Developer
Eutechnyx

Released: June 23, 2003
Genre: Racing / Economic Sim
Players: 1
ESRB: Teen

6
7
7
5
6.6

Supported Features:

I’ve always been surprised that there haven’t been more truck driving/racing games available. Big Mutha Truckers attempts to fill this overlooked genre with a fun little racing game cleverly intertwined with a modest economic simulation. The premise is as simple and straightforward as the gameplay - travel from city to city buying cargo at the best prices then deliver that cargo to the city where you can make the most profit. Momma will explain it all much more stylishly than I can.

There is also a Mission Mode that is basically a set of mini-games, many of which are actually incorporated into the Trial By Trucking. They’re not that long, complicated, or really that much fun outside of the main game so chances are most will skip this section of the game unless you just want the practice.

The first thing to do is choose your trucker. Since there is absolutely no difference in the trucks or their drivers this is purely a matter of personal preference – which character and truck do you enjoy looking at and whose voice can you stand to listen to for the next 60+ city visits. Each character has their own charms and unique personality as shown in the opening movie. If you enjoy the gameplay enough to play it all the way through once you’ll probably play it again and again as all of the characters eventually.

After your briefing from Momma you’ll head out in your preloaded truck for your predetermined location. I’ve never driven a truck larger than one of those Ryder box-trucks used for moving and even that freaked me out. Slipping behind the wheel in BMT is a challenging experience, and while it probably is no way representative of actual truck driving, I’m guessing the difficulty and handling issues are a fair facsimile.

Control is surprisingly simple with the triggers being used for gas and brake, the B button for shifting (up and down when prompted), the A for reverse and the black and white buttons being used for the left and right mirrors. The Y button sounds the horn, but at 120mph cars seldom have the time to get out of your way.

You can choose to race from near and far chase views and even an exciting cockpit cam complete with fuzzy swinging dice and rocking cab. This view is great but you’ll probably settle for the chase cam as it offers a better view of the road ahead and any hijackers that might be climbing around on your trailer.

Physics are arcade in nature and your truck will skim along guardrails, jackknife around turns and slam into cars, signs, and fences. Gameplay favors fun over realism and you will soon learn to master the fishtail maneuver to knock those bikers off your trailer or catch crazy air as you jump your entire rig over a traffic jam.

As previously mentioned, your primary goal is to make money and this is done in two ways; racing for cash and hauling cargo for profit. The racing part is easy enough. As you leave your current location you will be prompted by a rival trucker to race to any of the cities in Hick State County with prize money varying on the distance and challenge of the run. Generally you select the same city you were headed to anyway, which might not always offer the best prize money but rather just provides a nice incentive or bonus to your delivery profit if you happen to win the race. You can also earn some bonus bucks if you can park your trailer in the designated loading zone. The faster you do this the more money you get.

At each city you can visit the local garage, store, and bar. These are the facades of the menu system that allows you to repair, refuel, upgrade your truck, swap out trailers if necessary and even create a custom logo for your rig. The store is where you buy and sell goods and the bar is where you get hints on the hot commodities and the cities that are looking for them. You can also play the slot machine or get high-interest cash loans from the resident loan shark.

There are numerous types of cargo divided into three main types, liquid, perishables, and everything else. The type of cargo you are transporting requires either a tanker, refrigerated, or flatbed trailer. The cost of swapping trailers is generally insignificant but refueling and repairing your truck can cost thousands of dollars and the cost of upgrades, at least the ones that do you any good, can easily reach six-figures.

Much like any good economic transportation sim (Railroad Tycoon, Privateer, Freelancer) you always try to buy at the lowest price possible then find out who wants the cargo and is willing to pay the most for it. This is made overly simple by getting hints at the bar after each stop, although these hints may not always be the most lucrative deal, and if you rely on bar tips you probably won’t win the game.

Instead, you will want to make frequent trips to Momma’s house and get a market analysis that shows the rise and fall of the value of various commodities at all the cities. This is presented in an informative and simple-to-read line graph allowing you to track and possibly predict the value of certain products and plan your next run. You can also check on the progress of your siblings and see how you are doing in the “race”.

While you are making your runs you will need to keep your eye out for cops and bikers, both of which can cause costly delays. You’ll want to drive as safe as possible to reduce repair costs and keep an eye on the gas gauge. Running out of gas, totaling your rig, getting tossed in the slammer or getting jacked by a biker gang can ruin your day.

Now take everything I have just described and multiply it by 60 and you have Big Mutha Truckers. Yes, the game has potential and even a bit of vision but the scale is such that with only a half-dozen cities you will have seen and done it all long before your first 60-day trial is complete. Granted, there are a few random missions thrown in, most dealing with the destruction of property, but these are few and far between and not that challenging – I mean, who can’t smash 20 cars in 90 seconds?

I can think of several things that would have made this game a winner. Instead of just driving around the country, how about opening up the entire country. I don’t want real-time cross-country driving realism, but we need more than five cities and the highways that connect them. More interaction with the siblings would have been interesting, perhaps sabotaging their run so you could pull ahead in the race or stealing their load.

The cities are all unique, each with their own style whether it be a colorfully lit Vegas knockoff, a backwoods farming community or a New Orleans style harbor city. The various garages, bars, and stores in each city all maintain the theme and atmosphere of the city you are in.

The stretches of road between these cities are gorgeous and feature plenty of changing terrain, buildings, billboards, tunnels, mountains, and all of these are enhanced with rain and snow weather effects that actually affect your handling. My only minor complaint is that some areas are quite dark, especially the tunnels. Headlights would have been most welcome.

The trucks are excellent, both in their sophisticated models and their clever design that is unique to the personality of their drivers. There are nice touches like tarps concealing the cargo on your flatbed or the shiny chrome surface of a tanker trailer. If you choose to drive from the cockpit you will enjoy a lot of nice details that are probably more realistic than we’d care to know. The independent left and right mirror views are a brilliant and realistic touch.

Character models are hilarious for all four truckers and even momma who is actually a bit disturbing. I never thought I would see the day when I didn’t want to see a bit of “jiggling”, but momma quickly curbed this desire. Even the designs of the supporting cast, bartenders, garage owners, shopkeepers, loan sharks, etc. are all quite creative in their design themes.

There are some nice touches to the interface. You have the traditional speedometer in the lower corner and the SHIFT GEARS alert pops up clearly when it’s time to shift. There is a nice scrolling ticker along the bottom that updates you on the whereabouts of your siblings and other humorous news. You can view your driver’s license to check your standings or get a cool radio interface to pick your favorite driving music.

Character voices are excellent if not overly stereotypical. Bobbi Sue sounds like Daisy Duke if she had dropped out of Kindergarten and the brothers range from a toothless hick of epic proportions to a smooth talking ladies man. The voice of Momma is perfectly cast with that raspy 10-pack-a-day grate that sounds like she is ready to hock a loogie the size of a small pet.

The supporting cast is wildly varied with a ditzy bikini-clad bartender in one town and a flaming gay bartender in another. You have your Boss Hogg-type loan shark; a fancy pants French (or was he English) garage owner, a psycho-killer storeowner and more. Locating and experiencing all of these characters will probably become your primary motivational force in finishing this game.

The rest of the sound effects are topnotch including the rumbling diesel engines, crunching of fenders, cars exploding, fences and billboards smashing and all of the ambient city noises you’d expect to hear in each location. To cap off this stunning sound experience is a Dolby Digital surround mix to put you right into the game.

Then again, Big Mutha Truckers is only selling for $19, which makes consumers (and even cynical game reviewers) a bit more forgiving. While I would never recommend this game as anything more than a rental under normal circumstance, for $19 you could do a lot worse. I’ve spent $20 and even more (lots more) on games and other entertainment that wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as my 60 trips across Hick State County.