Posted Oct 04, 2006 at 01:53PM by Jex H. Listed in: Previews, Excite Truck, Games Tags: Wiimote, Canada, Fiji, Mexico
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excitetruckGiven that Excite Truck is a racing game, you guys would probably want to know more about how fast you can actually speed down lanes. We can't tell you exactly how fast (are we talking mph here?) but what we can tell you though is how the Wiimote will enhance the good old racing genre via the Excite Truck experience.

After you get past the absurd title for the game (shouldn't it at least be ExciteD Truck? Or maybe that's just us?), you'll soon realize that it brings back a lot of childhood memories with its bicycle counterpart Excite Bike. But before we start going down memory lane and drift off to Nostalgia County, let's get back on track (pun intended) with Excite Truck and its controls.

First off, to play the game, you'll use the Wiimote turned on its side and held horizontally, like your conventional controller. The 1 and 2 buttons function as your brakes and accelerator (respectively) while you just let your left thumb sit on the D-pad.

Now, instead of using the D-pad (which, by the way, activates your boost for jumps, etc.) to steer, all you have to do is tilt the Wiimote left and right like a steering wheel. A bit of caution in steering: the Wiimote is unbelievably sensitive. Swinging it left and right, as you would a steering wheel, will only make you slam into walls. Sadly, there are no customizable sensitivity settings, which would have made steering easier.

The game features extreme courses set in Mexico, Fiji, Scotland and Canada, that are loaded with ramps to skyrocket you into the air. And that's all good, but if you wanna go crazy and jump higher, simply twist the controller towards you, and this yanks the front of the truck upwards. And when we say high jumps, we mean HIGH. As in high enough to clear huge stretches of forestry and reviving your megalomaniac tendencies that you've actually defied gravity.

While airborne, simply tilt the remote backwards and forwards to align your wheels with the ground below. Perfect landings earn you free boosts, which will automatically send your truck rocketing forward. This is basically what the game is all about: jumps, boosts, crashes, and landings -- all of which will earn you stars, which in turn determine who will be crowned as the winner. You earn stars for winning races
(50 for the winner, 25 for second place and so on), but most of the stars you really get to snag by driving like mad. And with the two-player mode in check, it's a guaranteed one helluva chaotic ride from start to end.

excite 2


And to make the game even crazier, there are large icons dotted around the courses which, when collected, will trigger changes in the terrain you're on.
So even while racing, you'll see the ground morph into hills or quarries that you have to zip through. And these changes get even more outrageous with more extreme icons you collect: erupting volcanoes, spitting rocks, giant tornadoes, you name it. You'd want to pay attention to these icons because grabbing them can also be used to hinder your enemies' progress.

Reggie was right when he said during E3 that Excite Truck will put you behind the wheel of a "big damn truck" 'coz really, we couldn't have put it any other way. With the jumps and crashes, it'll really test how chaotic you can get with just a four-wheeled big damn truck in your arsenal. The controls may need a little getting used to but once you get the hang of it, everything's all good. Perhaps a sensitivity setting?

We'll keep you posted for more Excite Truck updates before they give you control of the wheel on December 8.

Pre-Order: [Excite Truck]



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8 Comments


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   by Some Guy (Unregistered) - 2006-10-04
 » Cool

really excited for this game!

   by Unicycle - 2006-10-04
 » Get over it

(shouldn't it at least be ExciteD Truck? Or maybe that's just us?)

Yeah, it's just you. If you can't get over the name of a franchise that's been around since the NES days, you never will. *sigh*

The game played fantastically at E3 this year. I can't wait to see what it's become by the time of launch.

   by Mr Realistic (Unregistered) - 2006-10-04
 » This game looks like junk on a stick. Or worse.

I dub this game a "Pinball Racer", ie: you bounce off the sides left and right down the whole track and have little control over your vehicle.

Every demo I saw of people playing this they were all over the track and looked like idiots when their wiimote WAY over and under steered. End result is you bounce all over the place and it looks so stupid to control a driving game like that.

Anyone who buys this game is probably under 10 or over 60, buying it for someone under 10. What a peice of junk... Its a disgrace to even have the word excite in the title. Excite bike was way beyond this hunk of junk.

Honestly if they believe graphics dont matter and its all about control, they are in big big trouble cuz the control for this game looks straight up wiitarded.

Wiimote games are going to get old, fast. Its a novelty. Get over it and get a real system. I feel bad if Wii is peoples ONLY system. Its a nice peice of novelty junk along side a real machine like 360 or ps3 but by itself is boring. Have fun swinging your arms like an idiot 2 weeks after launch and looking at the gears of war and gta4 commercials.

   by Advertising -
   by Timmy A (Unregistered) - 2006-10-04
 » ...

I think your missing the entire point of Excite Truck, the game is meant to be fast and the controls are meant to be hyper sensitive. What this means is that it'll be a game that you will become progressively more skilled at as you play on. Once you get the knack for twisting the remote just before you land in order to set yourself up for the next corner, you wont be bouncing off walls and you'll also be having a blast doing it. It reminds me of Top Gear: Overdrive for N64, that was just as fast paced and relied on reaction and knowledge of the cars and the track in order to do well, it also made it the most exciting 2 player game I've played.

   by Nameless (Unregistered) - 2006-10-04
 » wha...? The sound of idiocy?


"Wiimote games are going to get old, fast. Its a novelty. Get over it and get a real system. I feel bad if Wii is peoples ONLY system. Its a nice peice of novelty junk along side a real machine like 360 or ps3 but by itself is boring." - #3, Mr. Realistic

What was that? Sorry, I couldn't hear you over all the bullsh1t.

I'm sorry to say, but Sony and Microsoft's camp don't look appealing to me. Just a lot of repetetive games. Same audience. Same style. Same games. Nothing new. So he can climb up walls that have edges that stick out beyond 6 centimeters? Sorry, I stopped watching monkeys at the zoo when I was around 8.

You're obviously a guy who doesn't know the definition of an "open mind". Does difference frighten you? Does change scare you? What are you doing on the Wii.QJ page? Just wanted the satisfaction of posting crap in the comments section in an attempt to fluster other people?


You're pathetic.

   by Mr Name (Unregistered) - 2006-10-04
 » I'm not pathetic, Excite Truck is

I am on the Wii page because I am waiting to see if any games might actually warrant a launch purchace of the Wii.

Guess What? Excite Truck sure isn't it. PINBALL RACER! Sorry, but thats what these comments are for, not just a bunch of praise and fanboysim, I can say it sucks if I want to. And it does, big time. Its a novelty.

Building games around a stupid tilt sensor is the dumbest idea I have ever heard of. Number 5 are you going to use the stupid "air steering wheel" that you pop the wiimote in and pretend to be driving. lol hee hee CONTROL is important not a joke like this disgracefull hunk of junk game makes it out to be.

Excite Truck, Great for 10 and under!

   by maru_mari - 2006-10-05
 » ExciteBicycle???

This is why I first wanted to post a comment, "...childhood memories with its bicycle counterpart Excite Bike." Did you actually play this game? I have very fond memories of this game too, and it never involved a bicycle. Things I remember are the engine overheating, the sound of the engine, and of course the custom track builder. I want to know where that is in the game??!!

Then I saw the other comments. Yeah, so the reason most of the footage out there looks like it has bad control is probably because it's the first time that person has actually held the controller. I played this game at E3 and can say theat the wiimote is very sensitive to the way you steer. It's also possible the terrain, mostly mud, can have a slicker surface than say dry dirt.

I believe the stupid tilt sensor contoller you are referring to the the sixaxis (did I spell that backwards?). The wiimote has motion sensing.

BTW I'm 29 y.o.

m_m

   by Nameless (Unregistered) - 2006-10-05
 » Riiiiight.


1) I'm probably not going to buy Excite Truck. I just don't buy racing games. Not GT4, not Ridge Racer, not Burnout, not Mario Kart.
2) If you don't like Excite Truck, DON'T BUY IT. Doesn't mean that Nintendo's Wii Remote is a failure. Saying so reveals a denial of open-mindedness and a refusal of change.



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