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This thread has been linked to the game 'Excite Truck'.
Excite Truck isn’t the first racing game on the Wii, but looking at the other 2 options available, it doesn’t have much in the way of competition. With this in mind, my hopes for a decent racing game were hanging on this title, it had a lot to live up to.
The game is a sort of unofficial sequel to Excitebike and Excitebike 64, though like a distant cousin twice removed, it bears little resemblance to these games. It doesn’t bear much resemblance to standard racers either, it’s not a simulation and it doesn’t rely on you getting first place in order to win gold.
So what does it involve? Well, the general idea is to race around a track with huge natural ramped areas, doing ‘stunts’ such as jumping as high as you can, smashing into trees and other cars and powersliding around corners. For each of these things you gain star points. These are then totted up at the end of the race and if you’ve reached a certain amount you’ll get a score. Get enough and you’ll not only move on to the next race, but have the chance of opening the next series of races as well.
In addition, icons will appear on the track which will either change (morph) the landscape to create even bigger jumps or lakes, add rings for you to fly through when you jump or make you go even faster for a short period of time (with a loud siren, possibly for warning other drivers of your impending arrival).
It’s these jumps that really make the game stand out. A lot of your time on track will be spent in the air as you attempt to steer your truck through the sky towards the fast incoming ground below ready for the next turn. If you aren’t in the air you’ll be battling sheer drops, splashing through water or avoiding rock falls. If there’s something to throw at you, this game throws it!
Water adds another crucial element to the game. You have unlimited turbo boost, but using it can overheat your car. Driving through water or sailing through the air can lower the temperature, so good drivers can find a long stretch of water and just keep the turbo button down to fly past the opposition.
Talking of controls, this is as basic as it gets for the Wii. Holding it sideways, button 2 controls the speed, 1 controls the brakes (which you’ll hardly ever use) and the direction pad controls turbo. Physically moving left or right will turn the steering wheel the same way, meaning that you’ll be watching other players tilt their bodies as they play, which is quite a laugh to watch.
Graphically, the game is really well detailed when compared to other Wii games, I’d say it sits somewhere next to a more detailed Xbox game with some incredible draw distances and great speed effects. The hills, snow capped mountains and sun glare are all beautifully displayed, not that you’ll notice them if you’re racing through the level at break-neck speed!
The main game is pretty easy to complete on the standard level. The next level that gets unlocked is not that much harder, but then the aim is to try and get an S rating for all the courses. The Challenge mode lets you try out your skills by giving you tasks such as driving through a set number of markers or flying through rings. These are a bit more difficult than the main race and should keep you coming back that bit longer.
Multiplayer is a bit of a letdown, in that it only allows you to race against one other player and no AI cars, which leaves it a bit of a hollow experience, but still worth a go.
Overall, despite the longevity of the game, Excite Truck does what you’d expect, it provides some great adrenaline filled races that'll turn your knuckles white and its also a great pick up and play game. It’s the best racer by far on the Wii and worth a purchase if you like your racing games fast.
The game is a sort of unofficial sequel to Excitebike and Excitebike 64, though like a distant cousin twice removed, it bears little resemblance to these games. It doesn’t bear much resemblance to standard racers either, it’s not a simulation and it doesn’t rely on you getting first place in order to win gold.
So what does it involve? Well, the general idea is to race around a track with huge natural ramped areas, doing ‘stunts’ such as jumping as high as you can, smashing into trees and other cars and powersliding around corners. For each of these things you gain star points. These are then totted up at the end of the race and if you’ve reached a certain amount you’ll get a score. Get enough and you’ll not only move on to the next race, but have the chance of opening the next series of races as well.
In addition, icons will appear on the track which will either change (morph) the landscape to create even bigger jumps or lakes, add rings for you to fly through when you jump or make you go even faster for a short period of time (with a loud siren, possibly for warning other drivers of your impending arrival).
It’s these jumps that really make the game stand out. A lot of your time on track will be spent in the air as you attempt to steer your truck through the sky towards the fast incoming ground below ready for the next turn. If you aren’t in the air you’ll be battling sheer drops, splashing through water or avoiding rock falls. If there’s something to throw at you, this game throws it!
Water adds another crucial element to the game. You have unlimited turbo boost, but using it can overheat your car. Driving through water or sailing through the air can lower the temperature, so good drivers can find a long stretch of water and just keep the turbo button down to fly past the opposition.
Talking of controls, this is as basic as it gets for the Wii. Holding it sideways, button 2 controls the speed, 1 controls the brakes (which you’ll hardly ever use) and the direction pad controls turbo. Physically moving left or right will turn the steering wheel the same way, meaning that you’ll be watching other players tilt their bodies as they play, which is quite a laugh to watch.
Graphically, the game is really well detailed when compared to other Wii games, I’d say it sits somewhere next to a more detailed Xbox game with some incredible draw distances and great speed effects. The hills, snow capped mountains and sun glare are all beautifully displayed, not that you’ll notice them if you’re racing through the level at break-neck speed!
The main game is pretty easy to complete on the standard level. The next level that gets unlocked is not that much harder, but then the aim is to try and get an S rating for all the courses. The Challenge mode lets you try out your skills by giving you tasks such as driving through a set number of markers or flying through rings. These are a bit more difficult than the main race and should keep you coming back that bit longer.
Multiplayer is a bit of a letdown, in that it only allows you to race against one other player and no AI cars, which leaves it a bit of a hollow experience, but still worth a go.
Overall, despite the longevity of the game, Excite Truck does what you’d expect, it provides some great adrenaline filled races that'll turn your knuckles white and its also a great pick up and play game. It’s the best racer by far on the Wii and worth a purchase if you like your racing games fast.
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Excite Truck isn’t the first racing game on the Wii, but looking at the other 2 options available, it doesn’t have much in the way of competition. With this in mind, my hopes for a decent racing game were hanging on this title, it had a lot to live up to.
The game is a sort of unofficial sequel to Excitebike and Excitebike 64, though like a distant cousin twice removed, it bears little resemblance to these games. It doesn’t bear much resemblance to standard racers either, it’s not a simulation and it doesn’t rely on you getting first place in order to win gold.
So what does it involve? Well, the general idea is to race around a track with huge natural ramped areas, doing ‘stunts’ such as jumping as high as you can, smashing into trees and other cars and powersliding around corners. For each of these things you gain star points. These are then totted up at the end of the race and if you’ve reached a certain amount you’ll get a score. Get enough and you’ll not only move on to the next race, but have the chance of opening the next series of races as well.
In addition, icons will appear on the track which will either change (morph) the landscape to create even bigger jumps or lakes, add rings for you to fly through when you jump or make you go even faster for a short period of time (with a loud siren, possibly for warning other drivers of your impending arrival).
It’s these jumps that really make the game stand out. A lot of your time on track will be spent in the air as you attempt to steer your truck through the sky towards the fast incoming ground below ready for the next turn. If you aren’t in the air you’ll be battling sheer drops, splashing through water or avoiding rock falls. If there’s something to throw at you, this game throws it!
Water adds another crucial element to the game. You have unlimited turbo boost, but using it can overheat your car. Driving through water or sailing through the air can lower the temperature, so good drivers can find a long stretch of water and just keep the turbo button down to fly past the opposition.
Talking of controls, this is as basic as it gets for the Wii. Holding it sideways, button 2 controls the speed, 1 controls the brakes (which you’ll hardly ever use) and the direction pad controls turbo. Physically moving left or right will turn the steering wheel the same way, meaning that you’ll be watching other players tilt their bodies as they play, which is quite a laugh to watch.
Graphically, the game is really well detailed when compared to other Wii games, I’d say it sits somewhere next to a more detailed Xbox game with some incredible draw distances and great speed effects. The hills, snow capped mountains and sun glare are all beautifully displayed, not that you’ll notice them if you’re racing through the level at break-neck speed!
The main game is pretty easy to complete on the standard level. The next level that gets unlocked is not that much harder, but then the aim is to try and get an S rating for all the courses. The Challenge mode lets you try out your skills by giving you tasks such as driving through a set number of markers or flying through rings. These are a bit more difficult than the main race and should keep you coming back that bit longer.
Multiplayer is a bit of a letdown, in that it only allows you to race against one other player and no AI cars, which leaves it a bit of a hollow experience, but still worth a go.
Overall, despite the longevity of the game, Excite Truck does what you’d expect, it provides some great adrenaline filled races that'll turn your knuckles white and its also a great pick up and play game. It’s the best racer by far on the Wii and worth a purchase if you like your racing games fast.
The game is a sort of unofficial sequel to Excitebike and Excitebike 64, though like a distant cousin twice removed, it bears little resemblance to these games. It doesn’t bear much resemblance to standard racers either, it’s not a simulation and it doesn’t rely on you getting first place in order to win gold.
So what does it involve? Well, the general idea is to race around a track with huge natural ramped areas, doing ‘stunts’ such as jumping as high as you can, smashing into trees and other cars and powersliding around corners. For each of these things you gain star points. These are then totted up at the end of the race and if you’ve reached a certain amount you’ll get a score. Get enough and you’ll not only move on to the next race, but have the chance of opening the next series of races as well.
In addition, icons will appear on the track which will either change (morph) the landscape to create even bigger jumps or lakes, add rings for you to fly through when you jump or make you go even faster for a short period of time (with a loud siren, possibly for warning other drivers of your impending arrival).
It’s these jumps that really make the game stand out. A lot of your time on track will be spent in the air as you attempt to steer your truck through the sky towards the fast incoming ground below ready for the next turn. If you aren’t in the air you’ll be battling sheer drops, splashing through water or avoiding rock falls. If there’s something to throw at you, this game throws it!
Water adds another crucial element to the game. You have unlimited turbo boost, but using it can overheat your car. Driving through water or sailing through the air can lower the temperature, so good drivers can find a long stretch of water and just keep the turbo button down to fly past the opposition.
Talking of controls, this is as basic as it gets for the Wii. Holding it sideways, button 2 controls the speed, 1 controls the brakes (which you’ll hardly ever use) and the direction pad controls turbo. Physically moving left or right will turn the steering wheel the same way, meaning that you’ll be watching other players tilt their bodies as they play, which is quite a laugh to watch.
Graphically, the game is really well detailed when compared to other Wii games, I’d say it sits somewhere next to a more detailed Xbox game with some incredible draw distances and great speed effects. The hills, snow capped mountains and sun glare are all beautifully displayed, not that you’ll notice them if you’re racing through the level at break-neck speed!
The main game is pretty easy to complete on the standard level. The next level that gets unlocked is not that much harder, but then the aim is to try and get an S rating for all the courses. The Challenge mode lets you try out your skills by giving you tasks such as driving through a set number of markers or flying through rings. These are a bit more difficult than the main race and should keep you coming back that bit longer.
Multiplayer is a bit of a letdown, in that it only allows you to race against one other player and no AI cars, which leaves it a bit of a hollow experience, but still worth a go.
Overall, despite the longevity of the game, Excite Truck does what you’d expect, it provides some great adrenaline filled races that'll turn your knuckles white and its also a great pick up and play game. It’s the best racer by far on the Wii and worth a purchase if you like your racing games fast.