- 7,889
 
- SolidFro
 
- RRoDzaaah!
 
I installed the Juiced demo out of curiousity. First off, if the developers think that this game is anywhere near complete, they are dead wrong. 
 
Let's start out with the bad.
 
There are some very bad graphic problems with the demo. There is clipping texture mapping problems with most objects in the game. Textures disapear, mapping cordniates go chaotic and appear to flash, and the shaders seem improperly coded. As you might see below, I took no night shots. Night races display these problems the most. The game isn't a graphic powerhouse either. It doesn't seem to be taking advantage of anything fancy found in DirectX 9. As said above, there is a major problem with the shaders and backwards comaptiblity. Even modest systems should be able to run Juiced. As reference, I have a Athlon XP 2000+ 1.8Ghz (overclocked), GeForce 3 Ti500 64MB and 512MB DDR PC2700. I had the game running at 1280x960x32, 8xAA, 8xAF and was getting around 40-50 FPS. That's not even close to pushing my system.
 
The sound in the game is horriable. You would expect fast tempo techno like music, right? Wrong. Cheesy rock music litters the game. I suggest turning off the music. The sound effects are generic. Tires squiling, blow off valves, gears shifting, all sound bland. There is no difference between the sounds of a Celica and a Supra, they all sound the same.
 
The controls are dumbed down for the demo for some reason or another. There is no manual transmission or handbrake. Steering and throttle control is done with the arrow keys. You'll most likey find yourself spinning out in the Supra until you get comfortable with the controls. Many of the keycommands do not work. There is a icon on the HUD for Nitrous Oxide, yet I could not find the key to activate it.
 
Other annoiances include the rather dumb looking people standing on the sides of the street. I thought this was secret underground street racing and so many people came to watch! Yet, there is no police in sight. The onlookers are done up in random, vibrant colors, waving histeriocly as you drive by. Rain or shine, the crowd is always their to cheer you on. The last annoyance is that some curbs lining the street, you are able to drive on, but the majority you cannot. A magical invisiable wall stops you in your tracks.
 
Now for the few good things about Juiced.
 
The environmental lighting looks good. Colors on objects change depending on the time of day you select to race in. Real Time reflections on the cars look good. The apperance looks simular to the reflections in Project Gothem Racing. Overal, the textures look vibrant in color and the skys are filled with beautiful clouds. The apperance reminded me of arcade racers like Ridge Racer. I don't know how the explain the vibe I feel, it gives off that arcade like style of bright, colorful graphics.
 
At the car selection screen, you are able to choose body kits for your car. They are the normal flamboiant riced out crap you see in The Fast and the Furious or your local avenue at night. They have no performance gain and are there just for looks. I thought these were good things about the game? Yes, there is one good thing about the body kits. When you take damage to the car by either hitting the walls or other cars, damage appears as dents, scrapes, and damaged fiberglass. Yes, you can visually see your body kits start to fall off like the pieces of **** that they are. Nice touch.
 
In my opinion, the developers need to spend more time on this game. Usually, when a demo comes out, the game is almost ready to go gold. If it ships in it's current state, it will be nothing more than a pile of garbage, along with all the other wannabe, NFS:U like, street racing games out there. If more time is put into Juiced, it will be an ok game to pick up for weekend fun.
 
Screenshots:
These pictures are not to be displayed on any other website besides GTPlanet.net without the author's written permission.
 
		
		
	
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
 
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
		
	
	
		
			
		
		
	
				
			Let's start out with the bad.
There are some very bad graphic problems with the demo. There is clipping texture mapping problems with most objects in the game. Textures disapear, mapping cordniates go chaotic and appear to flash, and the shaders seem improperly coded. As you might see below, I took no night shots. Night races display these problems the most. The game isn't a graphic powerhouse either. It doesn't seem to be taking advantage of anything fancy found in DirectX 9. As said above, there is a major problem with the shaders and backwards comaptiblity. Even modest systems should be able to run Juiced. As reference, I have a Athlon XP 2000+ 1.8Ghz (overclocked), GeForce 3 Ti500 64MB and 512MB DDR PC2700. I had the game running at 1280x960x32, 8xAA, 8xAF and was getting around 40-50 FPS. That's not even close to pushing my system.
The sound in the game is horriable. You would expect fast tempo techno like music, right? Wrong. Cheesy rock music litters the game. I suggest turning off the music. The sound effects are generic. Tires squiling, blow off valves, gears shifting, all sound bland. There is no difference between the sounds of a Celica and a Supra, they all sound the same.
The controls are dumbed down for the demo for some reason or another. There is no manual transmission or handbrake. Steering and throttle control is done with the arrow keys. You'll most likey find yourself spinning out in the Supra until you get comfortable with the controls. Many of the keycommands do not work. There is a icon on the HUD for Nitrous Oxide, yet I could not find the key to activate it.
Other annoiances include the rather dumb looking people standing on the sides of the street. I thought this was secret underground street racing and so many people came to watch! Yet, there is no police in sight. The onlookers are done up in random, vibrant colors, waving histeriocly as you drive by. Rain or shine, the crowd is always their to cheer you on. The last annoyance is that some curbs lining the street, you are able to drive on, but the majority you cannot. A magical invisiable wall stops you in your tracks.
Now for the few good things about Juiced.
The environmental lighting looks good. Colors on objects change depending on the time of day you select to race in. Real Time reflections on the cars look good. The apperance looks simular to the reflections in Project Gothem Racing. Overal, the textures look vibrant in color and the skys are filled with beautiful clouds. The apperance reminded me of arcade racers like Ridge Racer. I don't know how the explain the vibe I feel, it gives off that arcade like style of bright, colorful graphics.
At the car selection screen, you are able to choose body kits for your car. They are the normal flamboiant riced out crap you see in The Fast and the Furious or your local avenue at night. They have no performance gain and are there just for looks. I thought these were good things about the game? Yes, there is one good thing about the body kits. When you take damage to the car by either hitting the walls or other cars, damage appears as dents, scrapes, and damaged fiberglass. Yes, you can visually see your body kits start to fall off like the pieces of **** that they are. Nice touch.
In my opinion, the developers need to spend more time on this game. Usually, when a demo comes out, the game is almost ready to go gold. If it ships in it's current state, it will be nothing more than a pile of garbage, along with all the other wannabe, NFS:U like, street racing games out there. If more time is put into Juiced, it will be an ok game to pick up for weekend fun.
Screenshots:
These pictures are not to be displayed on any other website besides GTPlanet.net without the author's written permission.