The Italian Job
Italian Job, The is a Xbox racing game released in 2003 developed by Climax Studios. It centers on driving and route control, route judgment, and speed and overtaking management, with controls and information arranged around the Duke or Controller S twin sticks, analog triggers, directional pad, and face buttons.
- AI score · out of 10
- 6.6 / 10
About this game
Italian Job, The is a Xbox racing game centered on driving and route control, route judgment, and speed and overtaking management. Tracks raise pressure through corners, rivals, and time targets, with progress divided into stages, tasks, matches, or growth milestones that make immediate goals understandable. Its value depends on whether these rules continue to create judgment and room for mastery rather than on length, sales, or series recognition. Short campaigns are judged by repeat-challenge value, while longer ones are judged by variety, pacing, and recovery after failure. Speed, track boundaries, and vehicle feedback determine driving readability, while standard or progressive-scan video, widescreen support, HDD caching, and Dolby Digital audio need to preserve action, state, and text readability together. The genre-specific limitation is that visibility, collisions, steering precision, wheel support, or loading can limit consistency. Platform conditions also include disc loading, the internal HDD and cache, memory units, regional language, display modes, legacy controller ports, and retired Xbox Live services affect present-day use. This description covers only this platform release and does not import features or conveniences from remasters, emulators, or other console editions.
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Original Xbox
AI review
AI reviews are subjective assessments, not player ratings. See each review for its evidence and limitations.Published date:
Accessible street chases with a thin variety of film-driven objectives.
The 2003 film adaptation puts its appeal in driving a MINI through Los Angeles. Strong brakes and accessible drifting quickly establish the chases, while shortcuts and coordinated handbrake turns add some useful stunt practice. Original Xbox options allow acceleration and braking to move to the triggers, and clear destination radar keeps navigation approachable. Recognizable streets and cinematic jump angles give the adaptation identity, although damage feedback and quiet explanatory scenes are less convincing. Its fifteen story missions mostly consist of brief objectives, and stunt courses are reused, so the broad driving spaces never yield equally rich variety. Failure also means replaying earlier parts of a mission. It works better as a light series of film-inspired chases than as a racing career to study over time.
Strengths
- Accessible drifting and shortcuts give city chases direct driving appeal.
- Native trigger alternatives and clear radar ease adaptation.
Weaknesses
- Brief objectives and reused stunt routes underuse the driving world.
- Simple damage feedback, quiet scenes and mission retries add limitations.
Who it is for: For fans of the 2003 film and light street chases who enjoy accessible drifting and tolerate a brief campaign with mission-level retries.
Play notes: This is the original Xbox adaptation of the 2003 film, not the earlier PlayStation game. Individual mission parts do not retain separate failure progress.
View scoring basis
| Dimension | Review state | Score | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimension Several modes provide a basic package, but short, simple story objectives and reused stunt courses limit development. The large driving spaces are not matched by equally varied tasks. | Reviewed | 5.8 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Strong braking, easy drifting and shortcuts make accessible arcade driving enjoyable. Tight stunt turns require coordinated inputs, but many full-throttle routes offer limited sustained depth. | Reviewed | 6.8 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Recognizable streets and cinematic jump angles support the escape fantasy. Smoke-based damage and quiet explanatory movies provide less convincing feedback and storytelling. | Reviewed | 6.4 / 10 | Not provided |
| Dimension Trigger alternatives, clear destination radar and organized menus support easy adaptation. Failed missions restart their constituent parts, so convenient controls coexist with a meaningful recovery cost. | Reviewed | 7.4 / 10 | Not provided |
Review sources
Not provided
Core information
- Developer
- Climax Studios
- Publisher
- Eidos Interactive
- Release date
- 2003
- Platforms
- Original Xbox
- Content kind
- Game
- Release state
- Released
- Region
- Worldwide
- Official website
- Not provided
- Offline minimum players
- Not provided
- Offline maximum players
- Not provided
- Online minimum players
- Not provided
- Online maximum players
- Not provided
- Categories
- Racing · Primary genre
- Tags
- Main Story Under 10 HoursThird PersonDriving and RacingPick-up and PlayLocal Co-opDodgeReplayableSolo-friendlyPlayer versus PlayerShort SessionsFast-paced
- Supported game languages
- Not provided
- Requires base game
- Not provided
- Standalone
- Not provided
- Age ratings
- Not provided
- Play modes
- Single player
- Perspectives
- Third personFirst person
Release editions
- Original XboxWorldwide2003
Game gallery
Sources
Not provided