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Brevity
05-13-2003, 12:13 PM
Mini Cooper madness comes in the form of a licensed movie game.
By GameSpy Staff | 5/13/2003



All screenshots Developer: Climax Development
Publisher: Eidos Interactive
Release Date: June 30, 2003
Genre: Sports


• More Info About This Game

Funny how The Italian Job takes place entirely in the greater Los Angeles area. Sure, the big-screen action flick the game is based on dabbles in the boot-shaped country, but it's not until Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Seth Green and Mos Def hit the streets of Hollywood that the chase really begins.

Not to be confused with Take-Two Interactive's PSOne release from last year (which was translated from the original 1969 Michael Caine heist film), this Italian Job seems to be more capable in all arenas. Graphically, it's a sleek-looking racer. Each vehicle is dosed with reflection mapping, helping the cars shine as if they'd just rolled out of a hot wax bath. While not entirely photorealistic like Sony's awe-inspiring roadsters in Gran Turismo 4, the vehicles are instilled with enough polys to make this critic mutter, "Pretty damn good!" to the E3 goer admiring the game at a neighboring demo terminal.


Aside from the prerequisite Mini Cooper S and old-school Mini, there are nearly a dozen other rides to cruise around in: surveillance van, muscle car, armored transport, police cruiser, cable TV truck, rental van and a few others (obviously, none of which are officially licensed, as licensors were hesitant to be associated with former Marky-Mark poster boy Wahlberg … well, not exactly, but it makes for a good gag; U-Haul just wasn't too keen on promoting reckless driving, as each vehicle is destructible).

If you've spotted the trailer at your local cineplex, you might be asking, "Why the preponderance of Minis?" Well, as you accelerate at high speeds through Tinseltown -- not to mention bordering cities LA and Santa Monica -- spandex-tight spots are plentiful. Subway stations, storm drains and alleyways are common throughout the game, so the clown-car dimensions of the BMW-branded speedster comes in quite handy.


Glued to the game's storyline pretty closely, there are 15 missions of pure, breakneck driving. Yet, if you don't dig the linear nature of the Paramount picture, seven courses of death-defying stunts, ten exhilarating circuit races, and a two-player competitive mode are tossed in for good measure.

For the entertainment of film freaks everywhere, Eidos even smuggled clips from the movie, and interviews with the cast and crew, and Climax matched the big-screen bonuses with concept art, a developer diary and a “Create-A-Level” function (though, it's unclear how deep it is).

Roaring along at a brisk 60 frames-per-second, the only thing lacking in this Italian Job is a mail-in rebate for a date with feisty Ms. Theron. Though, I suppose sequels should always have something to aspire to.

From Gamespydaily