Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights

After playing the original Juiced (by acclaim) I wasn't too impressed,
however Acclaim went bankrupt, THQ got the license and Juiced finally got it's retail release months afterwards.

THQ did great things with the game and while it was far from perfect, It was still a nice racer to add to your collection.

Now we have Juiced 2 around the corner, and I've been lucky enough to play the Full game,

To begin there are two main modes,
Both Career's.
As well as numerous other "play now" styled -Quick Races- and the usual extra modes found in a racer the previously mentioned career modes are the meat of the game.
Both career's are identicle in set-up However they're limited to who your playing against.
Firstly theres the bog standard (every racer has one) Career.
AI opponents, blah blah blah.
And secondly is the Online career, (sounds interesting)
I wasnt able to test drive the full online capabilities but throughout and during the… more »

After playing the original Juiced (by acclaim) I wasn't too impressed,
however Acclaim went bankrupt, THQ got the license and Juiced finally got it's retail release months afterwards.

THQ did great things with the game and while it was far from perfect, It was still a nice racer to add to your collection.

Now we have Juiced 2 around the corner, and I've been lucky enough to play the Full game,

To begin there are two main modes,
Both Career's.
As well as numerous other "play now" styled -Quick Races- and the usual extra modes found in a racer the previously mentioned career modes are the meat of the game.
Both career's are identicle in set-up However they're limited to who your playing against.
Firstly theres the bog standard (every racer has one) Career.
AI opponents, blah blah blah.
And secondly is the Online career, (sounds interesting)
I wasnt able to test drive the full online capabilities but throughout and during the career you will be able to place wagers per race, aswell as alledged mid-race bet's (though I wasnt able to test these)
Theres also no apparent "free ride mode" no problem with offline, But hopefully the online mode will feature something akin,

added to that is the DNA feature, every time you race you'll see "DNA Updated" flash up,
This is your DNA evolving, with every race, every action, every overtake and every crash your DNA will change,
After a handful of racers you'll find your DNA will give you an overall representation of your skills both in and out of the car,
Including bet's and pressure when racing for that coverted Pink Slip.

The DNA can then be used on your Crew members, (for a price) you can hire new crew members to roll with you, and inject them with your Driver DNA.

Next is the gameplay and layout,
overall presentation of the title is pretty good, Not fantastic,
theres some neat touches and your fellow racers are represented in person, not just "A car"
So it adds a more personal feel to the racing and bets,
The whole racing system in J2hin is a straight mix between Red & Blue...
Red being general Race's, usually circuit style, with the occasional "Elimination" thrown in ammong other things,
Then theres the Blue, which is Drifting, again featuring a great selection of modes from Solo drift (where its all about the points) to Drift King (drifitng with numerous others for position while maintaining the best points)
then theres drift eliminator (lowest score drops eahch lap leaving the top 2 to battle for the final lap"

Handling is a mixed bag between the two modes,
With both it's a very arcade feel, But unlike many other racers you still have to be pretty quick on the break, And hitting a wall at 100mph will usually leave you rebounding into other cars, or on narrow bends into the other wall,

Cars are deformable and after a few collisions you'll often note your pride and joy has a lamp missing etc.
Sticking with the cars is the mods & extras you'd hope to find within a street racing game.
All modifications will carry there tags...... Toyo, Venom, etc, etc.
with a few, especially visual upgrades using a Juiced tag.
THE GOOD
2 career modes, 1 fully online, Plenty to unlock, fantastic courses, especially drift courses around places like the Eiffel tower
Cars control well, an arcade edge, but alot of concentration still required,Much better than Juiced

THE BAD
no apparent free ride mode (not sure if its in Online career)
graphics (see below) could be better, next gen but not groundbreaking.
Might not get the followers because its not NFS

UGLY??
Graphically the game is great, nice bright colours, good looking tracks and cars, Overall pretty decent!