Laughs at every corner.
* Surprisingly good fun
* Racing music reminds you of other songs
* Doesn't take itself too seriously
* Unique handling
* Instant-instant Replay
* AI can't drive
Minus:
* AI can't drive
* No actual championship
* Game mode limitations
* Occasional frame-rate dips
Typically games that come along after a console has slipped into being 'previous generation', are either consolatory limited ports of modern titles or young companies trying their hand at 'my first console game'. Or pointless yearly football game updates.
Needless to say there is a mire of pap to be waded through, and on face value "Truck Racer" would appear to be another of these no-hoper's.
It's certainly got all the ingredients: A CD-ROM title released in 2009 for the PS2 console, optimistic exaggerations in the blurb on the back; "Full of action and danger, this is high octane power racing!". And flat-out lies: Mention of a stunt arena, but I didn't find one in the game, even after finishing it.
Even the cover is misleading. At no point in the game do you have more than 2 of a specific type of truck on-track at the same time. And neither are there colour options.
So basically you go into the game with pretty low expectations, wondering if you made a mistake in purchasing it. This feeling stays with you throughout the opening movie which is basically a series of clips from replays showing much less than optimal PS2 graphics accompanied by a looping rock 'n roll clip.
Your anticipation slips further down when you discover the complete lack of a 'Championship' option from the player menu. So you simply select 'Race' mode to discover how ham-fisted this game may be. New players get just one unlocked track and one unlocked truck.
It's not of any surprise that the opening movie was no joke, and the graphics really are that limited. 3 - 2 - 1 and you're off!
And then EVERYONE crashes on the first corner.
You get your vehicle straightened-out, through a fast chicane, then on the next corner the larger of your opponents crash again. You join them because you discover that the brakes don't so much slow you down as lock the wheels then send you careening off into the scenery.
Absolutely hilarious.
Then you discover the handbrake. If you thought power-sliding a truck was a ridiculous idea, then obviously no one told Nordic Games. It's in no way realistic, but this game has a very entertaining handling model. Furthermore, every truck has a turbo-boost which enables you to corner at some really lurid angles.
Any notion that you've wasted your money is out of the window at this point as you discover you've been laughing constantly since the race started.
There is vehicle damage but it's fairly limited in being bumpers and occasionally doors that come off, but the claim of there being a "deformable crash structure" is a fib.
In order to unlock more trucks and tracks you take part in specific challenge modes; 'Truck Challenge' requires you to race a locked truck on an unlocked track against one opponent in the same vehicle. 'Track Challenge' takes place in an unlocked truck on a locked track with a lap time to beat. These events are the main meat of the game.
It's not very balanced though as the lap times to beat are very competitive and 50% of the trucks in the game simply aren't fast enough to do it.
The ones you expect to be faster or handle better are not the ones that turn in the best lap times, as with the rest of the game little logic has been applied.
It's fun finding out which trucks are the faster or more entertaining ones though, some of them have very loose associations with physics such as when you get up on two wheels; the physics have meltdown and the truck bounces around all over the road as you try to regain control. This partially explains why the AI can't even drive them properly. Happily though, mass has been factored-in and there are none of the slapped-wrists that other racing games give out for poor driving standards.
T-Boning, brake-testing, rear-ending, side-slamming, and just plain being a bully; can be carried out at your whim.
Once you've completed the initial unlock challenges, you open a further feature called 'Dirt Track Time Trial' which is a checkpoint race against a single opponent. This takes place on the bonus track with the bonus car (not a truck) which is the most evil-handling vehicle in any racing game I've ever played. Furthermore the track itself has features that exacerbate the difficulties you'll have with getting the car around.
Unfortunately you can only play the bonus car on the bonus track and vice versa.
So yes, being that you can finish the game in just a few evenings and it's extremely limited in all areas, your initial thought is correct in that this is a bad game.
But the thing that sets "Truck Racer" apart from other bad games is that it's a huge laugh to play.