Jeremy Clarkson's DNA?
Once of the most intriguing features of Juiced 2 and something which I believe may be a first in a racing game, is DNA. Any stat whores will be glad to hear that Juiced 2 have incorporated a system that will not only monitors our race results but will also analyse the way we drive; in short, it builds up a DNA profile which can be viewed as strands of DNA in the DNA lab and can be compared with other AI and online racers DNA. You're probably thinking, big deal, but there's a lot more to it than that. The DNA system will analyse three sections of your gameplay habits - circuit, drifting and gambling. These habits will then take the form of this DNA strand as well as statistics being displayed in table form. In turn, this will allow us to see where our own strengths and weaknesses lie as well as our opponents. Ultimately, this means we’ll be able to see the areas in which we need to improve, but online, DNA offers a new meaning. During matches we'll be able to capture a team-mate’s DNA and transport it into the AI of our offline opponents. (Rumour:: We also hear that marketplace content, including Jeremy Clarkson's DNA will be available for download). To the casual gamer this means that you could collect the DNA from a friend, transport it into the AI of your opponent and they'll then take on exactly the same characteristics during races. The feature will also apply to crew based racing meaning that you could use the DNA from 10 friends to make up your racing crew. You could argue that it's an unnecessary feature that some people won't find particularly useful, but it could be a valuable tool for training and practising against your friends, even if they're offline. Sure, it's never going to replace real friends, but it's as close as we’re going to get with today's technology.
Click for larger imageThe unique features, such as spectator gambling, DNA and the X-Ray tuning feature (I really do like that) prove that Juice Games are moving along with the times and attempting to innovate within the street racing genre. Here's hoping that Juiced 2 will live up to expectations when it hit stores later this year.
