American Chopper (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.5 stars OK
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 5.2 (2.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Erik Wolpaw
• Reviewed on: 01/04/2005
• Released on: 12/22/2004

It's possible that there's a great idea for a game buried somewhere in the Discovery Channel's hit reality TV show American Chopper. Each week the Teutul clan's members, Paul, Paul Jr., and Mikey, scream at one another while working against the clock to design and build a custom chopper. If there's a decent game to be wrenched out of this concept, however, Activision's American Chopper isn't it. Lacking both the volatile charm and the compelling technical details of the series, it's little more than a halfhearted racing game that features some appearances by characters and from locations you've seen on TV.

You'd think a game based on a TV show about building custom choppers would focus on, say, building some custom choppers. Well, in this case, at least, you'd be wrong. A bike-building thread runs through American Chopper, but it's so simplistic and disconnected from the rest of the game that it feels like an afterthought. At the end of each chapter, you get to add a couple of parts to your bike. For instance, your first two decisions are between solid and skinny front ends and a chromed or ribbed motor.

Are the differences between the available equipment purely aesthetic? The game doesn't say, and since the parts don't feature any relevant stats, the choice is completely guesswork. You do eventually get to show off your custom bike, but given the game's license, there's no excuse for such a lame customization feature.

With bike customization firmly in the background, the gameplay is focused almost exclusively on bike riding. The game consists of 10 chapters with two detours to chopper shows in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Sturgis, South Dakota. Each chapter features five or six challenges, roughly half of which are optional. The other half of the challenges are required to be completed before you can unlock the following chapter. The challenges actually represent a pretty good variety of goals. There are straight checkpoint races, drag races (during which you must shift gears manually, regardless of whether you have the transmission option set to "automatic"), and some races against the clock. American Chopper also includes some strange racing games. For instance, there's a modified checkpoint race called a "poker race." At each checkpoint, you receive a card. Once you've hit five checkpoints and have collected a full poker hand, you can either return to the starting point to end the race, or you can continue hitting checkpoints (as long as there's time left on the clock) to get new cards. The winner is the racer with the best hand. Later in the game, there's a race type called motoball, which is kind of a frustrating mix of motorcycle racing and soccer.

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American Chopper (PC): $39.97

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