cars and bikes
Home » computer and video games » pc games » action » mechanized action » cars and bikes » the italian job
|
GADGET HAT
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Italian Job The following report compares gadgets using the SERCount Rating (base on the result count from the search engine). |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
POPULAR HAT - 2006-02-13 11:37:00 | © Copyright 2004 - www.hat.net () | sitemap | top |
Unlike some other driving games (most notably GTA) this one is fairly light-hearted and completely bloodless. The driver is given a series of small driving jobs in London and later (once enough points are accumulated) in Turin and the Alps. The more jobs completed, the greater choice of vehicles available for "free rides" in either city (including the famous 6-axle bus), at the player's option.
The graphics are fairly decent, and from an atmospheric and lighting standpoint I found the landscapes are surprisingly authentic (though don't expect any Matrix-quality visuals.) It's possible for pedestrians to get in the way, but they simply leap out of the way with one of several random oaths.
I think this game would be an excellent choice for some of the younger kids, though it is fun (and definitely addictive) for adults as well. My 6 year old son likes this game very much, even more than the shoot-em-up Comanche 4 helicopter game he got at the same time (as usual he picked up how to use both games effectively about 4 times faster than I did.) I run most of the jobs to earn new vehicles, which he then drives :-)
I found the driving fairly realistic, with expected variations between the different types of vehicles. On my Win98 PC, the software was completely stable, and has never crashed a single time.
About my only complaint with this game (other than some of the physics, including the impossibility of rolling over, a few graphics glitches, and as someone noted, the strange non-reactiveness of the Police to certain clearly wrong behaviours) is that the pedestrians in Turin don't automatically curse in Italian. For that to happen, you need to set the entire game to use Italian. Not much of a complaint, admittedly :-)
Players used to grimmer and more detailed games like GTA and N4S will probably find this one a bit on the light side (though I'd say it has a way of growing on a person.) I like the music and vocal accompaniments. There are also some indications that one or more folks at SCI have an eye for physical humour.
Well done, SCI.