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Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing

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Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing
The box for Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing
The box for Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing
Developer(s)Stellar Stone LLC
Publisher(s)Activision (2003)
GameMill Publishing (2004)
Platform(s)PC
ReleaseNovember 20, 2003
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single player

Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing is a computer game which is considered by many to be the worst video game of all time. The premise of Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing is that the player races a semi-trailer truck against one controlled by the computer whilst avoiding obstacles such as police traps and treacherous roads.

Gameplay

Contrary to this premise, however, Big Rigs involves none of these things. The game's box grandiosely proclaims that, in the game, the player may "Race trucks across the country, with cops chasing [him or her]." GameSpot considered this "description" to be nothing more than "horrible, horrible lies": there are, in fact, no "cops" at all in the game.

In addition, no proper racing occurs in Big Rigs, due to the fact that the computer-controlled opponent does not actually move. The player may simply guide the truck through the checkpoints and to the finish, and victory is virtually guaranteed.

There are no true obstacles in Big Rigs, as the truck may freely be driven on and off roads, over the steepest of hills and through structures (like buildings), all without any decrease in speed. The truck falls through bridges as if they don't exist, but this does not present a problem for the player because the truck is capable of driving on water at the same speed it does on land. In addition, the player's truck has no maximum speed; when it is put into reverse it will accelerate indefinitely. However, as soon as the reverse key is released, no matter what speed the truck is travelling at, it instantly halts. The truck is even able to turn when stationary. Put simply, in the game, the Laws of Physics are ignored.

Upon completion of the "race", the player is presented with a large on-screen trophy cup overlaid with the text "YOU'RE WINNER!". It has been reported that this screen may sometimes display at the start of the race, ending the race almost immediately; this is just one of the many glitches in the game which ruined it for many buyers. In addition, one of the five maps causes the game to crash when accessed.

In response to criticism of the game, its developers released a patch that alters the behavior of the computer-controlled truck. With the patch applied, the opponent does participate in the race, but stops before it reaches the finish line. The fifth map that crashed the game was also fixed.

Original product

It is believed that Big Rigs is an early, unfinished release of a Stellar Stone game known as Midnight Race Club: Supercharged, and that the game was originally intended to feature trucks, big rigs, motorcycles, and sports cars (all of which remain in the data files of the retail version of Big Rigs). The reason for this possible early release of the game is unknown.

In January 2004, Stellar Stone released Midnight Race Club: Supercharged. The game featured improved graphics, working driving physics, collisions, and a passable AI. Motorcycles, trucks, and cars were successfully implemented; big rig trucks, however, were removed, most likely in order to decrease similarities between MRC:S and Big Rigs. This did not prevent others from noticing that the game engine and track layouts were identical to those of Big Rigs and the game was a commercial failure.

Reviews

Big Rigs is the subject of a large number of negative reviews. Cheat Code Central wrote, "Imagine a racing game without a race. There is no time limit to beat and there is no one to race against. So what's the point?" and assigned 0.5 out of 5 points to its overall evaluation. [1] Thunderbolt Games concurred, stating "I wish I could think of some redeeming factors for the game, but there simply aren't any" and gave the game 1/10.[2] It was also featured on the X-Play segment "Games You Should Never Buy" and was actually described by Morgan Webb as "the worst game ever made."

Alex Navarro of GameSpot declared that Big Rigs is "so astoundingly bad that it manages to transcend nearly every boundary put forth by some of gaming's absolute worst of the worst and easily makes it into that dubiously extraordinary category of being one of the most atrocious games ever published." Navarro rated the product 1.0/10 ("abysmal"), the lowest score given in the history of Gamespot. Big Rigs was also given that site's well-known dubious award of "Flat-out Worst Game of 2004," despite the fact that the game was actually released in 2003. During April Fool's Day, it was recommended as a good game to look into. [3]

Cult status

Solely due to widespread criticism of the game, Big Rigs has developed a cult following, reminiscent of those of games such as Shaq Fu and movies like Manos: The Hands of Fate. A number of enthusiastic fans have formed a group known as the BROTRRers (a name based on an acronym of the game's title). This group formerly conversed on the GameFAQs Big Rigs message board, but, since all posts on this board must concern the game, the BROTRRers have moved to other boards to avoid the deletion of their messages for being off-topic. The highlights of this cult include a philosophy (Rigism), ten commandments (Rigmandments) and a Book of Rigism. Inspired by the game's victory screen, the BROTRRers frequently use the word "WINNER" as an adjective.

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