During my brief time as a rock star videogame journalist I've seen and written about a lot of strange things, but I never thought I would write a preview about one of THQ's Big Mutha Truckers games, nor did I ever imagine that it would be a sequel and said sequel entitled Truck Me Harder. However, I do love me a good play on words as well as a game that puts a different spin on the racing genre, and so here it is in all of its glory, the only thing standing between me and my recently jailed ma being the open road and a few crazy bikers.

If you've played the original Big Mutha Truckers (and aren't you the dedicated fan) or even Sega's 18 Wheeler you already know the drill. You're going to get the opportunity to hop into the seat of a big rig and barrel across this great country delivering cargo, smashing into things for bonus points, and earning money that can be used to purchase all sorts of stuff, though it's not all about the gameplay. Since THQ doesn't want to publish a shallow game it's decided to insert a story into Truck Me Harder, and while it's basic fluff, at the very least it'll help you understand why you're running this load of fertilizer up north.

You ma (Ma Jackson if you're nasty) has just been nabbed for tax evasion and the coppers have tossed her into the slammer. While awaiting trial, she contacts you from her cell (and I mean prison cell) and asks you to bust her out of the joint, though that's not what you'll be trying to do throughout the game. She's about to go on trial, get placed on the chopping block, if you will, and the only way to save her is to raise enough money to bribe all of the jurors (one of which is a raunchy and half-naked woman named Slits, of all names) as well as hire Cousin Jacob, a wheelin' an dealin' son-of-a-gun who just might be able to get ma off the hook. Unfortunately, both he and the jurors have a price and they're not cheap, and since you're broke you'll need to raise money the only way you know how, which just so happens to be through truckin. LOTS of truckin. So much truckin you might not be able to walk for a week...from sitting so long! Thus begins a most perilous road trip, full of angry motorists, pesky bikers, and plenty of shady characters.

You begin the game with some cash and in order to begin playing you'll have to buy a load for your vehicle, because you're not a real trucker unless you're carrying something somewhere. There are numerous things you can pick up at these special stores including hogs, diamonds, assorted electric gadgets, cheese, dynamite, and bottled water, and once you purchase some cargo you'll be ready to hit the road. The goal is to make as much cash as you possibly can, and you'll do this by earning up bonus points, selling stuff to the right buyers (there appears to be several spread across various parts of the map), and completing various missions which include but are not limited to ramming angry biker dudes off the road, making it to your destination before time expires, and protecting a UFO. As you increase your cash flow you'll be able to pay off the jurors, moving one step closer to winning ma's freedom.

In terms of personality this game is overflowing with it, but it does this at the expense of different types of Americans, all of which have been stereotyped, though with a name like Big Mutha Truckers 2 I was expecting lots of over the top humor. Three of the four playable characters are by and large the biggest country bumpkins that I have ever seen, but that appears to be what THQ and developer Eutechnyx wanted them to be. After all, the developers named them Bobbie Sue, Earl, and Cletus. As for the fourth character, his name's Rawkus AKA Dark Horse. I will say no more on that.

Each of them has different attributes and their own trucks, so the game's replay value will be quadruple if you desire to experience the game as each one. As for how it plays, it's definitely solid. You'll be driving a humongous truck and not a BMW, so they don't exactly handle too well. However, there's plenty to do, you'll have a radio station that plays licensed music by Willie Nelson, Puddle of Mudd, and John Fogerty, there's lots of stuff to buy (and you can actually upgrade your rig), and the varied scenery keeps things interesting. This is actually one of those games where one second you'll be driving in the desert and suddenly enter a snow-blanketed forest, then find yourself surrounded by palm trees, all in a matter of minutes. To its credit the roads are full of many twists and turns as well as branching paths, so you won't be stuck going the same way all of the time.

My next door neighbor has been asking me about this game for weeks so the series obviously has a fan base, though that's not too surprising since it contains plenty of sexual innuendo and violence, which is just what every growing 33 year old needs. Hell, at $19.99 it's almost difficult to resist. Big Mutha Truckers 2: Truck Me Harder might not turn out to be the greatest budget-priced game in the world, but if you love driving trucks, enjoy low brow humor, and have a twenty burning a hole in your overalls, October 24 can't come soon enough.