Racing for Home offers nine new episodes of the Southern–fried car show that made some of us wish to be good ol’ boys in the ’70s — just to say ’hi’ to Daisy, if nothing else. Computer animation tells the story in 30–second sequences, and you do all the driving in–between. You outrun Enos, you stop the bad guys, you win the race, and you drive the General Lee. All a good ol’ boy could ask for, right?

The Gen’ral handles like a cow (and not even a blue–ribbon, prize–winning cow, a that). It fishtails all over Hazzard County’s dirt roads, paved roads, and old plank drives. Tap a wall and you’ll see the Confederate battle flag on the hood spin like a top. Flip over and you’ll magically reappear with four wheels on the ground. You get to drive other cars in the game, including Boss Hogg’s limo, Daisy’s jeep, and Cooter’s tow truck. However, I couldn’t see any differences in the way any of these cars handled in comparison to the General Lee.

And while I know Hazzard County is small, it has to have more than three roads. Unfortunately, Racing for Home follows the TV show and keeps recycling the same rural routes in episode after episode. The missions keep changing, but the scenery rarely does. At least it looks more like the Georgia hills than the California roadsides that appeared in the original Dukes series.

Maybe I’m being a bit too harsh on the good ol’ boys. Jumping rivers is fun, taking down other cars with arrows (fired by Luke leaning out the window) is pretty smooth, and some of Racing for Home’s exaggerated crashes are fun to watch. The FMV is tolerable, and the voices are perfect. SouthPeak Interactive recruited many of the original actors to reprise their roles, including James Best, Ben Jones, Tom Wopat, Sonny Shroyer, and the legendary Waylon Jennings. The dialogue sounds like it was lifted right out the original episodes. You’ll even get soundbites during the missions, courtesy of your CB, like Rosco’s famous, "Hot pursuit!"

And there’s Enos’, "Boys, I’m gone hafta pull ya’ll over."

Only one of these gets annoying — Luke’s never–ending complaints about Bo’s driving. I confess — I actually yelled, "Dadgummit Luke, do you wanna drive?" — once only.

Good Stuff: True to the TV series, driving has a few good moments, and the Texas Swing numbers on the soundtrack are nice. Bad Stuff: Freaky car handling and physics, repetitive roads, worthless multiplayer mode, and terrible replays. Bottom Line: If you’re a Dukes’ fan, you’ll enjoy this game, but you’d be better off renting this title before you spend $45. If you don’t like the Dukes of Hazzard, avoid this game. Who needs Driver for rednecks when you can get the real Driver?

Overall Game Rating: C+

Activision’s website

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