The Italian Job was a fantastic summer movie, that goes without saying. However, if you missed it, this game won't ruin the plot for you, nor will it fill you in on all the movie has to offer. Instead, what you'll get are tiny tidbits of the movie's plot interspersed with fast paced driving missions based loosely on the movie.

The levels, although nicely rendered, are somewhat repetitious. They take place in Los Angeles and Hollywood, although I didn't really recognize many landmarks. They are generic in nature, but get the job done. The various car models are very nice and chances are, when given the option, you'll stick to the Mini Cooper popularized by the film. It drives like a dream, but more on the later.

The music is enjoyable and you'll really only notice it in loading and menu screens. It has a nice, jazzy feel to it, much like the feel of the movie itself. During the missions, you may hear some background music at times, but your growling Mini Cooper usually overpowers it. The screeches and squeals of your tires are more than satisfying, as are the crunches of metal as you pull stunts and crash into other cars.

Get in. Get out. Get even.

Well, by now you probably have an idea of the plot of the movie. A group of crooks steal a huge pile of gold in Venice. One crook betrays the others, shooting the mentor of the group in the process and leaving the rest for dead. Well, turns out they aren't dead, they want revenge and they want their gold back.

Modes of play consist of Story mode, Circuit Racing, Stunt Driving and Free Roam. The meat of the game is found in the 1 player Story mode, and although it's short (about 15 missions), it's a fun ride - very reminiscent of Crazy Taxi and Driver. The missions are broken down into 2 or 3 objectives, so if you fail an objective, you can retry it without having to redo the entire mission. From what I hear, the Xbox version makes you retry the entire mission when you fail an objective and that stinks. The missions and objectives consist mainly of timed races where you might be trailing a bad guy, beating someone else to a location or running from the cops. You'll pick up points for stunts and smashing things (not your car, but furniture and such) and these affect your final grade for the objective. You begin at a C and go up or down from there, depending on how many cars you hit and how badly you smashed up your own car and how many stunts you pull. Your good grades unlock cool stuff like new vehicles, movie stills and extras like that. Yes, it's been done before and better, but it's still a fun game.

Circuit Racing is either 1 or 2 player and will have you racing around a given track in the city. Huge arrows point you in the direction you need to go and it's a fairly simple principle - beat everyone else on the track. Stunt Driving has you pulling stunts in impossible areas and I didn't find it the least bit fun. Free Roam is just what you'd think - drive around and figure out where the shortcuts are so they'll help you in Story Mode.

The A.I. in the game was a little stupid and felt cheap. For instance, in an objective where you have to elude the cops, they can be right on your tail and as soon as you drive into the magic glowing red box (the objective), you succeed with the mission. I remember in Driver, if the cops were on your butt, you couldn't go to the hideout. Also, in the final mission where you have to chase Steve, your archenemy, his path is carved in stone. Basically, it's just a matter of memorizing where he is gonna go. Hell, sometimes I got a good bit ahead of him and would just wait for him to catch up if I forgot which way he was going to go. Things like this cheapen the overall experience.

The Story mode is fairly simple and can be beaten in a few sessions of light play. Some of the levels are pretty tough, but overall, the difficulty is manageable. Stunt Driving is much more difficult and of course, if you are playing Circuit Racing with a friend, it all depends on the friend's skill.

The controls are pretty simplistic. You can use the D pad or the analog stick to control your vehicle, and the X is accelerate and square is brake. Driving the cars, especially the Minis, is a joy. The control is super tight and they handle beautifully. Sure, when you drop one off a building, they don't show the actual damage that would be done in real life, but eh. It's still fun to zoom around in these little cars.

The Italian Job is a fun rental if you are into the Driver styled games. Sure, it isn't the pinnacle of mission-based driving and it is a bit short, but it's a fun ride while it lasts.