You don’t even need to play this to see that the game really doesn’t take itself too seriously, and is well up for a bit of fun. Big Mutha Truckers 2: Truck Me Harder is a sequel to a game that really isn’t very well known in Europe, its more suited, and sells incredibly well in America (just under a million copies, in fact). Enough of that boring stuff, lets get on with the trucking review (come on! I couldn’t resist).
Ma Jackson, mother of four trucking children (no play-on words there), has got herself caught up with the law and ended up in prison for tax evasion. Obviously the kids (Bobbie-Sue, Earl, Rawkus and Cletus) have got to get their mom out of jail, so they must raise some cash so they can afford the lawyer fees. As Jacob is their cousin, you’d think he would cut them a break with the cost of it all, but apparently not. It’s clear that they will need any help they can get too, so you’ll need to bribe the members of the jury as well. This doesn’t come cheap, so you choose your preferred character, jump in your 18 Wheeler and get the truck out of there (sorry! Last time).
You pick your cargo, ranging from bottles of water to planks of wood to illegal drugs, and off you go. You can see within the menu system what towns will pay higher prices for cargo you have, so you visit that town and sell the goods on, slowly rasing enough cash.
The map with all the towns in is quite small, and it normally takes a couple of minutes to reach each destination. Along the way you can raise more money by completing various side missions, like picking up aliens from the side of the road (no, seriously). You can also get bonuses along the way, like crashing into certain road vehicles, breaking the speed limit over a set distance and not damaging your cargo.
Once you have reached your destination, you have to park your 18 wheeler in a parking bay. You need good truck control here to navigate the chicanes, posts, blocks, and walls the game puts you through to reach the parking area. You have a set time to this manoeuvre in, and of course there are cash bonuses for completing it within the allowed time without touching any obstacles.
The truck’s controls are easy to get used to, and there is a quite good feeling of weight and inertia, in a non-realistic sort of way. Some of the tight manoeuvring is really quite tough, as are the time limits at certain points, not really allowing for many mistakes. You can easily complete most missions, but your bonuses will be crippled.
Graphically, whilst not setting the world on fire, BMT2:TMH is nice enough, with good draw distances, and convincing buildings and car/truck models etc. It’s nice and smooth too for the most part, with the framerate only getting a little stuttery when things get very busy on screen. The audio in the game is definitely worth a mention, with an in-truck radio system similar to that of GTAs, with DJs talking, and various different music tracks to listen to. It’s got nowhere near the amount of content that the radio stations in GTA have, but to expect that would be rather crazy. In-between towns and within shops and bars, there are characters that talk to you, and offer you missions etc. These are well acted and sometimes quite amusing too, even if they do repeat themselves quite a lot.
So the game doesn’t sound like it has much to it, and to be perfectly honest you would be right. However, that doesn’t stop it from being an enjoyable game. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it’s a really easy and simple game to get into. It won’t take forever to complete, but at a UK retail price of £19.99, I really don’t think you could ask much more for your money. It’s certainly got much more to it than Sega’s 18 Wheeler game which came out full price a few years back. So, if you’re a fan of the first game, or fancy something a little different to play, give it a go, you might just like it.
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