cutscenes. The music is good too and goes well with the game. There are some great tunes that you'll come to hear when racing.

There are many fairly simple achievements to get in Cars. All of these are only unlockable during the career mode. Aside from that mode, you can play out of career and there are some mini-games available in the main menu. Cars offers the most fun from its career mode as you are in a free roaming environment. Later, new areas can be unlocked leaving room for more exploration. Cars is great fun for the family and although at times it can seem glitchy (often at times your car can become stuck in the environment), it holds up pretty well. It's a breeze to get through and it's over in a matter of hours.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/03/07