Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing
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| Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Stellar Stone LLC |
| Publisher(s) | Activision (2003) GameMill Publishing (2004) |
| Platform(s) | PC |
| Release date | November 20, 2003 |
| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone (E) |
| Media | CD |
| Input methods | Keyboard |
Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing is a racing game released for PC by Stellar Stone LLC in 2003. Due to its severe lack of functionality on release, the title has received universally negative reviews, with many critics referring to it as the worst video game of all time.
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[edit] Gameplay
The box of Big Rigs states that the player may "race trucks across the country, with cops chasing [them]." GameSpot's Alex Navarro wrote that this description of the game is nothing more than "horrible, horrible lies"[1], since there are no police in the game. Additionally, they pointed out, the computer-controlled opponent vehicles have no AI and never move from the starting position, making even the description of the gameplay as a "race" questionable.
There are technically no obstacles for the player to negotiate in Big Rigs, as the truck may freely be driven on and off roads without any loss of traction, up or down 90° slopes with no loss or gain of speed, through structures such as buildings and trees, simply falling right through bridges, and even out of the boundaries of the map into an endless grey void. When the player's vehicle is put into reverse, its speed will increase infinitely, but the truck will halt instantly when the reverse key is released.
Though there appear to be five courses from which to choose, only four of them actually work. A fifth, titled "Nightride", does not function, and selecting it simply quits the game.[1]
Upon completion of the race, the player is presented with digital representation of a large trophy and the text "YOU'RE WINNER !".[sic] The game occasionally fails to distinguish between whether the player is starting or finishing the race when they pass through the starting point, and so this congratulatory screen may appear within seconds of starting a game, ending the race before it even begins.
Stellar Stone released a patch that "fixes" some of the game's glitches. With the patch, the opponent does participate in the race, but stops before it reaches the finish line. The fifth map that caused the game to crash when selected was also fixed. However, the patch replaced the broken track with an exact mirror image of the first track.
[edit] Reception
Big Rigs received universally negative reviews with the critics considering it to be one of the worst video games, if not the worst, ever.
Thunderbolt Games stated, "I wish I could think of some redeeming factors for the game, but there simply aren't any" and gave the game a score of 1/10.[2] It was also featured on the X-Play "Games You Should Never Buy" segment. Morgan Webb, one of the hosts, described Big Rigs as "the worst game ever made," and refused to even rate it as their 1/5 rating system did not feature a zero score.[3] Netjak gave the game its first ever 0.0.[4]
Alex Navarro of GameSpot declared that Big Rigs is "as bad as your mind will allow you to comprehend."[1] Also it said in his review "Please do not play this game. We cannot stress this enough." In the special Halloween "Frightfully Bad Games" video, Navarro stated, "This game received the lowest score in the history of GameSpot, a 1.0. And by lowest, I mean it can't go any lower. We don't hand out zeros, but maybe we should have for Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing." His video review featured Navarro becoming increasingly distressed while playing the game, then silently walking to a street and lying down.
In GameSpot's "Best and Worst of 2004" awards, Big Rigs was given the "Flat-out Worst Game" award, despite the fact that the game was actually released in 2003. They said that they would use the "YOU'RE WINNER !" trophy as a symbol for the 'Flat-Out Worst Game' award from then on, but by 2005 a more generic logo was used.[5]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c Navarro, Alex. Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing for PC Review. GameSpot. January 14, 2004.
- ^ Wadleigh, Matt. Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing Review - PC. Thunderbolt Games. March 22, 2004.
- ^ Satterfield, Shane. "Games You Should Never Buy". X-Play (G4). March 23, 2004.
- ^ Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing review. Netjak.
- ^ "Flat-Out Worst Game". GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2004. GameSpot.
