360 Gamer has been granted the first look at Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights. You can’t make out the magazine logo in the grab to the right, as they’ve made it nice and shiny this month, possibly to celebrate their exclusive. I like shiny.
The subtitle originates from the infamous auto show that travels around America with hot cars and buxom babes in tow. Think along the lines of Max Power, only with less chavs and poorly jazzed up Novas. Naturally the visuals have been given a massive overhaul – there are now more polygons in one alloy wheel then there were in an entire vehicle in the original Juiced. The 33 race tracks are set over eleven locations – including Trafalgar Square and a Roman Coliseum – while the vehicle roster currently stands at 92 – double that of the original. There will be no Porsche or Ferrari cars though, as the licenses for those would have cost the earth. Cheapskates.
Now here’s the good stuff – firstly, each car will have a viewable history. If you sell it online or lose it in a pink slip race then the next owner will be able to see its full history, from how many races have been won in it to how much cash has been blown on spare parts. More interesting though is that when playing online up to 1,000 people can watch and bet on other races. The player can even see how much is being waged and how many people are pining their hopes on them finishing first.
Then there’s the ‘DNA system’ – during races ‘DNA evolved’ will appear on the screen every time you make an improvement in, say, cornering or drifting. You can then visit the DNA lab to view your strengths and weaknesses and also compare your DNA strands against others. Offline races are promised to be more tactical too, due to the inclusion of a ‘spook meter’. If you get in an opponent’s slip stream for a certain period of time then eventually they’ll become ‘spooked out’ and may suffer handling problems or spin out.
The magazine doesn’t mention any other formats but it’s a given that it’ll appear on PlayStation 3 too. A September 2007 release date has been mooted.