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I f you like your driving straightforward and just want to
Page 63
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belt round a track in a souped-up sports utility vehicle seeing how much damage you can inflict on yourself and your competitors, this is the game for you.
Tough Trucks: Modified Monsters, launched last July, does exactly what it says on the tin, the challenge being to win a number of different dirt-track races, upgrading your vehicle as you go along. Each of the 16 races involves a different track.Apart from the challenge of skidding around corners on surfaces that provide a minimum of grip, there are jumps. bumps and water hazards to deal with, and quite a few of the races are in figure-of-eight configuration of some sort. leading to some chaotic pile-ups at crossover points.
If you and your vehicle are still in one piece and you manage to cross the finish line in the top three — not all that hard on paper as there are only ever four of you in the race— you get a cash prize varying from $LOW to $9.000 per race which is usually enough to pay for the repairs you'll need.
Repairs are carried out in the workshop and are split into five areas: engine, gearbox, suspension, tyres and bodywork. And need them you most certainly will. In fact you've got to watch out to ensure you don't spend more on repairs than you've won. If you don't have enough cash to repair everything, you'll just have to choose which bits take priority.
The aim of the game, apart from to have enormous fun in a US-style Destruction Derby, is to get enough cash together to gradually upgrade each of the main vehicle components. Always hankered after one of those ridiculous monster trucks with tyres the size of ISO containers? Here's your chance.
As you'd expect, the tracks and competition get tougher as you progress through the game. Winning or being placed in one race opens up the next and there are a number of bonus games, essentially time trials around a course that can involve barrels, bollards and ramps.A number of them incorporate Evel Knievel-style jumps over multiple cars and buses.
The graphics, it has to be said, aren't sophisticated.The brake fights don't come on when you brake.there are no mirrors so you can't see what's about to hit you from behind, the available camera angles are restricted (you can generally view your vehicle only from the back) and there's no replay facility. Despite all this, and the game's lack of depth relative to the others reviewed here, it did grow on us.The raw fun factor is definitely there and the satisfaction of finally winning a race after several attempts is rich reward.
There's an unnecessarily high amount of mouse-clicking required in the workshop screen and when loading or quitting the game, but this didn't spoil the fun too much.This is a nice little racer with a bit of vehicle maintenance and a lot of mayhem thrown in. Just up our street, really.