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Nicola
'Full throttle' Beswick
"This is the most fun I've had in a bus on London's streets,
since...ooo, my trip last friday on the night bus from Westbourne
Park to Clapham Junction!
 Now,
let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of
London...
Aaaah,
how very refreshing to bez down Euston Road, driving a black cab
on the wrong side of the underpass at 60mph.
Not something I'm recommending, you understand - it gets a tad wobbly
when you're distracted by the looming glory of St Pancras station
- whoah, bess!
Smart U-ey to pick up potential passengers outside the station.
For the record - not a sausage there waiting to hail my beast of
the road.
I think word had got round after my previous sorties around town,
highjacking that bus on Oxford street was probably a mistake, and
I can't comment for legal reasons on the pistol-whipping I got from
the rozzas after my sporty chase around southwark in a cheeky little
red convertible.
| "Highjacking
that bus on Oxford street was probably a mistake, and I can't
comment - for legal reasons - on the pistol-whipping I got from
the rozzas after my sporty chase around southwark in a cheeky
little red convertible." - Nicola Beswick |
Luckily
no active speed cameras to keep me in check, but they are speed
humps, congestion charge notices, shop fronts, bollards, fencing
(now destroyed) in Hyde Park - all there to aid and abet your getaway
on London's streets.
I'm
no pathetic pootling girlie driver in my real-life Mini Cooper,
but I do usually manage to stick to the tarmac.
However, in the case of this game I'm putting my lack of skill down
to the distractions of the fine views off the roads - loooook! There's
High Jinks on Carnaby Street!
Ah.. I'm now IN High Jinks in Carnaby Street.. in my cab... that's
my story and i'm sticking to it. "Where to guv?"
Kate 'wheel spin' Allen
 I
have to say, its always been a bit of a fantasy to drive a black
cab around London so this was the perfect opportunity to act it
out.
The first thing you notice when straddling the drivers seat of the
black cab is that you are driving around Central London, a real
place with real streets and real junctions that do actually exist,
in reality!
The buildings are all there with eerie realism, the shop fronts,
billboards, the only thing that wasn’t exactly realistic was
the traffic, there isnt any! Well, there is some but it is minimal!
| "Loads
of fun but to be honest, I don’t think any bank robbers
are going to employ me as their driver, I would imagine they
value there lives!" - Kate Allen |
It's
beautiful, no queues, no random pedestrians or cyclists sneaking
across junctions, just reletively empty streets!
The roads and pavements are also litter free, so a little unrepresentative
of real london but maybe an idealistic one, which is no bad thing!
So,
in theory, the game provides you with perfect London conditions
for driving.
Unfortunately, dispite the lack of congestion I still couldn't manage
to keep the cab on the road. I continually mounted the pavement
and ran over what few pedestrains remained on these calm, calm streets
of london!
Whilst
whizzing around the West End, starting at marble arch, it was most
refreshing to skid my way along Park Lane and around Hyde Park Corner.
Hand brake turns and reversing the wrong way around one-way systems
were also very exciting, not that I recommend that outside of the
confines of a video game!
Thankfully the game doesn't fine you for speeding, dangerous driving,
or lack of respect for everyone, otherwise I would looking for a
second income.
Loads of fun, but to be honest I don't think any bank robbers are
going to employ me as their driver, I would imagine they value there
lives!
Jules 'handbrake turn' Wilson
 So
real it hurts! All thoughts of driving skills went totally out of
the back-seat window on my virgin circuit.
I was far too enchanted by the fact that I could drive through Marble
Arch past the Boots that I had actually bought a sandwich from the
day before and watch people coming in and out of the tube station.
My vehicle of choice was a fairly clapped out Citroen which took
more than it's fair share of dings and shunts while I executed hand-brake
turns round sharp corners.
It was a pleasure to zoom up The Mall and crash into the very real
and solid gates of Buckingham Palace to attract the Queen's attention
and then decide that I wouldn't take the left turn I was supposed
to but instead take an illicit trip into Hyde Park and leave wheelie
marks in the beautiful lush green grass so lovingly cared for.
"I
picked up as many fares as I could in the time allotted - the
mantra being 'get me there as fast as you can guv'.
This saw a hair-raising blur of burning rubber streaking through
the West End, fleeing pedestrians and some very irritated and
harassed passengers." - Jules Wilson |
My
foray into The City was even more exciting - all the nooks, crannies
and side-streets that give it its unique character were there in
a pretty much exact replication of the real thing.
I squealed past my old University, crashed in the Blackfriars underpass
and had the obligatory row with a very moody black cab driver on
the wrong side of the road in the middle of Tower Bridge.
The
second stage of my crash and burn experience was as the driver of
said hackney cab.
I picked up as many fares as I could in the time allotted - the
mantra being 'get me there as fast as you can guv'.
This saw a hair-raising blur of burning rubber streaking through
the West End, fleeing pedestrians and some very irritated and harassed
passengers.
The only thing I didn't get to say when I took a fare south of the
river was, 'sorry, mate - s'more than me jobs worth'.
If
you want a thrilling trip around The Smoke, jump in your jalopy
of choice and ride.
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