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| The Entertainment Review |
| Genre: Racing Developer: Incinerator Games Publisher: THQ |
Licensed games, those that are based off of popular films and franchises, are a fundamental part of the gaming industry, but they often
produce terrible final products when it comes to production value and overall game play. Unlike the majority of the top level games on
the shelves, licensed games either succeed or fail because of the specific license it represents, not necessarily the quality of the game
itself. Some may wonder why games to be continually created for certain franchises while they may not be as popular anymore. The
simple answer is money. However, when a game like “Cars” is released and attempts to steer clear of what past licensed games
have done, it will catch the attention of gamers.
The game focuses on a single Story Mode that holds a large majority of the game play, having a recreated Radiator Springs from the
movie as free roam hub for activity. From this main hub players can interact with many of the characters from the film and accept races
or challenges to progress the story with the ultimate goal of competing in several Piston Cup races, which are similar to Nascar events
in the Disney world. The story for the game is told by using recreated scenes inspired from the film, though the game’s storyline is non-
linear in form, players can do things in the order they want.
Since the main gaming element of “Cars” is obviously driving, the core game play dictates the appeal of the game. There is a huge
world to explore and many events make the game more fun, but all of this is lost if the overall drive controls don’t work perfectly. Though
the controls aren’t terrible, and they don’t ruin the game by any means, they could be much tighter. The game play is based on very
simply controls, focused mainly on acceleration, braking and drifting, along with the ability to jump off the ground and use some added
moves as a bonus. When Lightning’s middle name, speed, comes into question, the game feels very slow overall and the drifting is
another control issue.
A slippery feeling, such as that of “Mario Kart” or “Burnout” would have worked a lot better in this game, and the game seems to be
grounded too much in reality, causing problems for a game that is supposed to be in a cartoon world. In addition to a drift that doesn’t
work extremely well, the braking is very difficult to handle at times, making it difficult to get into a drift in the first place. Players will try to
get into a drift, only to fail because it is difficult to manipulate the speed and direction of the car.
Another major issue players will find in the game’s design is in the free roam world. Since the game is based on an open ended
environment, most of the level design is done by creating boundaries within the area so space could be maximized. This has been
seen in a lot of games over the years. Many of the objects in the world are solid collisions rather than destructible, for example, an old
wooden fence that should splinter when hit will stop a player dead in their tread. Also, there are many areas and objects that should be
jumpable, such as small gates or ledges, that will often times have an invisible wall above them which can slow things down in the
game quite a bit, especially for those that may be trying to take a shortcut in a race.
The general racing aspect of the game is still pretty fun despite a few flaws in the game play, though the Piston Cup races don’t have
enough depth to make it seem valid to go around the track dozens of times in order to continue. The audio in the game, like most
licensed games, is going to have players either loving it or hating it. The voice acting in the game is from the actual movie actors, which
doesn’t happen very often, but games will appreciate it. Also, there is a lot of music directly from the film in the game, while remaining
true to the film, it isn’t a very strong set list for a racing game. This is a great set of songs for the younger players who have already
gotten to know these songs from the film and will make them feel as though they are an actual game of the movie now, taking the
controls of their beloved Lightning.
Everything in the game seems to balance out between the game’s strengths and weaknesses, which puts “Cars” right on the edge of
the “good, not good” category. The final decision rests in the hands of the player, and it will depend on what they like to see in a game.
With a mix of game play and production value in this game, it may be a difficult decision on whether to buy or not. Players will get an
above average licensed game that puts players in the driver’s seat of a beloved Disney character. On the other hand, there is a lot to
complain about the controls and the whether this is really an open ended world. For those looking for a solid racing game for kids, this
would be a great purchase, but for those looking for some serious racing action, stick with the Nascar franchise. Hopefully other
developers of licensed games will take some notes on what “Cars” offers and work towards a higher quality licensed game in the
future.
produce terrible final products when it comes to production value and overall game play. Unlike the majority of the top level games on
the shelves, licensed games either succeed or fail because of the specific license it represents, not necessarily the quality of the game
itself. Some may wonder why games to be continually created for certain franchises while they may not be as popular anymore. The
simple answer is money. However, when a game like “Cars” is released and attempts to steer clear of what past licensed games
have done, it will catch the attention of gamers.
The game focuses on a single Story Mode that holds a large majority of the game play, having a recreated Radiator Springs from the
movie as free roam hub for activity. From this main hub players can interact with many of the characters from the film and accept races
or challenges to progress the story with the ultimate goal of competing in several Piston Cup races, which are similar to Nascar events
in the Disney world. The story for the game is told by using recreated scenes inspired from the film, though the game’s storyline is non-
linear in form, players can do things in the order they want.
Since the main gaming element of “Cars” is obviously driving, the core game play dictates the appeal of the game. There is a huge
world to explore and many events make the game more fun, but all of this is lost if the overall drive controls don’t work perfectly. Though
the controls aren’t terrible, and they don’t ruin the game by any means, they could be much tighter. The game play is based on very
simply controls, focused mainly on acceleration, braking and drifting, along with the ability to jump off the ground and use some added
moves as a bonus. When Lightning’s middle name, speed, comes into question, the game feels very slow overall and the drifting is
another control issue.
A slippery feeling, such as that of “Mario Kart” or “Burnout” would have worked a lot better in this game, and the game seems to be
grounded too much in reality, causing problems for a game that is supposed to be in a cartoon world. In addition to a drift that doesn’t
work extremely well, the braking is very difficult to handle at times, making it difficult to get into a drift in the first place. Players will try to
get into a drift, only to fail because it is difficult to manipulate the speed and direction of the car.
Another major issue players will find in the game’s design is in the free roam world. Since the game is based on an open ended
environment, most of the level design is done by creating boundaries within the area so space could be maximized. This has been
seen in a lot of games over the years. Many of the objects in the world are solid collisions rather than destructible, for example, an old
wooden fence that should splinter when hit will stop a player dead in their tread. Also, there are many areas and objects that should be
jumpable, such as small gates or ledges, that will often times have an invisible wall above them which can slow things down in the
game quite a bit, especially for those that may be trying to take a shortcut in a race.
The general racing aspect of the game is still pretty fun despite a few flaws in the game play, though the Piston Cup races don’t have
enough depth to make it seem valid to go around the track dozens of times in order to continue. The audio in the game, like most
licensed games, is going to have players either loving it or hating it. The voice acting in the game is from the actual movie actors, which
doesn’t happen very often, but games will appreciate it. Also, there is a lot of music directly from the film in the game, while remaining
true to the film, it isn’t a very strong set list for a racing game. This is a great set of songs for the younger players who have already
gotten to know these songs from the film and will make them feel as though they are an actual game of the movie now, taking the
controls of their beloved Lightning.
Everything in the game seems to balance out between the game’s strengths and weaknesses, which puts “Cars” right on the edge of
the “good, not good” category. The final decision rests in the hands of the player, and it will depend on what they like to see in a game.
With a mix of game play and production value in this game, it may be a difficult decision on whether to buy or not. Players will get an
above average licensed game that puts players in the driver’s seat of a beloved Disney character. On the other hand, there is a lot to
complain about the controls and the whether this is really an open ended world. For those looking for a solid racing game for kids, this
would be a great purchase, but for those looking for some serious racing action, stick with the Nascar franchise. Hopefully other
developers of licensed games will take some notes on what “Cars” offers and work towards a higher quality licensed game in the
future.
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