You’ve seen them chugging along the highway in the far right lane hauling cabs full of goods to fuel the economy.  Perhaps, when you were a child, you’ve even pulled your elbow down, fist clenched, while staring them in the eye in hopes of hearing the bellowing horn from their tireless chariots.    These modern-day cowboys are the unsung heroes of the open road, and Acclaim Entertainment brings their story to the Nintendo GameCube. 

The life of the American truck driver is often seen as a slow sluggish struggle across the deserted two-lane highways of the United States.  Acclaim has spiced up this misconception in Eighteen Wheeler: American Pro Trucker and turned it into an all-out haul to the finish line.  Sadly, Eighteen Wheeler runs out of gas quickly and has all the personality of a pair of dirty mud flaps. 

Four truck drivers are at your disposal at the onset of the game.  The trademark well-rounded All-American male, the mandatory attractive female, the burly tough-as-nails behemoth, and the token afro-donned African American.  Each driver is paired with a semi that fits their personality and is rated in three categories: Speed, Toughness, and Torque.  There doesn’t seem to be a good balance amongst the drivers, as some are clearly better than others. 

Three modes of gameplay allow boredom to run threefold.  Score Attack is simply doing laps and trying to run into bonus cars to accumulate high scores.  After the first lap, one begins to wonder, “What’s the point?”  The parking mode is slightly more fun than it sounds, actually proving to be difficult at times, but yields little rewards.  Moving the cab into the designated parking areas on treacherous mountain cliffs races the pulse for a few seconds, but a successful parking job only grants the driver the chance to park again in another spot.  A very unemphatic “Whoopee.”  Arcade mode is the real story in this game.  Select a trucker and take him across the country, from New York to San Francisco via the South, in four stages.  Preventing the driver from making the journey is the infamous ticking clock.  Nothing groundbreaking about the racing scheme in 18 Wheeler; pass the checkpoint, gain more time.  Bonus time cars can be destroyed by ramming them for an additional three seconds, and are vital to successfully completing the stage.  Shortcuts pop up every now and then, and the occasional natural obstacle, most entertainingly a tornado, makes driving slightly more difficult.  Making the journey with you is a rival trucker who talks trash across the CB, yet beating him is not the object of the game.  If you do beat him to the finish line, however, you are rewarded with a parking bonus stage.  Upon successfully completing the bonus stage, a special part for your truck is awarded.  What do these parts do?  Very little, if anything.  The game is over in a short 4 stages, meaning the average gamer can complete the game in less than an hour… not exactly your fifty bucks worth. 

18 Wheeler’s strength is clearly its graphics.  Unfortunately for Acclaim, the graphics are nothing to toot your horn about.  Rural landscapes remind me a little too much of arcade classic Outrun, and environmental detail is minimal. 

The sound of 18 Wheeler is below average.  The rumbling engine of the truck is ample, but the music and the commentary are atrocious.  When the commentator in a skin-of-your-teeth racing game advises you to not get caught speeding (which is impossible), you know very little thought was put into the soundtrack. 

Gameplay: 4

Four short stages of trivial driving and the game is beaten.  Score Attack?  Parking Mode?  Not even worth attempting. 

Graphics: 6

Better than average, but little attention to detail.  A bit choppy at times, which hurts the frenetic pace of the game.

Sound: 4

Music is pathetic, commentary annoying.  Only pluses: the humming engine and the bellowing horn.

Difficulty: 3

A couple games and you’re a pro.  The game is shorter than Tom Cruise standing in a hole.

Concept: 7

A racing game involving big-rig trucks?  Fantastic!  These lumbering giants deserve a game.

Multiplayer: 3

Dull, dull, and dull.  Laps around a track in split screen mode.  Third person view (the preferred view for driving) is unavailable in multi-player. 

Overall: 4.5

A game should provide hours of entertainment, not minutes.  18 Wheeler may entertain younger gamers for a short while, but serious gamers should avoid 18 Wheeler like truckers avoid exercise.