So finally Juiced has arrived. Initially we were supposed to be playing this flashy racer a whole year ago but it was held back due to Acclaim's hugely documented and somewhat embarrassing bankruptcy. Thankfully, Juiced was saved when gaming giants THQ came stepped in, rescuing the Juiced brand. Sadly though, the delays have not only eaten away at gamers' anticipation of the title, but also put Juiced in direct comparison with smash hits Need For Speed: Underground 2 and Midnight Club 3, which have emerged to critical acclaim in the interim months.

There can be no doubting that the developers paid real care and attention in putting together Juiced - however, what stands out right from the beginning is that this a very competent arcade street racer, but little else. It has everything you'd expect from single races to expansive career modes but there's nothing there to make this game stand out from the competition. The problem is that the racing genre has seen some outstanding contributions recently and a divide is beginning to occur, which Juiced is sadly unable to traverse.

If you really want to test yourself in Juiced, the best mode of gameplay to go for is career. This is where you get to choose which cars to buy, race likeminded nutters around lethal city streets (betting on the outcome), customising or should I say 'pimping your ride' while being on the way to gradually earning respect from your rival racing drivers. You start your career by choosing a name (watch what you go for, as the game is programmed to not accept swear words), racing crew and mobile phone model (everything from Nokias to Vodafones). From the very outset you get challenged straight away to a race, for which you borrow a car. If you win this first race, you can head for the garage to buy your own set of wheels. At first there isn't really much choice but as you progress, more and more cars become available at the dealership. Pretty soon you can really chav yourself up with some of the fastest rides about town.

In the career mode you race as part of a team. Unlike other titles where your team members are pretty much pointless, Juiced really does bring your racing team's AI to the fore, so it's not just an afterthought. As you play, you can recruit free and very eligible racers to join your team and rake in the dough. In single entrant events you can take a breather and get one of your newly recruited drivers to take your place in the race to gain experience. On the downside though, there is no function to speed up or skip the race itself, which may have you watching CPU only races time after time to up your team skills. This is pretty darned poor if you ask me and in this day and age of computer gaming, a huge oversight by the developers. I mean, did they really think we'd love the in-game graphics so much we'd be willing to watch AI bots zipping around the track endlessly? As you continue in career mode, it moves along at a decent pace, with other racers challenging you to drag races and multiple lap knockout races. You can even enter properly hosted racing events but after a while it all just feels a little bit samey and you'll soon find yourself reaching for the TV remote to watch the last 10 minutes of EastEnders or whatever else is on the box [Surely it can't be THAT bad?! Ed].

The other interesting mode is style based racing, which depends entirely on your car being modified to the max. The customisation available in Juiced is okay but in no way outstanding. Perhaps a year ago when this game was supposed to come out it would've fared better in this respect, but what with all you can do on Need For Speed Underground 2, Juiced really does pale in comparison. You can still change everything on your car, from the brakes to the fender, and there are some neat designs and modifications on offer. Once your car is suited and booted, the racing style mode sees you driving around, performing various 360 degree spins, donuts and some fast and seriously dangerous moves. You've got to make sure your vehicle is customised enough, or you'll really struggle to get the high scores you need in this mode. After a few goes though, you might find it hard to really care. If a style mode is what you're after, I'd recommend getting in one of the Project Gotham Racing games instead, as it's infinitely better than the system in Juiced, which quite frankly lacks 'Kudos'.

As you'd expect, Juiced has ample multiplayer functionality and it's well presented, available in split-screen, system link and online format. On Xbox Live you can race both in custom and career modes, plus in career mode you can even race with your customised offline cars and teammates. It's really good fun racing against online competitors and the game engine holds up well, with no slowdown or reduction in the game's frame rate. This is where Juiced really plays well but it's all a little bit too late.

Graphically, Juiced does look admittedly sweet. At times the track design can be yawningly repetitive but the cars look pretty good, the sun shining off their pristinely polished, obscenely huge bodywork. The whole game runs very smoothly and there isn't any background pop-up or pixelisation to speak of. The in-race camera and replay camera also work well. The sound is good too, there's the usual ream of tunes from some of the recent chart topping bands, with a funky blend of hip-hop, rock'n'roll and R'n'B - nothing hugely impressive though. The cars do sound cool however, rasping angrily through oversized exhausts and spluttering as they slow down on the tight corners.

So, how do I score this one? Juiced isn't exactly a bad game, it's just not that good either. Sadly, the delay to its release has made Juiced the successor of several truly great racing titles, when it should have been a predecessor, resulting in it coming up without all the goods. Whilst it plays fine and does everything you'd expect from a good racing title, it could have done a whole lot more. Hopefully when Juiced 2 comes out, if they do in fact make a sequel, it'll tick all of the boxes left glaringly empty first time around. If collecting every racing title in existence is your thing, buy a copy of Juiced. If it's not, pick up a copy Need For Speed: Underground 2, Midnight Club 3 or Burnout 3 instead.

Reviewed by Ross Alexander for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).