The first iteration in the Juiced series hurtled in straight to the number one position in the UK videogame charts, in spite of receiving mixed reviews amongst the media (scoring predominately in the 7 and 8 bracket), due its relatively lacklustre approach towards car customisation, a limited career mode and a slew of repetitive courses. Juiced was originally planned for release at a time when the videogame industry was suffering as a whole from low consumer spending, and whilst many only just managed to keep their heads above water, Juiced’s original publisher, Acclaim Entertainment, filed for bankruptcy shortly before the game was released. THQ stepped in to acquire the Warrington firm, release Juicedto the world, and set the developer back on track, giving the firm the freedom to spread its wings and tap into THQ’s resources and studio support.

The security of having such a financially stable publisher in tow has allowed Juice Games to expand on the series and concentrate fully on improving flaws that it openly admits to in the original title. In addition, Juice has been able to beef up its existing team of designers and animators to create a much improved sequel, which is almost unrecognisable from the original Xbox game.

Times have moved on and the videogame market is buoyant once again after the introduction of next-gen consoles, so Juice Games has stepped up to the challenge once again and will be competing with other racing titles such as PGR4, Forza Motorsport 2 and Burnout 5 in 2007. We weren’t huge fans of Juiced first time around, but Juiced 2 has been given an extreme makeover in almost every aspect and this time it’s ready to take on the racing big boys.

First off, the sequel has been given a flamboyant new name, Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights. The name derives from the male-orientated extravagant auto show that travels across the US, showing off the best modified cars against a backdrop of scantilyclad women and DJs who pound out the latest dance tracks. Juice Games has drawn its inspiration from this stimulating mix of babes, music and cars, and now claim that Juiced 2 will be “the evolution of the street-racing genre”.

The branding deal with Hot Import Nights has given Juiced 2 a nerve centre, a focal point in which they have built on to give the game a real sense of character. At the exclusive hands-on, this was demonstrated through the pre-race and post-race cut-scenes which capture the essence and spirit of the real-life event through the medium of racy dance music, the inclusion of some hot chicks and post-race podium scenes where crowds gather to share your success or jeer at your failure. MCs are also due to be thrown into the melee, offering their unique blend of rap, while DJ Adam Freeland, well known for his commitment to pushing dance music in a new and exciting direction, will be mixing a number of licensed tracks that aim to further entice us into the culture.

After creating his own custom avatar, Juiced 2’s Project Leader, Richard Badger, took us on a tour of some of the tracks in his ‘suped’ up Supra MK4, which sported a rather stunning custom created decal. In Juiced 2, the designers have moved away from the use of a fictitious US city for the track locations and instead we were treated to some familiar landmarks. First up, we travelled around a few circuits of the London track, zipping through Trafalgar Square and the neon-lit Piccadilly Circus, complete with the familiar wide-screen advertisements from the likes of Samsung.

In total there will be approximately 11 locations with an estimated 33 circuits to race around, including driving through the middle of the Coliseum in Rome, weaving our way around the streets at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and navigating the steep inclines of the Alps – in addition we can look forward to taking a trip around Sydney and San Francisco. The tracks will not be exact re-creations of the areas, like the PGR series, but they will all include noticeable landmarks to give races that authentic feel. Despite being months away from release, the locations ooze next-gen with detailed backdrops and great lighting effects that make impressive use of the Xbox 360 hardware.

Thirst Quencher

In the finished version there will be 92 cars available, almost double the amount that we saw in Juiced, including some impressive additions with the likes of the BMW-M3 and Z4. The licenses have also been secured for a number of new Super cars including the Pagani Zonda, Nobel M12 and Ascari. Sadly, Juiced 2 won’t feature any vehicles from the Porsche or Ferrari garages. We were told that the licences for these cars alone would have cost more than the all of the 92 licences that have already been acquired!

An unprecedented amount of detail has gone into the look and design of the cars on offer and both the exteriors and interiors are exact replicas of their real-life counter-parts. With the addition of a number of Super cars we were extremely keen to know whether online play would result in gamers choosing one of these cars above the others, due to their ridiculously high performance (remember driving against seven other Dodge Vipers in Juiced?). Well, we’re relieved to be informed that the designers were aware of this problem in the original and will now ensure that approximately 20 of the high performance cars can be modified to offer a similar performance online. For example, if we fiddle around with the tuning of a Toyota Supra we’ll be able to compete with the Pagani Zonda! Interestingly, we will also be able to view the history of a car both offline and online. Each car builds up this history as it competes in races, has money spent on it or whenever it changes hands. This comprehensive history carries over whenever you sell a car online or whenever you lose it in a pink slip race.

Pink slip races are just one of the modes that will be making a return so, in Juiced 2, we’ll once again be able to bet our cars on the outcome of a race. It’s a huge risk to gamble your car, especially if you’ve spent thousands on creating the perfect look and performance, but it fits in perfectly with the street racing culture, not to mention the added pressure of losing your vehicle to an AI or online opponent. We can look forward to some tense and probably dirty pink slip races as we battle toothand- nail to keep hold of our pride and joy.

Juiced 2 will accommodate most of the standard game modes from the original. So, it’s a predicted return to circuit racing, drift racing, challenges, plus the aforementioned pink slip races. For those who our familiar with the game, you may be disappointed to hear that sprint races will be ditched as Juice prefers to concentrate and perfect the dynamics of circuit and drift racing. Gambling will also play a huge part in the game, and through making a wager with your opponent pre-race you can win and lose huge sums of money that can then be spent on modifications and the purchase of high-powered cars. However (now this really made us sit up and take notice), during online play we will be able to spectate and bet on races that we’re not competing in. Furthermore, spectator mode will allow for up to 1,000 players to watch and gamble on any one race (up to two-thirds into any race) and, check this out; the players racing in the game will be able to see how many people are watching them and how much money is riding on their success. This feature will no doubt land a considerable amount of pressure on the racers, as well as increasing the level of excitement for those gamers being watched.

The complex, convoluted career system that confused so many people in the first title has been scrapped in favour of a natural or linear progression of goals and races; similar to what we’ve already seen in a number of racing games, such as PGR3. Despite the underlying framework of the events being linear, we’ll still be able to pick and choose the challenges we wish to participate in, with all goals being able to be completed by choosing one of three different events. Through completing goals, we’ll unlock new cars and new modifications for our car, but far from being lacklustre this time around, customisation is user friendly, uniquely designed and can be as in depth or as simple as you wish.

Custom Love Affair

In the garage, where we had the chance to view the cars close-up, it’s clear to see how much work has gone into the design and how invaluable the next-gen architecture has been in breathing life into the vehicles. Badger explained that there are over 40,000 polygons in each car’s design; in fact, there are more polygons in one wheel in Juiced 2 than a whole car in the original Juiced. From the car’s interior to the authentic engine system, every inch of the vehicle can be explored during modification. Badger explained that whenever we remove parts of the car in order to replace them with modifications, we’ll be able to see what’s actually behind the metal, rather than just seeing a black silhouette. This visually impressive offering hasn’t yet been implemented in the version we saw, but we’re hoping that peering into an engine and actually seeing where new parts are fitted might help us understand our own motors; maybe we’ll even be able to change our own oil one day.

The authenticity of the customisation feature isn’t compromised by an over-complicated interface, but instead those gamers who are normally scared of tampering with their cars, will be offered standard licensed kits which contain everything we need to bring the car up to scratch. However, if we wish, the option will be there to buy our own parts to ‘pimp’our rides and improve the car’s performance, from adding a Lamborghini door kit to fitting a new exhaust system. Furthermore, during the fine-tuning of a car, where we will be able to adjust every aspect of our ride’s handling, weight and power, Juice has introduced an X-ray visual which allows us to see straight through the metal of the car – you can actual see where your parts are being fitted. The idea behind the X-ray visual is that gamers should feel more involved in the tuning process, plus the customisation will be more accessible to the novice mechanic. It worked for us!

Badger then shifted focus from the fine-tuning of the car to the custom decals, something we’d been desperate to see after we were told that Juice Games had taken what Forza did and expanded upon it. Juice is keen to encourage gamers to experiment with decals and thus have made the process simple, yet in-depth. Up to 50 layers can be applied to a car, which was demonstrated by a unique and stunning effort from one of their in-house designers. There are dozens of decal packs to choose from, which we’ll be able to edit and mix, rotate, flip and re-size, with each of these packs having their own unique theme.

Painting your car has also been improved with the addition of a number of new effects, such as matt finishes and a stunning-looking metal flake, which makes your car look like the surface of a speckled American bowling ball (on the track, this effect looked even more impressive with lights bouncing off the bonnet). Juice was fairly tight-lipped on the online aspect of things and this point was not sure whether a trade feature will be available. Whatever the case, the cars are looking so impressive after a few customisations and paint jobs that we’ll undoubtedly see some supreme pieces of art jostling for bragging rights on the virtual streets.

Following the walkthrough of the impressive customisation features, our attention was turned back to the racing – after all that’s what it’s all about - and onto drift racing, giving us our first chance to go hands-on with the game. Juice has taken its inspiration from the superb drift mechanics of Sega Rally, and was adamant that they wanted to make drift racing fun, realistic and relatively easy to learn. In single-player mode, drift racing will take the form of solo races, where we’ll need to beat a high score to win the challenge or twin races where we’ll compete against an AI racer.

According to Juice, the physics model for drifting will differ between drift challenges and drifting in circuit races. Exactly how it differs we don’t know yet, but we’ve been informed that it will be a subtle change. In the short time we had navigating the drift track, the car responded well to our twists and turns and actually felt more like drifting does in Need for Speed Carbon – not a bad thing! Juice has promised a good variety of drift tracks to test out our skills, including a multi-story car park, named ‘Vortex’ and a ride around the Sydney Opera House. The visual and audio impact of drifting has been accurately captured, the front wheels point in the opposite direction of the turn, sparks flew when we were scraped against barriers, skid marks appeared on the road during sharp turns and smoke rose from the burning rubber during slides. More importantly, it felt right; the cars handled well and drifting had that addictive quality that we always look out for in a game as well as being a lot of fun.

Circuit racing will be self explanatory to any fan of racing games and, although we didn’t get to test drive the mode, Juice explained and demonstrated some of the features we can expect when the game arrives later this year. The nitrous boost will play a large part in Juiced 2 offline, but more importantly, online. Players will receive a full nitrous boost meter at the beginning of each race. Once the boost has been used, we’ll then be able to fill it back up by power sliding. Phil Owen, the PS2 and PSP Lead Designer, showed us how we could fill the nitrous boost to the brim by power sliding around one of the wider corners, but whilst travelling around shorter corners, he could only fill approximately half of the meter. Due to the huge advantage of using the nitrous boost at strategic points on a track, power sliding will become a necessary skill to master if anyone wishes to compete successfully online and rise up the leader-boards. The best racers will need to know every inch of the track in order to maximise its use; make no mistake about it, strategic racing will be at the heart of Juiced 2’s gameplay. Using the nitrous boost feels powerful and the designers have done a tremendous job in capturing the visual impact and feeling of speed as you hurtle down the straights.

Further tactical elements come into play with the use of ‘spook’, a feature which is only available offline. ‘Spooking’ will involve driving into an AI opponent’s slip stream for a set amount of time in order to fill a ‘spook’ meter. Once the meter is filled, the opponent will suffer car handling problems that may cause them to temporarily lose control of their car. ‘Spooking’ will be made more efficient when used on corners and, if timed correctly, could result in an opposition racer crashing into the barriers. ‘Spooking’ is an interesting addition which we’re looking forward to trying out for ourselves.

Racing DNA

One of the most intriguing features of Juiced 2 – and something that we believe may be a first in a racing game – is DNA. During races, the words ‘DNA evolved’ kept appearing on screen, but we were teasingly kept waiting until it was explained in full later on in the presentation. Any stat whores will be glad to hear that Juiced 2 has incorporated a system that will not only monitors our race results, but will also analyse the way we drive; in short, it builds up a DNA profile, which can be viewed as strands of DNA in the DNA lab and can be compared with other AI and online racers DNA.

You’re probably thinking, “big deal”, but there’s a lot more to it than that. The DNA system will analyse three sections of your gameplay habits – circuit, drifting and gambling. These habits will then take the form of this DNA strand as well as statistics being displayed in table form. In turn, this will allow us to see where our own strengths and weaknesses lie as well as our opponents. Ultimately, this means we’ll be able to see the areas in which we need to improve, but online, DNA offers a new meaning. During matches we’ll be able to capture a team-mate’s DNA and transport it into the AI of our offline opponents. To the casual gamer this means that you could collect the DNA from a friend, transport it into the AI of your opponent and they’ll then take on exactly the same characteristics during races. The feature will also apply to crew-based racing (something which we didn’t see in practice) meaning that you could use the DNA from 10 friends to make up your racing crew. You could argue that it’s an unnecessary feature that some people won’t find particularly useful, but it could be a valuable tool for training and practising against your friends, even if they’re offline. Sure, it’s never going to replace real friends, but it’s as close as we’re going to get with today’s technology.

We left Warrington on the long journey back to the south, full to the brim with chicken satay and beef rolls, feeling glad that we’d made the trip. Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights is looking the part and the branding, which is a huge platform for the game, gives it an identity that we feel was lacking in the Xbox original. It’s true that we didn’t have the opportunity to test out the mechanics of driving in circuit races, so we still only have a small insight into how it will play based on the developer’s demonstration. However, drifting felt and looked the part – as good as drifting in any other racing game we’ve played – and the customisation options are impressive, easy to use and presented in a dynamic, interesting way. Additions and enhancements to the series, such as avatar creation, car history, identifiable tracks and more cars added to the roster, show that Juice Games has listened to fans and critics of the series and acted on its previous shortcomings.

The unique features, such as spectator gambling, DNA and the X-Ray tuning feature (we really do like that) prove that Juice Games is moving along with the times and attempting to innovate within the street racing genre, something which we admire and respect. Speaking with animators and designers of the Juiced 2 team, during the odd cigarette break, it gave us the opportunity to chat casually and ask them individually about their motivations and enabled us to look deep into their souls (Paul McKennastyle) to determine whether their passion was genuine. We came to the conclusion that the whole design team are a close knit unit whom are genuinely hyped about their new creation. One thing we are certain of is that the team do care passionately for Juiced 2 and have worked tirelessly to bring it to a point where they feel it can compete with the other racers on the market. Here’s hoping we feel passionate about it to when it hit stores later this year.

If you haven’t guessed already, we’re impressed with Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights and can’t wait to see more of it in action. Let’s just hope it drives as well as it looks when it finally pulls in during September 2007.