CARS REVIEW ROUND UP
Pixar movie tie-in parallel parks into press' collective heart
Cars, which is out now on PS2, Xbox, Cube, PC, PSP, GBA and DS, has already garnered a strong fanbase in the mainstream press, scooping 8/10 from the Sun newspaper and selected as one of the “hottest games of July” by Orange Online; with the specialist games press even more enthusiastic. Tied to the forthcoming Disney/Pixar movie of the same name, reviews have universally praised the effective use of the license.
PGNx, deciding on an 8.5/10 commented: “It’s really like THQ took the film and made it into a game without losing the visual charm.” Similarly, 1UP, in their 8.1/10 review, seemed to agree: “As we’ve seen before from THQ’s partnerships with Pixar, you really do get the full-on movie tie-in experience from Cars. All of the voice talent from the movie is used, which makes it seem particularly authentic, and the car models are animated in a way that convincingly evokes the movie.”
Meanwhile, PLAY Magazine, awarding a score of 85%, picked out the quality of the game itself: “This is a real racer, and a really big racer developed by the reigning kings of the kind, Rainbow Studios, who worked closely with Pixar and all of the celebrity talent from the film… to create a companion game as high-performance as the movies it's based on.”
Wham, awarding a whopping 90% as self-declared fans of the game’s free-roaming nature, decided that the title is “one of the best kids games released this year, Cars gives kids exactly what they want: Tons of choices and tons of action.” And that’s kids of all ages, says 1UP: “Younger gamers will enjoy because they can just trundle around without crashing or waiting for loads and older kids will love because it allows them to explore a large area and find characters and items that they'll recognize from the movie.”
Not that Cars is just for the little ‘uns though. As 1UP reports: “It’s remarkably enjoyable for anyone with a fondness for Pixar's charming stories and Rainbow Studios' knack for nailing driving-game dynamics.” And UK site Spong.com supported that, its staff stating “it has been a bit of a draw around these parts, with grown men expressing a desire to have a thrash on the Arcade option at least.”
So, much like the film, there’s something for everyone. Look out for the Xbox 360 and Wii versions from new THQ studio - Incinerator Games - later on in the year.
