Juiced Preview

Currently scheduled for release on May 10, Juiced is a street racing game in which you'll be able to purchase, race, and customize more than 50 different licensed vehicles. The game is set in the fictional city of San Ricardo, where you (and eventually your own crew) will compete against eight racing crews on streets that are strangely devoid of traffic. We recently had the opportunity to do just that with work-in-progress versions of Juiced for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and we're pleased to report that the game has definitely benefited from the extra development time that Juice Games was afforded by the whole Acclaim bankruptcy deal. It's proof (if any was needed) that even the darkest clouds have a silver lining.

Even in the early stages of the game, your opponents in Juiced are highly competitive.

Specifically, the development team at Juice Games has used the extra time not only to revamp existing features, but also to add all-new content. The Angel Super Speedway circuit that now appears in the game was not present in Acclaim's version, and with the introduction of additional point-to-point races, the total number of routes in the game has been increased from 64 to 108. All of the sound effects in Juiced have been redone, and its all-new soundtrack features tracks from the likes of Xzibit, Paul Oakenfold, TV on the Radio, Talib Kweli, Nas, and Lemon Jelly. All 53 of the cars in Juiced now use their own unique driving models, and to make the game more accessible, you'll have access to driver aids such as ABS brakes and traction-control systems. The early portions of the career mode also have been made noticeably easier, which is definitely a good thing given the highly competitive nature of your opponents.

Before we talk about our own experiences with the game in more detail, the first thing you need to know about Juiced is that, although it obviously has a lot in common with games like Electronic Arts' Need for Speed Underground series, it also boasts more than enough new features to make it stand out from the rest of the street racing crowd. Earning the respect of other gangs, for example, is the only way to gain access to new circuits and events in Juiced. You'll also find that many events are team-based, which means that you won't be eligible to enter them until you've assembled your own crew (which you'll be able to control even when you're driving in the same race using a simplified version of the system found in Gran Turismo 4's B-Spec mode). Other Juiced features worthy of note include betting on races (even those that you're not competing in), pink slip races, and show-off events that challenge you to perform controlled 360-degree spins, bootleg turns, donuts, and other such maneuvers in front of a crowd.

The first car that you buy will most likely be something less than you were hoping for.

Many of the aforementioned features are exclusive to the Juiced career mode, which is where we've spent the vast majority of our time with the game. You'll start your career with $40,000 in your pocket and only a single contact on your cell phone--a guy named TK who is the leader of a local racing crew. TK invites you to prove yourself by loaning you a car and offering to race against you, and he will also attempt to relieve you of some cash by betting on the outcome. Once your first race is over, your first job will be to purchase a car for yourself and, if you have any money left, start improving both its performance and appearance in the workshop. The cars available to you at the start of the game will vary each time you play, but you can basically expect to be choosing your first ride from a selection of new and used (and often beaten up) vehicles that would look more at home parked outside of a supermarket than lined up on a race grid. That'll change soon enough, though, since you'll unlock new parts for your car of choice practically every time you race in it.

Although you'll often only have around three different versions of each part to choose from when customizing the look of your cars, creating great-looking rides in Juiced can be almost as much fun as the racing itself. Aesthetically pleasing rides also become important as you progress through the game, because certain racing crews won't respect you unless your cars are as great to look at as they are to drive. We've not had an opportunity to play Juiced online to date, but it goes without saying that you'll want to be lining up against other players in a car that looks as far removed from the basic showroom model as you can possibly make it. That means a pearlescent paint job, neon lights, decals, tinted windows, body kits, alloy wheels, and maybe even a new horn with which to psyche out opponents directly in front of you.