Worst Game Ever? Gamespot doles out first 1/10

ixnay · January 15, 2004, 15:49

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/driving/b...trr/index.html

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Just how bad is Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing? It's as bad as your mind will allow you to comprehend.

You have to sign up with gamespot so you can stream the video review of it. It's absolutely hilarious how bad this game is, from the bad grammar (YOU'RE WINNER) to the numbers that don't line up with the interface, to the fact that the truck clips through everything, to the fact that the computer AI doesn't actually do anything.

Wow.

Adagio · January 15, 2004, 16:09

I haven't seen the video, but the screenshots looks hilarious

Space05us · January 15, 2004, 16:24

I have to buy it now, just to see how bad it is!

asleepathewheel · January 15, 2004, 16:27

looks very shareware, circa....1997?

I might have to pick it up for 5 bucks for a laugh

Japher · January 15, 2004, 16:32

Yaay!!!

Sarxis · January 15, 2004, 17:53

Is it really the first 1.0 GS ever gave out?

Jamski · January 15, 2004, 18:17

For those on dial-up :

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Bad games are released all the time, and some are worse than others. This is nothing new. However, it really takes a special kind of awful to be considered one of the worst games ever made. So when this special kind of awful makes an appearance, it's truly something to behold. Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing is one of those rare pieces of work. Not only is it almost completely broken and blatantly unfinished in nearly every way, but even if it weren't, there's so little of an actual game to be found here that it would still be terrible. Big Rigs is a game so astoundingly bad that it manages to transcend nearly every boundary put forth by some of gaming's absolute worst of the worst and easily makes it into that dubiously extraordinary category of being one of the most atrocious games ever published.

If the goal was to create the world's most broken trucking game, then Big Rigs is a resounding success.

Big Rigs' first and most grievous issue lies in its gameplay. Specifically, there isn't any.

In theory, Big Rigs is supposed to be a racing game based on big trucks that speed through various US trucking routes in some kind of effort to deliver cargo before the competition gets there first--or else the truck gets busted by the law. At least, this is what the back of the game's box would have you believe. Let us make it very clear that these statements are all horrible, horrible lies. There is no coherent goal in Big Rigs. There is no cargo to be delivered. There are no police chases. In fact, there really isn't anything much in the game.

The basic idea in the actual game is that you pick one from four vaguely different trucks and then one from five vaguely different levels. You then compete against another truck in a simple checkpoint race. That's it. However, Big Rigs can't even get this basic concept right. The supposedly computer-controlled truck you're supposed to be racing against in the game never actually moves. It's right there next to you at the beginning of a race, but it has no purpose in the game. This is to say, actually, that none of the game's races have a purpose because there's no competition and no time limit. You win every single time. So unless you especially like seeing a winning-screen over and over again that reads "You're Winner!", there is absolutely no point in playing Big Rigs.

But let's assume for a moment that the AI trucks actually worked, and you could get a race going. Even if this were the case, the game still wouldn't be worth playing in the slightest. Big Rigs' controls essentially involve hitting the arrow keys of the keyboard in the desired direction and nothing more. The game provides no support for peripheral controllers of any kind, and there isn't even an option to edit the default keyboard controls in any manner. Your truck also handles pretty horribly. There are no physics here. You accelerate much too quickly to even be minutely realistic (especially when going in reverse, which lets you go from around 0 to 60mph in about five seconds, continue accelerating infinitely faster, and stop on a dime the second you let up on the keyboard), you can travel over the most rugged of terrain without any problems (including nearly vertical mountains), and you can turn in ways that cause you to jerk around in some pretty ridiculous manners.

Of course, the controls would only matter if you actually had to worry about running into things or crashing your truck, which, actually, is a nonissue. You see, you can clip your truck right through every object on a race course in Big Rigs, from the biggest of houses and walls, right down to the smallest of lampposts. Furthermore, bridges evidently don't actually exist, despite the fact that you can see them--driving over any of them results in you sinking right through them. It is also quite possible to simply drive right off of the literal end of a level when playing. Considering the fact that you can drive over these tall, seemingly insurmountable mountains (at least, insurmountable for an actual diesel-powered truck), and there are no level boundaries, eventually you can just drive off into literal nothingness and can hang out there as long as you please.

Please do not play this game. We cannot stress this enough.

The graphical problems don't stop there, either. Big Rigs is easily one of the worst-looking PC game released in years. The truck models are amazingly terrible, with incredibly archaic-looking designs and brake lights that actually float off of the truck models. The four different environments all look bad, too, what with their incredibly nasty-looking textures, their ugly and meaningless set pieces, and their aforementioned clipping problems. Also, the reason we state that there are only four environments in the game, instead of the five we previously cited, is because we could only get four of them to actually work. When trying to load the fifth environment, the game simply quit and returned us to the desktop on all of the computers that we tried. As for the game's sound design, there isn't any. There are literally no sound effects in Big Rigs. The only sounds that present themselves at all are a few unpleasant, looping techno tracks, and on a midrange PC, we couldn't even get them to play.

Just how bad is Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing? It's as bad as your mind will allow you to comprehend. It is so disturbingly bad that even its budget price tag seems like a slap in the face. It really makes you wonder if the company that put out this dreck even took so much as a half minute to glance at the game that it was releasing. The game's readme file does assert that the game was thoroughly tested on various PCs, but the end result seems to suggest otherwise. The fact is, even if you tried, you couldn't play Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing the way it was seemingly intended to be played, and even if you could, you wouldn't want to.

I have to buy this.

-Jam

ravagon · January 15, 2004, 20:09

Believe it or not there's a reader review. I think its worse ...

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Our parents' generation witnessed the memorable, heartfelt, and technologically astounding moon landing of 1969. Their parents may possibly recall the horrors and treacherous slaughter of World War II, and the lessons learned thereafter. Our ancestors spent their days drawing triangles in the sand, seeking to fathom the complexities of mathematics. We, the children, bare witness to the next evolution of mankind. Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing has become, much like disease and poverty, a modern plague. Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing pays homage to truckers across the world, nay, throughout the universe. From the moment one is able to scrutinize this magnum opus, suicidal tendencies and emotional asphyxiation grip tightly to the player's soul. This powerful feeling subsides only once the infested PC is utterly destroyed, and the victim’s brain lobotomized until it is devoid of all conscious rationalization. Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing is not just the epitome of all the problems we face in today's society, but it is in fact the cause. Deplorable wars, horrific suffering, cancer, and bargain-bin victims are all the culmination of Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing. Talent, a word that has been hurled about like an abused hot potato, has finally met its antonym: Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing. If it were actually worthy of being identified as a game, Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing would certainly be the worst ever. Road closed. Do not enter. You’re winner.

And there's a patch! -

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This patch does hardly anything to resolve the variety of show-stopping bugs and gameplay issues plaguing this game.

Skanky Burns · January 15, 2004, 20:20

They actually bothered to release a patch?!?

Zopperoni · January 15, 2004, 20:24

Wow, this game is so bad that people (here) actually want to buy it.

Sarxis · January 15, 2004, 20:24

What is the price tag for Big Rigs?

Jamski · January 15, 2004, 20:29

Would YOU buy a game that looked like this?

-Jam

Jamski · January 15, 2004, 20:30

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What is the price tag for Big Rigs?

$20 at EB games :eeek!: http://www.grnetwork.com/pc/detail.php?ProdID=239494

-Jam

asleepathewheel · January 15, 2004, 20:43

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Originally posted by ravagon
And there's a patch!

If they release even one more patch, it will have been more support than MoO3 got from their creators. Sad.

MJW · January 15, 2004, 21:41

http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=207
That game is much worse.

BustaMike · January 15, 2004, 22:54

After looking at both of those, the trucking game looks way worse. It's not just about how the game isn't playable but about how every feature is broken

vovan · January 15, 2004, 23:13

The very first scene in the video review - one with the bridge was the greatest.

I almost fell off the chair laughing.

CapitanGarlic · January 16, 2004, 01:42

D:

I fear. Also, what's with all these 18 wheeler racing games lately? That in itself is scary.

Traianvs · January 16, 2004, 06:46

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/driving/b...eckprices.html

=> $9,99

child of Thor · January 16, 2004, 07:40

From the installer pop up for Thundra:

"IF YOU HAVE A PREVIOUS VERSION OF THUNDRA ON YOUR HARD DRIVE, THEN IT IS STRONGLY SUGGESTED YOU EXIT THIS AND UNINSTALL IT. CLICK ON UNINSTALL, AND UNFORTUNATELY YOU WILL SEE A COUPLE OF ERROR MESSAGES, THEN IT WILL SAY OU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY UNINSTALLED, HOWEVER, YOU MUST DRAG AND DROP THE THUNDEMO FOLDER IN ORDER TO COMPLETELY REMOVE YOUR PREVIOUS VERSION. This is something we are looking into correcting. AFTER INSTALLATION HAVE THE INSTALL SEND THE SHORTCUT TO YOUR DESKTOP! Be sure and read the THUNDRA DEMO DOC! You will need the information in order to properly play the game, ESPECIALLY if you have previously played THUNDRA. If you experience any problems, email us at: spungulas@odyssey.net We will get back to you PRONTO! We want you to enjoy THUNDRA! Be sure to accept the default installation directory of: THUNDEMO or the game will not function properly. Thanks for downloading THUNDRA."

That is scary!

Still at least the really bad review for 'Big Rigs' will get it a few sales, maybe its gonna be a way to attract attention to a title in the future?

Sarxis · January 16, 2004, 13:00

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Originally posted by child of Thor
Still at least the really bad review for 'Big Rigs' will get it a few sales, maybe its gonna be a way to attract attention to a title in the future?

It certainly worked for MoO3.

Zopperoni · January 16, 2004, 14:23

I just checked out the developer's website:

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We strive is to provide our clients with best of gaming technologies and cut their development expenses, allowing them to concentrate on product rather than on technology hustles of development. We are capable of doing large scale sophisticated technological projects, utilizing the best technologies and guarantee customer satisfaction.

[...]

The highest technical caliber of Stellar Stone developers coupled with low offshore Russia-based engineering costs gives us sustainable competitive edge to employ more and higher quality engineers than a typical US company can afford, staff up projects faster, put more developers on a project for a better gameplay value and graphics visuals.