Lotsa Worka For You!
A new game based on an old movie, The Italian Job is the death rattle of a decent genre – the PSX driver game. Even though the game provides good entertainment and has a control scheme that would have given its peers a run for their money a couple years ago, long loading times, bad graphics, and a weakly adapted story make this game an easy mark for newer, more aggressive games.
The Italian Job revolves around Charlie Croker and his attempt to heist four-million dollars while escaping through the chaos of a traffic jam engineered by his gang. The game is spent in preparation for the heist (convincing guys to work for you, stealing cars), and in perpetration of the heist (running away).
The missions themselves are generic – go from here to there, fast! – and are usually preceded by a cut scene which explains why you’re going from here to there so quickly. While these scenes are occasionally funny (in one you get chased for picking up prostitutes), the shenanigans don’t usually carry into the levels themselves.
Fortunately, the same old drive from here to there is rescued by some great level design. There are all sorts of shortcuts and tight alleyways and jumps to enjoy as you attempt to elude your enemies. Occasionally, you’ll take a jump or blockade and the game will cut out for a cinematic repeat of the feat you just accomplished. I really could have done without these little scenes, since they take you away from the action and then abruptly drop you back into it. Can you say fender-bender?
Despite its nice gameplay, The Italian Job sputters to a halt in its graphics. This game looks like an abstract, modernist piece of art with its vague flashes of color, which may remind more imaginative gamers of cars. However, such dated graphics are made up for by a good framerate, which creates a genuine sense of speed.
The cars in The Italian Job are all fun to drive (with the exception of the armored car) thanks to some decent speed and great turning radii. While most look worst than even the cars in the first Colin McRae game, the touring van actually looks like a van, and the sports car is just pure insanity insanity to drive.
Then again, it’s kind of a let down to crash your car at an absurdly high speed and see no change in its appearance. Apparently damage modeling hasn’t been invented yet.
But such a convincing illusion of speed coupled with a responsive control scheme yields a game exciting to play, if not much fun to look at. The controls are extremely simple, basically involving steering, breaking, and accelerating. What isn’t so simple is using The Italian Job‘s responsive controls to their fullest, as this game defers to the fast fingered.
Unfortunately, the constraints are too limiting too early to really allow you to enjoy the way this game plays from the start. However, get used to the controls and level shortcuts and you should have no problem leaving the cops with their donuts and the Mafia alone with the fishes.
That is, if the load times don’t get you first. While it doesn’t directly detract from the gameplay, the long load times do make The Italian Job a frustrating game to play for more than an hour or so at a time. Bada-boring!
Once the game loads, though, you’ll find some really cool modes. The ubiquitous Free Rides and Check Point challenges make an appearance. The Destructor Mode (a drive through an area in which you have to constantly keep hitting street cones to prevent time from running out) and Challenge Mode (various challenges which fine-tune your skills in areas such as jumping, breaking and turning) actually offer some unexpectedly cool gameplay. There’s also a Party Play mode that allows you to challenge up to six friends to any level in any mode. The Italian Job mode is the basic Story mode and must be played to unlock the other modes.
Though the music is upbeat and catchy, the sound effects in The Italian Job are murkier than Aquaman’s bathroom. When the police are pursuing you, an alarm is constantly sounding. It’s horribly annoying.
The voice acting adds as much character as it takes away. The mission briefings are given by Charlie Croker, who is impossible to understand as he mutters monotonously and nonchalantly in a thick English accent. Then, during the game, whenever Charlie speaks he sounds like he’s been taking bong-rips of helium. Interesting and unique, but not very good.
Overall, Rockstar’s The Italian Job is an oddly decent PSX game. Even though the market has been taken over by the more-powerful next-gen games, lots of people still own Playstations, and for them this game is definitely worth trying – particularly when you consider the 15 dollar price tag. Then again, with such long load times and bad graphics you might also consider saving up for a Playstation 2.
