What it is
Jacked is a motorcycle combat racer built around one simple idea: win the race, knock your rivals off their bikes and steal the best machines for yourself. Developed by Sproing Interactive Media and released in the UK for Xbox on Friday, 10 February 2006, it mixes arcade racing with clubs, shotguns, grenades, Molotov cocktails and high-speed bike theft. It is closer in spirit to Road Rash than to a serious motorcycle simulation, with a single-player mission campaign, seven game modes and local multiplayer for two. The UK version was published by Empire Interactive through its Xplosiv label, not D3 Publisher.
- UK release
- Friday, 10 February 2006
- Platforms
- Xbox
- Developer
- Sproing Interactive Media
- Publisher
- Empire Interactive, through the Xplosiv label
- UK price
- £19.99 launch price point, standard edition
- PEGI
- 12 — Violence
- Genre
- Racing; motorcycle combat
- Online mode
- No — local split-screen multiplayer for up to 2
- Engine
- RenderWare
Story and setting
Jacked has a light story framework rather than a conventional narrative campaign. You choose one of six riders and work across the United States, beginning on the east coast and progressing through a series of races and combat missions. The game’s environments include city streets, urban wastelands and mountainous highways, with the route stretching westwards towards Nevada and California.
Your main objective is to build a better collection of bikes. Some rides are suited to racing and others to combat, while new machines are unlocked by completing missions and stealing opponents’ bikes. Certain missions also let you call on your biker gang, turning a race into a fight for territory and checkpoints.
How it plays
The racing is deliberately arcade-focused. You accelerate, brake, steer and use nitro while picking up weapons placed around the courses. A club or taser can stun an opponent, giving you the chance to pull alongside and jack their bike. Shotguns and grenades are more effective at throwing riders from their machines, but a rider blasted off the road cannot be jacked in the same way as a stunned target.
The weapon selection includes clubs, tasers, shotguns, grenades and Molotov cocktails. Combat is not just decoration: fighting and jacking bikes can refill your nitro, while wheelies, stoppies, jumps and other stunts also build boost. The final release contains 18 bikes, including three turbine-powered MTT superbikes, and the campaign uses silver and gold objectives to unlock further missions and rides.
Modes and multiplayer
The seven core modes are Race, Jack It, Time Attack, Gang Battle, Drop-Out, Survival and Timed Assault. Race is the straightforward option, while Jack It asks you to hunt down a particular rider and steal their bike before the time or lap limit expires. Drop-Out eliminates the last rider at checkpoints, Survival puts you under sustained attack and Timed Assault sets a target for knocking out or jacking opponents.
Gang Battle is the most distinctive alternative to a normal race. You and your gang fight a rival gang for control of a token, which must be carried through checkpoints to score. Multiplayer is local split-screen only, with Race and Gang Battle available on a selection of tracks and with bikes unlocked through the mission mode. There is no verified online multiplayer mode.
Platforms, editions and UK price
The UK release is an original Xbox retail disc. Jacked also appeared on PC and PlayStation 2 in Europe, while D3 Publisher handled the Japanese PlayStation 2 release on 26 October 2006. That Japanese publishing credit should not be confused with the UK Xbox edition, which was released by Empire Interactive under the Xplosiv name.
Xplosiv announced a 19.99 price point for the multi-format release, which corresponds to a £19.99 UK launch price for the standard edition. No separate special or collector’s edition is documented. The Xbox version uses Criterion’s RenderWare technology and was designed for the original console, with no verified Xbox One or Xbox Series enhancement. It is absent from Microsoft’s official backwards-compatibility catalogue, so there is no supported modern-console version to buy through Xbox.
Reception and post-launch support
The critical response was mixed to poor. MobyGames records a 46 per cent critics average from 12 ratings, while GameStar gave the PC version 62/100. Jeuxvideo.com scored the PC version 10/20 and the PlayStation 2 version 9/20. Those scores are not Xbox-specific, but they reflect the general view that the bike-jacking concept was more interesting than the execution.
There is no documented Xbox DLC, expansion, post-launch mode or substantial patch programme. The retail game appears to be the complete package: one-player missions, the seven listed modes and local two-player competition. Its appeal today is largely historical and mechanical, particularly for players interested in overlooked Road Rash-style racers and original Xbox oddities rather than polished modern racing games.
Not yet confirmed
- A complete official record of Xbox patches is not available, but no Xbox DLC, expansion or additional mode has been documented in the surviving release information.
- No separate UK special edition or later digital Xbox release has been verified. The £19.99 figure is the announced Xplosiv price point rather than a surviving retailer listing for the original launch week.
Jacked: your questions
When was Jacked released in the UK?
Jacked was released for Xbox in the UK on Friday, 10 February 2006. The 27 January 2006 date belongs to an earlier European release record, not the verified UK Xbox date.
Does Jacked have online multiplayer?
No. The Xbox release supports local split-screen multiplayer for up to two players, with Race and Gang Battle modes, but it does not offer online racing.
Is Jacked available on Xbox One or Xbox Series X and S?
There is no official Xbox One or Xbox Series version, and Jacked is not listed in Microsoft’s backwards-compatibility catalogue. The supported UK release is the original Xbox disc.
Who published Jacked in the UK?
Empire Interactive published the UK Xbox release through its Xplosiv label. D3 Publisher was associated with the Japanese PlayStation 2 edition, not the UK Xbox version.
What weapons are in Jacked?
Riders can use clubs, tasers, shotguns, grenades and Molotov cocktails. Stunned opponents can be jacked, allowing you to steal their bikes during a race.
