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Big Mutha truckers 2 is an 18-wheeler driving/racing game. Your reaction to that first sentence should pretty much have made the decision for you to keep reading or not. For those of you that are continuing on, let’s go.

Mutha Truckers is low class, redneck humor packed into a sub par video game with only cheese and over the top sex appeal to keep you coming back. The problem with that, is that the cheese is moldy, and the sex appeal can be found in countless other (better) games. The idea is borrowed from 19 Wheeler, the game that started the whole truck racing ‘craze’, but more directly borrowed from the first title in the series, which also wasn’t very fun. 

Mutha Truckers 2 is pretty much more of the same from Mutha Truckers 1, only with a few more things to do here and there. The story is different, but pretty much everything else is the exact same, save a few additions. Players now have to deal with alien attacks, complete sub-missions, make use of numerous shortcuts to make good time, and there’s more areas than before. I wouldn’t call any of them upgrades, but they are new.

As the story goes, the boss of our trailer trash heroes, Ma Jackson, has landed herself a comfy spot in jail for tax evasion. Somehow, though, she has a cell phone on her behind bars that she uses to direct her cronies with. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to bride six jury members so she can win her court case.

The story sets you up for the gameplay: Pick a character (which turns out to be very irrelevant), then use your truck to buy goods in one town and sell them in another for a profit, which is how you’re going to land all the money to bride those jury members. While you select said goods, you’ll have a handy chart that tells you the top bidders for the goods you’re carrying. The menu works pretty well for the most part, and is probably one of the more efficiently put together pieces of the game.

The goods you buy range anywhere from water to cheese, to dynamite and radioactive chemicals and everything in between. The more illegal the cargo, the bigger the payout. The illegalized runs tend to cause a bit of a disturbance in the local police force. Apparently they don’t like you trafficking illegal goods… pfft.

Cops aren’t the only thing that will get in your way during the course of the game. You’ll also come by boulders, aliens, bikers trying to steal goods from your truck, hobos that want a ride. Oh yeah, hobos.

The trucks you drive vary only slightly in their handling. They’re all big, awkward, and slow. Unless you have a special truck, or a nitro boost, you aren’t going to find yourself moving too fast. The controls for the vehicles is simple, and works pretty well, and while they physics are decent, they could be better. The gameplay is fairly repetitive, and offers little variation in terms of objectives, individuality between drivers, or really anything else past the actual focus of the game, which is driving a truck. Ooh.

Each time you get ready for a trip with some goods in your truck, you’re able to select a difficulty setting. The harder you choose, the higher reward. Same can be said for your speed. The quicker you are getting to your destination, the more money you make when you get there. If you get there on time, you earn a bonus and the option to win a parking bonus. If you don’t make it on time, however, all you get is… a fake option to win a parking bonus? What the hell?

The game doesn’t look overly pretty. The PS2 version specifically suffers from some graininess issues. Overall, though, the game is very simple, from the special effects to the animations. You’re paying twenty bucks for this game and it shows. There’s nothing terrible to see, but nothing spectacular, either.

The games audio fairs much better. The dialogue, while cheesy at best, is well delivered, bringing some personality to the game, as well as some charm. The soundtrack is very fitting, including some Bad Company, Puddle of Mudd, Willie Nelson and John Fogerty. The soundtrack sets the mood, and there’s even some pretty catchy songs in there.

You won’t find a complex, feature filled game in Mutha Truckers 2, but you will find some cheap laughs, should you be so interested. If you’re looking for the very specific brand of humor that the game is offering, you may find enough here to keep you interested for a weekend. Maybe.