The Background
Okay, if you have even a small amount of game player genes in you, you know that 99% of the time any game that has a Hollywood license attached to it is going to be judged on a lower scale than your standard video game. Why? Because most of the development budget went into securing the rights, so what little cash is left will be squandered away quickly by the development house trying to make the game. That said, you couldn't really blame Climax for trying.
The Set Up
The video game incarnation of said story line is based on the recent remake of the same name. You are on a quest for some payback after your team was screwed out of a huge gold heist that involved mini-coopers by a teammate. While what little footage you get to see from the movie shows up as still images and vague references, the overall application turned out better than most. Your main role is that of 'driver extraordinaire.' You must take on missions that will lead you throughout the city and have you meat up with fellow thieves and outrunning cops and the like. Oddly enough, the mission layouts are done like the Dreamcast cult favorites Super Runabout and Crazy Taxi. This means that various mission paths will cross over the same intersections and areas, helping out the player by allowing memorization tricks. It makes a run a lot easier when you know when the street suddenly takes a hard right turn.
The Game Play
With the DC references, you'd expect some crazy (can't fight…it…"Let's make some kerrraaaaazy money!") obstacles and reckless drivers to be your obstacles. Instead, your own attention span becomes the enemy. Most of the missions found in The Italian Job can be accomplished in under 2 minutes or less. A few sections I had done in 30 seconds. When you combine this with the over-lapping mission routes, a quirky game becomes very repetitious and boring. To make matters worse, the game doesn't allow for random encounters when AI characters are concerned. Opponent drivers will always take the same route, the same turns, and the same bumps regardless of how many times you play the game. If you're stick on a chase stage, simply just follow the car rather than hit it, and you'll be able to have their flight path mapped out in a matter of minutes. You can then use that to set up the collision areas. Most of the 'Destination' mission are similar to Crazy Taxi's customer drop off, so all you need to do is look for the giant floating squares to find your mark.
The Control
I walked into this game imagining a powerslide fest, and instead was presented with a very tight steering column. It's pretty damn hard to not keep yourself on the beaten path, but there are several instances you could swear you did the break but the game didn't catch on. When you do happen to collide into things though, you may find yourself swearing up a storm. Clipping issues are rampant in the game, as are bizarre choices in what you can and can't go through.
The Graphics and Sound
Not too shabby, and to be honest, in areas I was impressed. While the city looks well, there really isn't anyone in the city, and fellow cars look a tad plain. Also important to note is that the Mini-coopers don't seem to take real damage, despite an occasional piece flaying off here and there. The Game Cube version has some impressive still images, but still doesn't display in graphics we know the machine can produce. Size wise the city is just a hair on the small side, but considering the length of the missions that issue is debatable. The Audio side of the disc isn't shabby, and I do like the main voice actor, though there's not much else that can be said about the game in that area.
The Outcome
While TIJ doesn't exactly fail on any given level, it certainly doesn't really over achieve either. Another movie, another bland game is released. The world continues on.
