Redneck Rampage: Suckin' Grits on Route 66

Tell me you're joking

One thing that drives me nuts about the computer gaming business is the way that every company out there milks their customers for all that they're worth. Case in point: the Build engine. Sure, Duke Nukem 3D was a blast, and so was Blood, as a matter of fact. But guess what, guys? It's 1998 now. It's been more than a year since Quake set the standards for the 3D shooter. It's been more than a month since Quake II re-upped the ante. It's over. So it doesn't exactly impress me that there's now an official, Interplay-distributed add-on pack for the Build engine-based Redneck Rampage. I wasn't exactly a fan of the original game, it being repetitve and heavily dependent on that one-note joke, but since it came out in early 1997, it wasn't completely execrable. Seen in the light of early 1998, however, it is. And the aforementioned add-on, titled Suckin' Grits on Route 66, does nothing to change my mind. It's just more of the same old, same old that we've all seen way too much of. Now that you know where I'm coming from, skip on down to the bottom for all you need to know about this title. Seriously. I might have a duty to write this review, but you really shouldn't waste your time reading it. G'wan.

Okay, so you're not joking

Still here? Well, if you really want to know more, then here goes: Suckin' Grits is a cheap add-on to Redneck Rampage that requires a full install of the original to play. It consists of twelve new levels developed by a company called Sunstorm Interactive. The pack is sold under the Interplay label, though, with the apparent approval of the Redneck Rampage developer, Xatrix Entertainment. Unfortunately, none of that proves to be any guarantee of quality.

First off, the title is misleading. Don't expect to be taking good ol' boys Leonard and Bubba up fabled Route 66 with any sort of underlying story pushing things along. All the levels are completely unrelated, and the highway theme seems to have been dropped in at the last minute by somebody at Interplay who wanted to give the impression that there was some design behind this add-on. And except for brief roadside 'rest stops' where we get to see Bubba whizzing against the side of the duo's pickup, there wasn't. The only thing that really connects these levels (aside from repetition and inanity) is a loose roadside attraction/tourist trap theme. One level might take you to Jake's Gator Farm and Carnival of Terror, another to Billy Bob's Mini Golf Park, yet another to the World's Smelliest Flea Market. Unfortunately, though, there's not enough variety to set them apart from each other. Most of the textures and sounds are simply ported over from the original game, so it's very hard to remember whether you're currently wandering through the brewery level or the slaughterhouse. You wander the same old wooden halls, shoot the same old enemies who shout the same old lines, and collect the same old keys. Wake me when it's over.

There's also some serious mirror clipping on a couple of the levels. And with my system specs, with this old an engine, that just shouldn't be happening. Perhaps other systems might not have this difficulty, but I certainly did, and it was serious enough for me to think that Interplay shipped Suckin' Grits with the bugs knowingly present. Very disappointing, but about what I would expect from a company that forces its customers to sit through an FMV preview of Secret of Vulcan Fury every time one of their recent products is installed.

Hey, you're not laughing

But the very worst part of Suckin' Grits is, just like the original game, it's incredibly annoying repetition. There's really just two bad guys --- the fat hillbilly with the shotgun and the geezer with the pistol --- and the prospect of killing them something like 25 times apiece each level didn't exactly inspire me to boot up. Other enemies, like the turd monster thingies and the alien vixens with the 'teat guns', never seemed to be used enough for variety or to give a level some special character or flavour. Then there's also the 'humour'. Initially, I thought the idea behind Redneck Rampage was funny, too. Then I played the game. All you get is one joke, hammered at over and over and over again. These guys are hillbillies! They're morons! Geddit? Geddit? Not that I expected the add-on to be suddenly funny, but hey, I think that it's worth noting anyways.

All you need to know

One word: shovelware.

Review By GamesDomain