Publisher: Ubi Soft
Ages: Teens & up
Parental
Advisory:
Reckless driving
A license with limited kid appeal, Ubisoft's Dukes of Hazzard: The Return of the General Lee offers an adequate driving game based on the old television series.
The game lets player slide into the General Lee car and race through the backroads of Hazzard County in a plot to halt the evil Boss Hogg's latest scheme. The game features the characters from the show that include Bo, Luke and Daisy, and the original actors lend their voices. As in the television show, the plot hardly matters. Players are simply racing around trying to outwit the dimwit Boss Hogg and his corrupt officers to save the local orphanage.
The game features some high-flying stunts that are reminiscent of those in the show. There's a decent single-player mode that serves a series of adequate missions, as well as two-player hot pursuit and destruction derby activities. We didn't care much for the drive physics, which seemed too touchy on the control side. The mapping function could use some work as well. We found it frustrating to refer to while driving.
The graphics are quite good and do an admirable job of evoking the environments and characters of the show. The game is fairly family friendly with only minimal violence, but reckless driving.
It's hard to imagine that there are lots of kids who know the original television show and will want to play this game. Middle-aged players who are fond of the original show may enjoy revisiting the Dukes of Hazzard world in a game. Otherwise, there are far better driving games on the market.
11/2/04 www.daytrum.com Editorial Staff
