The Italian Job

 PlayStation 2
Metascore
55

Mixed or average reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 18
  3. Negative: 3 out of 18
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  1. GameSpot
    44
    Unlike the entries from Microsoft and Rockstar, though, The Italian Job is almost completely devoid of both flavor and interesting gameplay, and the whole thing feels like it was slapped together in a supreme hurry to cash in on the release of the film.
  2. Armchair Empire
    40
    The grungy rock music that plays in the background pales in comparison to Grand Theft Auto’s playlist. The cars sound like garden tractors.
  3. Official U.S. Playstation Magazine
    40
    It's like a feeble attempt at a mission-based driving game (think "Midnight Club" or "Driver" or something, I guess - it's hard to tell since it's hard to tell since it's so half-hearted) with Mini Coopers thrown in for really obvious movie "flava." [Sept 2003, p.97]
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User Reviews

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User Score
6.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 8 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 8
  3. Negative: 2 out of 8
  1. The_D4RknesS
    Jun 20, 2023
    7
    I liked the gameplay, the physics, how the car behaves when cornering, the braking marks that don't disappear, the smoke expelled by the car'sI liked the gameplay, the physics, how the car behaves when cornering, the braking marks that don't disappear, the smoke expelled by the car's tires...... Anyway .. an almost perfect game but the fact of having to go from one side to the other without a GPS and still have time was what I hated most about this game! Time was running out and I couldn't find fate, it caused me a lot of rage on italian jobs… Full Review »
  2. aspentitan
    Oct 11, 2020
    6
    This is a race game where you go from point A to point B within a time limit which can expire. You earn points for good time and subtractThis is a race game where you go from point A to point B within a time limit which can expire. You earn points for good time and subtract penalties points to obtain a good or bad rank that determines if you advance the story and onto the next race. Races can be sandbox there are shortcuts you can find. All in all It may be design that had to be, but from my perspective there are a lot of deficiencies in this game and strangely enough I believe they are actually intentional. First off it's a race game and it does not have wheel support. Fair enough the game is easily controllable with the analog sticks. Next up is story....it's pretty basic and only serves to give some reason to undertake the racing. Again seems fair enough that seems pretty basic. Now here comes the weird stuff...The game has the ability to take note of damage but does not utilize it really. You can crash and crash and crash to your hearts delight and it only costs you points. Very very forgivable. Then next we have the way point system. Omg this is super dreadful you have a guiding dot but as you progress in the game you realize most of your objective points are hidden around a corner. This game is as much memorization as it is racing. Probably more actually. And that brings me to why I'm giving this game a 6/10 caution. Don't get me wrong it has a strange allure to it, it is fun but it is super repetitive repeating missions and objectives because of a subpar pathfinding system. Rather than get more racing I believe this game development shortened its development by extending the game at the players expense. It would be very easy programming to provide some on screen arrows as direction finders that would have even improved the racing. Instead, you will repeatedly attempt to find the end goal area over and over and over until you memorize where you need to go. I presume this is why there is no pull-up map it would have been nice to scout ahead and plan. This is a race game after all what would the problem be with providing that small tool. Well it's almost certain that's why it's not there, ie to extend gameplay. So I imagine this was a budget title and despite the devopment having the potential for a better game, cuz the handling and frame rate seems decent, they just did a ton of shortcuts...no wheel support, no damage, no waypoints, no map to keep you busier than developing more racing areas and story. Even with these issues the game is about 4 hrs so imagine if they actually gave you the proper tools to proceed faster. It's clear with the game length this must be intentional. It also probably explains why cops come out of nowhere and mob you so fast too. All in all this game can be fun but is unnecessarily repetitive on your dime in almost every design. At the end of the day, It does have a certain arcade charm to it but I don't think this title ended up being the game they intended to release but rather a shortcut on development schedule that worked well enough to get it out the door to market.… Full Review »
  3. CraigS.
    Jul 12, 2003
    7
    It is better than the original on Playstation but it could be better.
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