The Italian Job

Unlike some other driving games (most notably GTA) this one is fairly light-hearted and completely bloodless. The driver is given a series of small driving jobs in London and later (once enough points are accumulated) in Turin and the Alps. The more jobs completed, the greater choice of vehicles available for "free rides" in either city (including the famous 6-axle bus), at the player's option.

The graphics are fairly decent, and from an atmospheric and lighting standpoint I found the landscapes are surprisingly authentic (though don't expect any Matrix-quality visuals.) It's possible for pedestrians to get in the way, but they simply leap out of the way with one of several random oaths.

I think this game would be an excellent choice for some of the younger kids, though it is fun (and definitely addictive) for adults as well. My 6 year old son likes this game very much, even more than the shoot-em-up Comanche 4 helicopter game he got at the same time (as usual he picked up how to use both games effectively about 4 times faster than I did.) I run most of the jobs to earn new vehicles, which he then drives :-)

I found the driving fairly realistic, with expected variations between the different types of vehicles. On my Win98 PC, the software was completely stable, and has never crashed a single time.

About my only complaint with this game (other than some of the physics, including the impossibility of rolling over, a few graphics glitches, and as someone noted, the strange non-reactiveness of the Police to certain clearly wrong behaviours) is that the pedestrians in Turin don't automatically curse in Italian. For that to happen, you need to set the entire game to use Italian. Not much of a complaint, admittedly :-)

Players used to grimmer and more detailed games like GTA and N4S will probably find this one a bit on the light side (though I'd say it has a way of growing on a person.) I like the music and vocal accompaniments. There are also some indications that one or more folks at SCI have an eye for physical humour.

Well done, SCI.


Especially for lovers of the film   February 18, 2003
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

To start with let me say I love the original movie and I'm doubt the up coming remake will do it justice, unlike this game. It is simply great fun. Games like GTA although technically better, lack the humor that makes this fun to play. That said the graphics are more than acceptable and the controls are both simple and responsive. The Mini's behave just like my old one did, and for the price it is hard to beat. I would recomend getting hold of the original movie first or else some of the jokes will be lost on you, especially characters like Camp Freddie and Peaches.


The italan job   February 17, 2003
 2 out of 6 found this review helpful

first of all the graphics suck and there are a lot of gliches
(a glitch is a point in a game where you can see through a wall or see a person in mid air etc)the game play is good the price is the best. over all I would recomend a different game like grand thef auto three. the driving on the italan job is not reallistic and there are invisible walls were on free mode you will be driving and just stop and your damage will go up the citys are small espeshally the alps and when you hit a person they fly up like super man and come down and start walking .and the cops dont notice you if you drive in revers . so over all you should keep looking


It looks like Driver   August 8, 2002
 3 out of 7 found this review helpful

Yeah,i think driver in addition to this game,the style of the game and the interface like "driver".
The music is very fun that make me very happy when i playing it,not good graphics.
You are working with the italian mafia members,you doing missions,escape from the cops.
you will play in three cities not three tracks.you will play many games you can challnge or play crusie.
It's good game but not perfect.