There is a great danger loose in the world today, a force so terrible that it distorts the very foundations of our civilisation. It corrupts, degrades and twists our words, contorting meanings and bringing disrepute on our language. That force is, of course, the inexorable rise of the deliberate misspell. Sure, it begins slowly - Big Jim's Diskount Karpets may seem harmless, but that's just the beginning. Before long we'll be krying down the fone, axing our Muthas where it all went rong, y'all. And so, before I begin to review the game, I'll say this to the publisher, or developer, or whoever decided to use the not so bon mot "mutha" - on the charge of using a stupid name to no good effect, I the reviewer find you guilty. Your punishment shall be to feel stupid and ashamed for having contributed to the downfall of the English language. On this subject, I shall say no more. Oh, and by the way, Big Mutha(sic) Truckers is a pretty fine little game.

It really shouldn't work - the ingredients are all wrong. The plot goes something like this...There's this old woman, see, and she owns a trucking company. Unable to decide which of her varied offspring should inherit the business, she holds a - the new owner shall be the person able to make the most money in sixty days. You begin with a basic truck and a trailer full of beer, with directions to a good place to sell and instructions to make some cash. Helping you find your way is the sat-nav, which flashes appropriate direction arrows on screen based on your current selected destination. The main gameplay component is the driving between stops, and plays a little like slow-paced crazy taxi - take your cargo from A to B, without getting caught by the cops, hijacked by bikers and staying in one piece.

This sounds like a recipe for a bad game, but surprisingly it comes off rather well. The truck, while not exactly breaking any speed records, is interesting to handle, and it can be quite fun smashing everything in your path. The game steers well clear of being a simulation, and as such bends the rules to allow some frenetic maneuvers as you attempt to shake off a biker that has clambered onto your trailer. The game area features a number of different cities and other stops, as well as some nice terrain to travel through on your way between, including snowy mountain passes, deserts and urban environments. These are graphically very nice, but you never really have time to take in the sites, partly because you are usually too busy fighting off some cops or else because the games viewpoint is restrictive - it's absolutely fine for driving, but you can't get a good look at your surroundings.

It's at the various stops that you'll meet BMT's other main gameplay component - the trading/upgrade system. At each site there will be a shop to buy and sell your produce, a garage to repair, refuel and upgrade, and a bar for tips and special missions. The trading in the game could never be accused of being complex - it's no Elite - but it adds a variety that helps assuage some of the game's weaker points. Buy low, sell high - that's all there is to it. Listening to the barmen will help notify you of particularly high demand in certain areas, and allow profit maximisation. There are a number of different commodities to be traded, and certain kinds need specialised trailers to convey them. Milk for instance, needs a tanker, whilst coal requires a flatback trailer. This introduces an extra layer of cost, and therefore planning, as you have to consider whether it's worth changing trailer for the profit involved.

Your truck can be upgraded for increased performance at the local garage. Here, damage from your previous run is repaired and you can refuel, but both these operations cost money, and judgement is required as you try to repair and refuel just enough to leave you money for a full cargo load. Upgrades to your truck are initially prohibitively expensive, but can lead to savings later on as you require less fuel and take less damage. The garage also allows you to customise your rig with a variety of provided logos, or you can make your own.