Juiced has been hard to miss lately, at least on television. The marketing campaign to establish the title as a big hitter in the underground racing franchise was a lot like trying to make Ben Affleck look hardcore in Dare Devil. In fact, it is my belief that publisher THQ spent more money marketing this game than on development (Juiced was let go from bankrupted Acclaim about a year ago). But how does the game play? Underneath the fine coating of media misdirection, Juiced fails in many respects to deliver an innovative design different from the hugely cluttered racing market and even lacks substance as a typical title.

I’m not going to lie: my first race in Juiced was boring, and the game didn’t improve much from there. I immediately started off by racing for $40,000 dollars against a rival crew leader to afford a car of my own to trick out and race. Why the leader was so generous in letting me borrow a car to race him for his own money is beyond my comprehension (maybe he is a card-carrying member of Oprah’s Book Club who also does laundry for the elderly in his spare time), but for the sake of the review we’ll move on. The racing can only be described as “yawnish” because it tries to make an underperforming game engine with customizable racers using basic and repetitive tracks. It gets old way too quickly, even with the ability to take the car to the shop for upgrades and fixes any time you please. Unfortunately, you’ll be taking it in more often than you’ll like paying for repairs after each race, from minor paint scratching to full-on “Red Asphalt” incidents.

The boring racing is coupled with awkwardly unresponsive controls, almost as if the cars are wearing training wheels for slower turns and movement. The game simplifies your driving technique by displaying when you should break during turns. However, I find the tips to be grossly inaccurate and can cut my clock times tremendously by following my own rules of the road (blinkers are for suckers and left turns are tough at 90 mph). To top it off, it’s one of the slowest underground racing games I have ever played, which means turn up the NOS or you’ll be giving up your pink slip. That’s right, on occasion, you’ll be able to put your car on the line for high-stake action once you gain enough respect and cash from past races with rival crew leaders. The advertisements for Juiced have really shined the spotlight on this game feature, although it’s hardly something you will do on a race-to-race basis.

Eventually, when you got the cash and the street cred, you will be able to form your own crew. Crews can gain skill and experience just like you, but having to sit through every single race your boys take on just feels meaningless and unnecessarily slow in progression. The cash system has been getting a lot of complaints from players and critics alike. There are a lot of options to how you spend your cash, but its extremely tough to gage the amount of money you should spend on your vehicle for upgrades and damage repairs and on cash bets. A couple races in, I had the right status, ride, and reputation, but lacked sufficient funds to put the pedal to the metal. I’m not looking for the developers to hold my hand as the game progresses. But setting up some system that increases cash winnings depending on your position within the game would make the whole process less frustrating.

Besides the story mode, Juiced features online multiplayer that lets you race PS2 gamers worldwide for the pink slips to their rides. Xbox Live has been established as the current number one online console setup for the 3 systems. Although PS2 network connection is free from subscription services, you lose the well-managed community associated with a uniform online gaming service. This makes it far less satisfying in racing for pink slips and rubbing it in at your defeated rival. Anyone who is looking at purchasing Juiced for the online setup should best aim for the Xbox version.

Graphically, the game comes out fair. The box boasts the possibility of trillions of car combinations to trick out your ride. However, although the options are close to unlimited and the car damage can be seen where inflicted, the car models lack the appropriate detail other underground racing games are infamous for. The city street tracks, which look more like well organized family events instead of illegal street races, all look identical. The audio is filled with recycled car sounds you’d expect from a racing title and awkward voice acting, but it also features some of today’s hottest rap artists (I’m not a fan, but I just assume they’re “hot”).

So, what’s underneath the hood of this so-called underground racer that forces you to put it “all on the line?” In truth, Juiced is nothing more than an unusually repetitive driving simulator with many different kinds of cars you can buy. Of course, if that’s what entertains you, you’re better off visiting a luxury car dealership and forcing the salesman to test drive every single vehicle on the lot (he’s got to EARN his commission).

Gameplay: 6.5
Racing games are a little repetitive, and this one is no exception. Juiced also lacks that authentic underground feel that so many other franchises have captured.

Graphics: 8.0
So many car options, so little cash! If only the racing tracks didn't sport the same look and feel.

Sound: 7.3
All the music that I never listen to is packed right in this CD. It's just a shame they didn't make more room for sound effects and decent voice acting.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 5
We get it, we get it! Juiced lets you race for pinkslips (sometimes). Anything else? No? Let's move on.

Multiplayer: 6.0
Simply put: If you have XBOX Live, might as well pick up the other version (although from what I hear, the online gameplay on XBOX isn't much better)

Overall: 6.5
The idea of racing for pinkslips is a very interesting one, so I hope future titles can pick up the feature. I would recommend that only true-racing fanboys pick up Juiced (don't rent it, the customization of vehicles requires some time to fully control), and hopefully the $49.99 price tag will drop.