It’s been a good few months since the Wii’s launch back in November 2006, and we are yet to be introduced to the full capabilities of the Wii’s Driving Genre. Minor releases such as the ‘Monster 4x4’, ‘Cars’ and the ‘GT Pro’ series have been thrown at us, but they have failed to leave long lasting impressions. Games such as ‘Wii Play’ have included some alternative driving games. Cow Racing was fun, yet short lived. It left me wanting more, its limited replay value was disappointing.
Yet there was hope the horizon, ever since ‘Excite Truck’ was announced I have been awaiting its release, and finally ladies and Gentlemen it has arrived.
It was not the single player game that initially interested me, I wanted a multiplayer blast, something that would have me and my friends hooked. A game like Burnout Revenge on the Xbox 360. Yet when I find myself reviewing the game, it was the Single Player game that I really enjoyed. Despite its lack of options, a standard race mode, consisting of Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum stages, and a number of unlockable cars, Excite Truck turns out to be an extremely fun racer.
Excite Truck is all about going fast and getting some big air. This is found aplenty in each track:
A fairly new concept of collecting stars, while trying to finish in the shortest amount of time, opens up a new realm of playability, as you find yourself returning to stages in an attempt to reach that all important S Rank. Despite all this, the game is relatively short, like all Wii games (bar Twilight Princess), it’s oh so disappointing to have spent £35 on a game that lasts only a matter of days.
Despite its fast pace, it all remains fairly simple. The controls are easy to use for even casual gamers. The slightest tilt of the Wii-remote will be resulted on your on screen car. The ever important boost Jump is preformed by tilting back the remote and pressing the directional pad.
This simple style is also reflected in the graphics. Truth be told the Wii is nothing compared graphically to its rivals, yet to be honest this has a limited difference. We only see this graphical deficiency at the high speed. This is where the game become clunky the frame-rate drops.
As said, huge jumps are a massive part of Excite Truck’s game. Some of the jumps seen in the tracks are truly out of this world and possibly some of the biggest I’ve ever encountered in any game. However, is this really enough to make the casual or the hardcore gamer come back for more? Sadly no, Excite Truck, despite being adrenaline filled remains short lived, much like the array of other low key Wii Racers. With no online play, and a limit to two-players at a time, there is little chance in two months time gamers will be revving up there cars in anticipation for yet another race. It’s once appealing, simple style proves to be its downfall and, once again I have been left waiting a killer driving app for my Wii.
