A Review: 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker, PSTwo 2000

The third and final review I'll be posting today is for the PlayStation Two game 18 Wheeler - American Pro Trucker.


18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker is an arcade-style truck racing game developed and published by Acclaim. This is a game that I played a couple of times in an actual ride-along arcade unit when I was a kid. I had no idea that a port to home consoles had even been considered, let alone actually done. This is due to the inherent limitations of arcade games and the fact that they are short by design. No matter, I found a copy online, downloaded it, and made a playthrough, and boy, was this a short game.

18 Wheeler is a game that was originally developed by Sega for their AM2 arcade cabinets and was later ported to the Playstation 2 and GameCube by Acclaim Entertainment. SEGA followed up the arcade success of this game with a sequel, The King of Route 66, which was released in 2002 on arcade units before being ported to the Playstation Two and SEGA Dreamcast. This was the last title that was to be released for the Dreamcast before SEGA turned into a third-party developer, following a string of financial issues. Play is fairly straightforward, with the player taking control of a driver from a small lineup and then racing against computer opponents and the clock to make deliveries across the width of the United States of America. Before unlocking the next route, selecting the value of the goods to be hauled, and then doing it again.

I found this game to be quite fun and somewhat of a hoot at first, but the harsh time limits had me frustrated by the end of my playthrough. That and the controls are really sluggish and struggle to keep pace with the player. Most likely due to a loss of 'translation' between a cabinet's steering wheel and a home controller somewhere in the game's coding. I will also completely agree that this game is stupidly short, with only four stages total. The only thing that seems able to extend its longevity is the hope that the player will just restart the game again and again or try to beat their own times and profits. I honestly sat expecting this game to last me at least a few days, but I had it done in a single five-hour session. I mean, it's okay to mess around on for a few hours or to play through a few 'runs', but there is no real content to be found and unlocked.

The graphics aren't at all pretty for this game, and honestly, they looked much better behind a worn, cloudy piece of perspex. The models are all harshly squared, blocky objects, with the colours looking washed and smeared. The backs of almost all the objects in this game are just blank black, with the text and writing on the front being blurry and hard to read. I did think the trucks looked okay; you could possibly match them to their real-world inspirations, or at least I could. The world looks like a knockoff of Crazy Taxi with a less over-the-top color palette chosen, except for the signs and breakables, in my opinion. Out on the highway, the backgrounds look stretched and pulled to fit, with the other vehicles and such being very basic, almost like placeholders. The interface is ugly and is something of an eyesore, with the directional arrow being one of the worst I've seen in a game. The animations were okay but very basic, and at times this was to the detriment of the game as a whole.

Overall, I found this game to be very lacking, but I guess it's okay if you just want to mess around for a few hours and you're bored out of your own skull.

4/10 – could've Been Better!

Signed Off – Leonardo – PSJ