It's never a good sign when a game feels like a chore to play, but that's exactly how I felt with Street Outlaws: The List. Based on the Discovery Channel show of the same name, Street Outlaws: The List tries to immerse players in the world of less-than-legal street racing using the absolute minimum amount of effort.
Like the show, Street Outlaws: The List centers around an underground circuit of racers vying for a spot on the titular "List". Everyone gets together on what is known as "Race Night", where challengers attempt to claim a spot on the list by, you guessed it - racing. In the TV show, this is usually played out in a heavy-handed display of interpersonal drama that serves to build effective, albeit entirely orchestrated tension between the racers. One could argue that the show's appeal hinges on its ability to leverage this drama in order to make the audience care about the outcome of the races. However, the game does literally nothing to incorporate the show's razor-thin narrative into its gameplay.
Instead, Street Outlaws: The List focuses on the head-to-head drag racing from the show that, in this case, feels about as high-octane as a trip to the grocery store. Additionally, players can partake in an assortment of challenge modes that appear to have been shoehorned in simply to fill up the menu screen, or to break up the monotony of what would otherwise be 40 second bursts of actual gameplay.
The process is highly repetitive and not the least bit rewarding, or fun for that matter. The racing mechanics lack the depth necessary to carry a game that would sell itself on the idea that cars are the cornerstone of its experience. I knew from the get-go that something felt off about the game's clunky, unpolished, and seemingly lazy presentation - but after a few hours of tediously grinding through its Story(?) Mode, I was absolutely convinced that Street Outlaws: The Line was going nowhere fast.
Of course, it wouldn't be a game about souped up hotrods without a pronounced emphasis on customization, right? After all, the ability to tweak every aspect of your ride is half the fun and often times integral to its overall performance. I'm not sure that the makers of Street Outlaws: The List were aware that this feature would be something players might expect more from, because once again, they delivered the bare minimum.
Like everything else, customizations are a shallow and ultimately pointless endeavor. While the game might insist that changing out parts will alter your car's performance in a meaningful way, I did not find this to be true.
I should point out that none of the "actors" from the show do the voices for their digital counterparts, so that should tell you how much effort went into making this game the definitive Street Outlaws experience. Also, the graphics are an unflattering reminder of what PS2 games used to look like, which is somehow not even the biggest detractor from the game's overall quality.
Street Outlaws: The List might have made more sense as a free-to-play mobile game, because at least a licensed cash-in makes more sense in that context. However, there is really nothing here to merit a $40 price tag.
