Hazzard A Race

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday May 27, 2000

Kevin Cheung

Relive the thrills of the '80s hooning around like Bo and Luke in the General Lee, writes Kevin Cheung.

Dukes Of Hazzard

Runs on: PlayStation

Price: $79.95

Classification: M15+

Rating: ** 1/2

The Dukes of Hazzard is sure to be the first in a long line of games that will appeal to twenty- and thirtysomethings nostalgic for the good old days, when it was cool to get into your car through the windows and scream "yeehaw" as you sped along.

Southpeak Interactive has done a fine job translating the country town adventures to video -game form. As Bo and Luke Duke, you drive the iconic General Lee at breakneck speeds through the countryside, evading capture by the inept Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane by making that trademark jump over the river. Of course, you'll have the help of supporting characters like Daisy and Uncle Jesse.

The game is essentially a dressed-up rally-style game, where each level provides you with one or two objectives like "get to the race on time" or "rescue Boss Hog". Played for a long time the game gets repetitive because of the simplistic track designs. The option to use bows and arrows, turbo-chargers and oil slicks alleviates the problem a little, but only enough for fans of the show who will appreciate the in-jokes and four-wheeled mayhem.

Endgame: Hardened racing fans will find Dukes of Hazzard a shallow experience. However, the captured essence of the TV show will please the fans.

Testing 1-2-3

PC games are tested on a Gateway 1000 with a 1GHz Athlon processor,128MB of RAM and a 32MB nVidia GeForce 256 video card; and a Gateway 800 with a 650MHz Athlon processor, 64MB of RAM and a 32MB nVidia GeForce 256 video card. Want us to review a game? Contact games editor

Kevin Cheung, kcheung@mail.fairfax.com.au All testing is done on finished games, not on beta versions.

Icon's top five upcoming games

1 Deus Ex (PC) - a high-tech, super glossy and highly intellectual first-person shooter.

2 Vagrant Story (PlayStation) - a unique and epic-looking RPG from Squaresof, hailed as its best work since Final Fantasy VIII.

3 Perfect Dark (Nintendo 64) - long-awaited action-thriller from the innovative team that brought us GoldenEye.

4 Colin McRae Rally 2 (PlayStation, PC) - car rally simulation.

5 Star Trek: Elite Force (PC) - first-person shooter using the Qke 3 engine where you engage the Borg.

© 2000 Sydney Morning Herald

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