This game is Hydro Thunder meets Burnout with a twist (of your Wii remote), and it just works.

User Rating: 8 | Excite Truck WII
By zaphod_b | Review Date:
One look at Excite Truck and I immediately thought of Hydro Thunder. Not the mediocre console ports, but the amazingly hectic arcade racer. Having finally got my hands on it, I wasn't too far off. Excite Truck takes the same out-of-control feel and turns it up a notch, with the addition of several terrain changes throughout the track. Some of these changes are obstacles meant to knock your opponent, whether human or CPU, off track. Others will typically cause huge ramps to push themselves out of the ground, while others make rings appear which when driven through, offer up points in the form of stars. Collect enough stars this way or through performing aerial stunts, and you can unlock new trucks and allow yourself to progress to the next track or medal. There are four medals: bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. Each of these offers up between 4 and 6 tracks. While more tracks would have been nice, what is there offers many paths and power ups to help you improve your score and obtain more unlockables.

The replay value is further extended with a split screen multiplayer. This works rather well with few noticeable graphical or performance differences when adding another player. Some reviewers would tell you that there should have been 4-player split screen. With as much action and speed that is on screen, I believe this would have been a bit much for your standard definition TV and caused many visibility problems. The game does not have online multiplayer, but neither does any other Wii game at the moment, so this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

Control is handled slightly different from the other Wii racers on the market. You will hold the Wii remote sideways and turn it like a steering wheel, but with the buttons facing upward rather than back toward you. This feels somewhat awkward at first, but once you adapt to it, you will find that your vehicle follows it's movements very well. One exception is the spinning stunt, in which you hold down button 1 and tilt the controller back and forth. The resulting spin occurs in increments of 360 degrees, presumably up to 1080 and beyond, though I myself could never get past 720. You will find that this move is difficult to pull off at first, and accomplishing multiple spins in one jump is nearly impossible outside of the tutorial.

Graphically the game is better than most games currently available for the Wii, although they do leave room for improvement. Environments are somewhat muddy, and the trucks look good but their models are very simple. Water effects look crisp at first, but begin to flatten out upon closer inspection. This no doubt accounts for the Wii's ability to push this game into blistering speeds, however.

Sound will be a common complaint for many. If you do not have an SD card to add your own MP3 soundtrack, you will be subject to some of the worst guitar music in a game. That being said, you do have the option to turn it all the way down and crank up the stereo, and you certainly shouldn't let it deter you from playing the game.

Far from repetitive, ET is a frantically paced racing game that is truly easy to pick up but difficult to master. If this game looks fun to you from the videos and pics, I have no doubt you will enjoy it.

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