asically, Smuggler’s Run is a simplified Driver pulled away from the city and plopped down in the rugged backcountry. Instead of slick 70’s street cars, the player takes the wheel of just about every type of off-road vehicle with four wheels. The game features an SUV, dirt buggy, several pickup trucks, the zippy rally car, and the indomitable military jeep.

Vehicles vary in speed, acceleration, handling, and how many hits they can take. All the cars in the game miraculously self-repair themselves as you drive, but if your damage bar turns completely red, the car stalls for a few seconds which will lead to an automatic bust if the cops are nearby.

There is one primary goal on every mission of the single-player mode – get stuff and drop it off. The only real variety to the experience is how many friends, competitors, and cops are involved. Fortunately, the multiplayer games offer a larger variety of gameplay options and can also be played solo.

Technically speaking, Smuggler’s Run is the most polished Rockstar game I’ve ever seen and a tribute to Angel Studios’ talent. Driving the vehicles is a pleasurable experience, and the only thing that will ever surprise you is just how far down the ground is on the other side of that seemingly innocent bump you just hit.

There are three levels set in the mountains, desert, and a winter version of the mountains. Each has a variety of terrain types that affect the handling of vehicles, and each runs the full gamut of flatlands, rocks, mountains, cliffs, rivers, and lakes. Hitting the boundaries of each level is a rarity, unless you intentionally do so in the game’s Joy Ride mode, simply because of the incredible size of the environments and the crafty placement of goods and drop-off points.

The real keys to the game are learning to evade opponents who often have faster and hardier vehicles than you, and how best to move across the landscape. As entertaining as it is to make a straight beeline for the next piece of contraband and rocket over every bump at over a hundred miles an hour, it’s often better to choose your routes carefully and hug the terrain rather than bounce across it.

In closing, Smuggler’s Run is a great game. While it lacks the variety that might keep a lone player going to that fateful hour when birds start singing, the multiplayer experience is exciting and you never really get sick of moving through the terrain.  

KRISTIAN BROGGER   7 Smuggler’s Run is a game about time. As in – how much of it can a person spend before they’re sick of it? The answer for me was about 15 minutes. Granted, this is a PS2 game. The environments are ornately detailed, the vehicles are cool looking, and the sound is good – for the most part. As you’re tooling around delivering contraband, the voice of your contact person tells you to hurry up (most missions are timed) or that your driving sucks along with other vocal gems. For 20 seconds she’s entertaining, then she’s irritating, then she makes you want to shove a white hot needle in your eardrum as she repeats the same lame crap over and over again. The controls are decent, but the handling could stand to be loosened up a bit. SR is a game to take in doses. Too much of it will probably send you into controller-smashing tirades. If you’re sweet on the Dukes for PS-X, you’ll get a kick out of Smuggler’s Run.