Home > Reviews > Xbox > #579

The Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the General Lee Review - Xbox

Dukes of Hazzard is a racing game at heart. It follows the life of two rednecks living it up in the heart of America where all of George W Bush's fans live. They may not have brains, but they have their pride and it's up to you to steer them in the right direction as you fight to save an orphanage. It may not be the best racing game on the Xbox, it may even be hard to class it as a racing game, but Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the General Lee is indeed a game, and therefore it must be reviewed.

The Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the General Lee is a poorly made racing game that possibly wouldn't of been published if it wasn't for the famous voices doing the speech, and the professional writers that wrote the storyline (obviously). The graphics, gameplay and sound are irritating and almost unbearable in most cases. At the start of the game you're thrown into a junk yard and you have to look for parts for your car. They are marked with a ring of flags (as is everything you must reach throughout the game). After collecting them you must find your way out of the junk yard and then the game properly starts.

Although there's an evident storyline to support the game, there's no real feel of structure and progress as you drive around the dirt tracks and highways of The Dukes of Hazzard. Driving to and from missions is almost as pointless and boring as a year eight ceramics class as there's no pedestrians, and next to no traffic. When you do come across traffic however, it's almost like they're stuck on a rail when you crash in to them as you immediately stop and they often just keep driving like they didn't notice a car smashing into their side. There are police, and they can bust you easier than a belt buckle after a kilogram of ribs which makes for some really unpleasant events as you get caught near the end of a gruelingly boring mission.

While driving along, your buddy talks to you in the passenger seat. He'll tell you where to go most of the time, and also say some fairly interesting stuff from time to time. Also you'll have some advice coming over presumably the radio, with information on your next missions, or side tracks. If you press the white button, you will yell out 'YEEHAH!' and 'WOOHOO!' The black button activates your horn, which for some reason if you press while going over a stunt jump you get extra points, however if you press the white button which is seemingly more interesting, then you get nothing.

Handling is a bitch. It will get you more frustrated than the 2nd half of Halo: Combat Evolved gets repetitive. More often than not, the car spins (continued next page)