The Game With The Most Broken Physics EVER
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VOICE OVER: Riccardo Tucci
WRITTEN BY: Nathan Sharp
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we're looking at the game with the most broken physics ever. For this video, we'll be looking at “Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing,” a video game that hilariously defies every single law of physics known to man. It is widely regarded as one of the worst games of all time, and in this video we'll break down what went wrong and why this game is such an unplayable mess.
Script written by Nathan Sharp
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re looking at the game with the most broken physics ever.
For this video, we’ll be looking at “Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing,” a video game that hilariously defies every single law of physics known to man.
To understand why “Big Rigs” is so infamously awful, we have to understand the development process behind it. There was a company based in Santa Monica called Stellar Stone, and they had bought a game engine called Eternity from a man named Sergey Titov. They used this game engine to build “Big Rigs” and outsourced development of the title to Ukrainian developers. “Big Rigs” was made entirely by third party developers in Ukraine and published by an American company called GameMill Publishing. Contrary to popular belief (and the game’s own credits), Titov had no creative input into the game itself - the Eternity engine was his only contribution.
The problem was that GameMill originally wished to publish a single racing video game, but possibly seeing money signs, they decided to split development and make two racing games - these in turn became “Midnight Race Club” and “Big Rigs.” Unfortunately, splitting development almost never works, as there simply isn’t enough manpower and time to create a solid, well-running game. See also, 2006’s infamous “Sonic the Hedgehog,” which was co-developed alongside “Sonic and the Secret Rings”. This is exactly what happened to “Big Rigs,” and it was ultimately released in a pre-alpha, horribly buggy, completely unfinished, and utterly broken state.
So now that we understand the reasoning behind its quality (or lack thereof), let’s dive into the game itself! “Big Rigs” is a racing game. The point of the game is to race your big rig truck against a computer opponent through various truck routes. The game also promises the involvement of police, but they’re nowhere to be found. It sounds like an interesting little spin on the genre, and the various truck routes could have proven both interesting and physically engaging. At least, that’s what the game should have been. What it actually was was something else entirely.
Where to even start? Let’s begin at the most basic and obvious - the driving itself. For one thing, the opponent didn’t drive. Seriously, the AI truck just sat idled at the starting line, allowing you all the time in the world to complete the race. This was obviously patched after release, but the result was no better. Now, instead of not starting, the AI truck never finished; it just stopped before the crossing finish line.
And as for you? Well, there is no stopping you. Literally. The game has a complete lack of collision detection, allowing your truck to phase through any and all objects, including the opposing truck and even entire buildings. The player can press “go” and quite literally never stop, obstacles and towns be damned. The truck even phases through bridges, and it’s quite hilarious seeing the truck disappear under a bridge, dip into a ravine, and pop back up on the other side.
And speaking of never stopping, reversing the big rig is a whole other issue entirely. A player can simply hold down the reverse button, and the truck will accelerate indefinitely. Not only will you go far faster than is reasonably expected, you will eventually break the sound barrier and begin travelling at the speed of light. And when you take your finger off the button, the truck will instantly stop, which breaks about every single law of physics known to man. We don’t even want to know what happens to the driver in that scenario. Should you be so desired, you can even do donuts while reversing at light speed, resulting in the screen turning into a fast-moving, indistinct blur. It is not advised if you are prone to motion sickness.
There is also no off-road traction to speak of. Well, there’s no sense of traction whatsoever, for that matter. Veering off road and onto grass or rugged terrain bears no penalty, as your ghost truck will simply glide over it without any semblance of weight, resistance, or realistic movement. And if you thought scaling a mountain on a horse in “Skyrim” was funny, you haven’t seen anything yet. The complete lack of traction allows your massive big rig to scale mountains and large hills without dropping a single mile-per-hour. You can even climb mountains at a 90 degree angle without your truck losing speed or falling backwards. Not only can your truck phase through objects and reverse at the speed of light, it apparently doesn’t adhere to the pesky law of gravity, either.
The best part about climbing mountains isn’t watching your big rig go up a 90 degree hill at 100 miles per hour, but completely bypassing the physical limits of our world. Maybe “Big Rigs” takes place in the extended “Matrix” universe. The mountains essentially act as boundaries on the game map, but there’s absolutely nothing stopping you from climbing one, breaking through, and speeding into the void.
So, let’s recap. This game doesn’t provide an actual challenge, because your opponent either doesn’t begin the race or never finishes it. In the meantime, you can phase through entire towns without stopping, reverse at light speed (and immediately stop without any semblance of momentum), perform physically impossible donuts, climb entire mountain ranges at 90 degree angles, and even break through the physical limits of the map.
Is it really any surprise that the game was critically eviscerated? “Big Rigs” sits at an astoundingly bad 8 on Metacritic, making it the lowest-rated video game in history. It also famously received a 1/10 on GameSpot, with Alex Navarro’s hilarious video review proving especially popular. It was the first 1 in the site’s history and the only game to receive the score for the next ten years. In 2013, “Ride to Hell: Retribution” also received the not-so-coveted rating.
Sergey Titov was understandably disappointed that his game engine was used for such a monumentally reviled game, and he personally took action to make it right with the consumers. According to Hardcore Gaming 101, Titov personally accepted returns of the game, provided it also came with a legitimate sales receipt. If those terms were met, Titov would send any game from the Activision Value Catalogue in return. It’s reported that Titov received up to twenty copies of the game - probably everyone who bought it in the first place.
“Big Rigs” became an iconic piece of gaming legend after its release, and even to this day, it’s widely regarded as the worst and most hilariously broken video game ever made. It really doesn’t get any better - or should we say, any worse - than this.
The Game With the Most Broken Physics Ever
Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re looking at the game with the most broken physics ever.
For this video, we’ll be looking at “Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing,” a video game that hilariously defies every single law of physics known to man.
To understand why “Big Rigs” is so infamously awful, we have to understand the development process behind it. There was a company based in Santa Monica called Stellar Stone, and they had bought a game engine called Eternity from a man named Sergey Titov. They used this game engine to build “Big Rigs” and outsourced development of the title to Ukrainian developers. “Big Rigs” was made entirely by third party developers in Ukraine and published by an American company called GameMill Publishing. Contrary to popular belief (and the game’s own credits), Titov had no creative input into the game itself - the Eternity engine was his only contribution.
The problem was that GameMill originally wished to publish a single racing video game, but possibly seeing money signs, they decided to split development and make two racing games - these in turn became “Midnight Race Club” and “Big Rigs.” Unfortunately, splitting development almost never works, as there simply isn’t enough manpower and time to create a solid, well-running game. See also, 2006’s infamous “Sonic the Hedgehog,” which was co-developed alongside “Sonic and the Secret Rings”. This is exactly what happened to “Big Rigs,” and it was ultimately released in a pre-alpha, horribly buggy, completely unfinished, and utterly broken state.
So now that we understand the reasoning behind its quality (or lack thereof), let’s dive into the game itself! “Big Rigs” is a racing game. The point of the game is to race your big rig truck against a computer opponent through various truck routes. The game also promises the involvement of police, but they’re nowhere to be found. It sounds like an interesting little spin on the genre, and the various truck routes could have proven both interesting and physically engaging. At least, that’s what the game should have been. What it actually was was something else entirely.
Where to even start? Let’s begin at the most basic and obvious - the driving itself. For one thing, the opponent didn’t drive. Seriously, the AI truck just sat idled at the starting line, allowing you all the time in the world to complete the race. This was obviously patched after release, but the result was no better. Now, instead of not starting, the AI truck never finished; it just stopped before the crossing finish line.
And as for you? Well, there is no stopping you. Literally. The game has a complete lack of collision detection, allowing your truck to phase through any and all objects, including the opposing truck and even entire buildings. The player can press “go” and quite literally never stop, obstacles and towns be damned. The truck even phases through bridges, and it’s quite hilarious seeing the truck disappear under a bridge, dip into a ravine, and pop back up on the other side.
And speaking of never stopping, reversing the big rig is a whole other issue entirely. A player can simply hold down the reverse button, and the truck will accelerate indefinitely. Not only will you go far faster than is reasonably expected, you will eventually break the sound barrier and begin travelling at the speed of light. And when you take your finger off the button, the truck will instantly stop, which breaks about every single law of physics known to man. We don’t even want to know what happens to the driver in that scenario. Should you be so desired, you can even do donuts while reversing at light speed, resulting in the screen turning into a fast-moving, indistinct blur. It is not advised if you are prone to motion sickness.
There is also no off-road traction to speak of. Well, there’s no sense of traction whatsoever, for that matter. Veering off road and onto grass or rugged terrain bears no penalty, as your ghost truck will simply glide over it without any semblance of weight, resistance, or realistic movement. And if you thought scaling a mountain on a horse in “Skyrim” was funny, you haven’t seen anything yet. The complete lack of traction allows your massive big rig to scale mountains and large hills without dropping a single mile-per-hour. You can even climb mountains at a 90 degree angle without your truck losing speed or falling backwards. Not only can your truck phase through objects and reverse at the speed of light, it apparently doesn’t adhere to the pesky law of gravity, either.
The best part about climbing mountains isn’t watching your big rig go up a 90 degree hill at 100 miles per hour, but completely bypassing the physical limits of our world. Maybe “Big Rigs” takes place in the extended “Matrix” universe. The mountains essentially act as boundaries on the game map, but there’s absolutely nothing stopping you from climbing one, breaking through, and speeding into the void.
So, let’s recap. This game doesn’t provide an actual challenge, because your opponent either doesn’t begin the race or never finishes it. In the meantime, you can phase through entire towns without stopping, reverse at light speed (and immediately stop without any semblance of momentum), perform physically impossible donuts, climb entire mountain ranges at 90 degree angles, and even break through the physical limits of the map.
Is it really any surprise that the game was critically eviscerated? “Big Rigs” sits at an astoundingly bad 8 on Metacritic, making it the lowest-rated video game in history. It also famously received a 1/10 on GameSpot, with Alex Navarro’s hilarious video review proving especially popular. It was the first 1 in the site’s history and the only game to receive the score for the next ten years. In 2013, “Ride to Hell: Retribution” also received the not-so-coveted rating.
Sergey Titov was understandably disappointed that his game engine was used for such a monumentally reviled game, and he personally took action to make it right with the consumers. According to Hardcore Gaming 101, Titov personally accepted returns of the game, provided it also came with a legitimate sales receipt. If those terms were met, Titov would send any game from the Activision Value Catalogue in return. It’s reported that Titov received up to twenty copies of the game - probably everyone who bought it in the first place.
“Big Rigs” became an iconic piece of gaming legend after its release, and even to this day, it’s widely regarded as the worst and most hilariously broken video game ever made. It really doesn’t get any better - or should we say, any worse - than this.
