John's Review of "Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (PS2)"

This is my first non-Gran Turismo blog entry. I figured I needed to keep this blog fresh to keep things interesting. Just remember this- this was never exclusively a Gran Turismo blog. I have to try new things to keep people like you interested. So allow me to talk about another racing game here.



--- Basics ---
I tend to think of "Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights" for the PlayStation 2 as a cross between "Need for Speed" games (since NFS: Underground) and Burnout. If you're expecting fantastic crashes, you're not going to find them here. "Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights" features three different circuit racing modes and five different drifting modes. The races all take place on city streets. But unlike Burnout games or the Need for Speed series, you need not worry about traffic or running into the law. You race a variety of cars ranging from sport compacts to muscle cars to exotic cars. A key element as to what defines you in the "Juiced 2: HIN" realm is your Driver DNA. If you perform overtakes in circuit racing or powerslide a lot, you earn some credit to showcase your overall personality and style in motorsports. You will be able to use drifts to your advantage. Execute powerslides to build up your boost. You can run some of the Custom DNA races to get some experience (as I have), or you can have yourself an amazing career in the Career mode making the most of your cars and your racing. As many as six cars can take the track at once, and you have control in Custom DNA mode to select cars for yourself and your opponents.

Race Modes.
The game features eight different challenges. Most modes allow you to choose how many AI racers to go up against or how many laps to run. Enjoy your racing in eight ways:

* Circuit Race - Do circuit racing on any track from anywhere between one to nine laps.
* Eliminator - This is a knockout competition for circuit racing. The last-place driver each lap will be eliminated until the winner eventually stands tall.
* Last Man Standing - Circuit race event which rewards careful car control. You can hit other cars, but if you hit a barrier at any time in the race, you will be eliminated. The winner is either the one that crosses the finish line first or doesn't hit a wall.
* Drift Solo - Drift mode you go alone trying to accumulate the most drift points in one run.
* Drift Obliterator - Drift mode in which you must try to win the race while making sure to pick up enough drift points each lap to avoid being eliminated. Up to six cars can compete.
* Drift King - Unlike the other two drift modes, this one is a timed event. Your race position does not matter. The winner of this event is the one who makes the scores the most drift points within a given time limit. Up to six cars can compete.
* Drift Endurance - Try to complete a drift course in one continuous drift. The longer you go, the better.

Courses.
You will be racing in a proper world championship of street racing. All races take place anywhere between twilight and maybe midnight or sunrise. You race in London (UK stages), Rome (Italy stages), Bavaria (Germany), San Francisco (US stages), Tokyo (Japan stages), and Sydney (Australia stages, but drift courses only). Each city has three different circuit race courses and two drift courses. The circuit races are designed to offer aggressive, balls-out racing. You have city streets and landmarks to work with, but there are also diverging routes and some off-tarmac sections.

The drift courses are fairly short with plenty of opportunities to go sideways. The challenge here is to rack up as many points as you can in each section. Hold your drifts longer for more points. You can even chain together drifts. For example, if you take one section hard followed by taking a switchback, you can accumulate more points. The most important thing to remember? NO CRASHES! You can actually retain a good deal of your drift points if you hit a wall. You need to work hard to maintain solid drifts.


Action.
The AI in circuit races can be quite aggressive, but nowhere near the thuggish limits of ToCA Race Driver games. While this isn't a Burnout game, you can have a psuedo takedown by knocking someone hard into a wall or into some little island on the road. This is intense racing action. One of the coolest techniques to master is spooking drivers. When you get up close to a driver, and stay with him/her, you'll increase the pressure against him/her. Stay with that driver long enough, and you'll force him/her into a mistake! You may overtake the driver, but it's best you slow up just a little bit to increase the chances of pressuring a lead driver. This will allow you to make a pass for position. The spooked driver could even fall very far back in the pack.

When drifting, the drifts are almost effortless and very easy to control. It isn't like Need for Speed-type games in which you could drift out a Hyundai Tiburon like a Nissan 240SX. And suffice to say, drifting seems more fun in this game than in Underground-type games.

When seeing race replays, the replay will slow down dramatically in situations like getting lots of air, hitting the nitrous, and powersliding. Drift events only show the car from the bumper camera.


Music and Sounds.
You know what I can't stand sometimes? It's when people say "this game has your average dance music," or "your average hip-hop music." How come nobody says "your average rock music" like rock music is exempt from being criticized as generic? The music may be generic, but and Hot Import Nights fan knows that good hip-hop and dance music fill the airwaves. This game is no different. The soundtrack gets a bit old, but it's one to surely get you into the mood. Car engines sound pretty average.


Graphics. This PS2 title has some lovely graphics. Unfortunately, the cars don't look very good. If you put importance on crashing and damage graphics, you're not going to find it here. Not even paint scrapes. The urban environments look amazing. The German courses feature the only non-modern city settings as you race in a beautiful country-type setting under starry skies.



--- Career Mode at a Glance ---
Career Mode is where you acheive your fame. When you begin, you take two initiation tests. The first is a circuit race followed by a drift event. Before races in this mode, you have the option of betting that you'll win the race against your rival(s). You can initially bet anywhere between $1,000 and $5,000. If you back out of a bet, you'll pay a penalty for backing out. You can choose from a variety of cars in the game. It's recommended you find a "Good Drift Car" seal of approval to take on the drift events. You will begin in the Rookie League. The next level is League 7. You can then race all the way to League 1. After League 1 is the World Class. And finally, the HIN Elite is the highest class of racing you can go. Be sure to earn your way up to each level.

At your garage, you are able to apply visual modifications as well as unlocking performance packages to help boost your car's performance all the further. Visual modifications include body kit parts (purely aesthetic), a new set of decals (you can unlock extra packs), and simple touches of paint with many options by which to paint up your car.

Tuning options will allow you to increase the performance of your car including making it as competitive as possible. I don't believe you have any control over tweaking the performance of your car beyond these tuner packages. You won't have to worry about Extreme Nitro until you reach League 5.

When you're done in this department, all that remains is for you to go racing. To be promoted to another class, you must clear a variety of goals. These include things like powersliding a certain number of times, spooking certain drivers, picking up a certain number of drift points, and more. You don't need to accomplish these things all in one race. For example, you can easily acheive the three seconds of air time by racing in the San Francisco circuit races. You can actually accomplish more than one goal in just one race or in a series of races.

That's it! No go kick ye some arse, ja?





--- Final Verdict ---
This game reminds me a lot of "Need for Speed: Underground" action, only without having to deal with traffic or evading the police. This reminds me a lot of "Burnout" games, only not with overhyping crashes. To me, I think this is a breath of fresh air in regards of illegal street racing games. There are many ways to enjoy the racing action in this game. If you're looking for car damage of any extreme, you won't find it here. But if you're looking for a very decent racing game experience, you can't go too much wrong here. Customization and such is very good for this arcade-type racing game. "Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights" isn't exactly a must-play, but a very good game for fans of illegal street racing and drifting. For an arcade game like this, nothing seems overhyped.

I credit this game to the tune of 80% approval.