The Dukes of Hazzard: Return of The General Lee is a mission based racing (or driving) game released on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles. Return of the General Lee is based on the popular The Dukes of Hazzard television show. It is the third game based on this show, and the only one to be made on a sixth generation console PlayStation. This game follows The Dukes of Hazzard II: Daisy Dukes it Out.
Overview[]
The Duke Cousins must help the local orphanage pay off debt in order to keep it up and running. Boss Hogg has raised the mortgage on the orphanage and is having the interest compounded hourly in order to build a statue of himself in the town square and to build a local water reservoir on the site of the orphanage with the help of his sheriff, Rosco P. Coltrane. The player must help the Dukes complete a series of tasks in order to save the orphanage. There is also a free roam feature that allows the player to roam all of Hazzard County and enjoy the freedom of ramping various objects in order to unlock hidden objects in the game.
Story Line[]
A new day starts in Hazzard. Bo and Luke are in the General, Daisy is working at the Boar's Nest and scolding a customer for trying to cop a feel. Rosco yells at Jesse for his truck breaking down, saying Jesse is impeding an official vehicle and Jesse tells him to hold his horses. Enos politely greets a citizen out walking. For over a week, Bo and Luke have not come close to violating their probation either.
Bo, Luke, Cooter, and Sally Jo are at Cooter's garage. Sue Ann explains that if she doesn't get the money soon, Boss Hogg is going to foreclose on them. Bo says that is wrong and reminds Luke there is a stock car race that day. Luke says it would be more than enough to pay off the mortgage. However Boss and Rosco arrive and Boss says that would be if the boys can win. Cooter asks if Boss has an appointment, but Boss says it's not a business call and he's just visiting friends. Sally Jo asks if he's looking for more orphans to rob and Boss continues to talk to them while Rosco sneaks over to the General, pouring a cup of decaf coffee with two sugars into the gas tank. Boss informs the boys that 00 will be participating in the race before he and Rosco leave. Sally Jo asks if the boys can really beat 00 in the General Lee. Luke says the General Lee is the fastest car in Hazzard, and Bo adds that it wasn't always the case.
Back when Bo and Luke were rebuilding the black car into the General, Cooter had heard about some parts coming in at the junkyard. He tells Bo and Luke to take the charger to go get the parts. Cooter gives them a list of five items to get and leads the player around the junkyard to get them. They are tires, an exhaust, valves, shocks, and paint. After getting everything, Cooter says to meet him at the gate. When they do, Cooter says with the proper car they could really make it on the circuit. Cooter challenges the boys to a race, and if they beat him back to the garage he won't charge them for repairing the car. The player drives the charger back to Hazzard.
Bo tells Sally Jo that the General has never let them down since they made him. Cooter shows them the time and Luke realizes they are late. As they get in the car, Bo tells Sally Jo not to worry as they will make it on time. The player then drives from Cooter's to the racetrack. Luke taunts Bo, saying he better hurry if he doesn't want to disappoint the girl 'you're so sweet on'. Bo suggests they do some warm ups but Luke says to just get there fast and in once piece. As the player drives, Cooter warns them not to take the highway as Enos has a road block. Bo jumps over the road block and arrives at the track.
They get ready to start the race, Rosco making a comment about 'gentlemen and ladies, if there is any on the track' to which Daisy angry snaps that she heard that and Rosco apologizes. The boys get into the race at the back and the player drives for the eight laps. On the last lap Bo informs Luke that he's losing power and the General isn't going to make it. The General spins out and dies, losing the race. The boys look over the engine, Luke remarking on a funny smell. Boss and Rosco walk over and Boss reveals that the smell is coffee and that Rosco poured it in the gas tank. Luke is furious at the sabatoge and Bo is upset realizing they can't pay the mortgage. Boss tells them not to get too upset as they can earn the money by working for him doing a few odd jobs. Bo and Luke reluctantly agree.
Later the player drives to the Boar's Net to start work. The boys are sent around Hazzard to collect packages. The player follows the pages on the map. The first is over at Jimmy's Farm and Bo asks if Jimmy is still growing peanuts to which Luke asks what does that have to do with anything. After getting the package they find the next by the train tracks, Daisy giving further guidance on finding it. After that the boys head to Cottonwood Farm and since Junior is at the Boar's Next drinking the boys find the package on their own. The next package is on Cooter's truck and the boys catch him to get it. The last package is at the Boar's Nest, annoying Bo. They get the last package and head inside to get paid. They get five thousand dollars but Boss adds that it won't change anything as the interest on the orphanage is being compounded hourly. He shows Bo and Luke his plans to build a statue of himself. Frustrated, the boys head to meet with Uncle Jesse at the Farm to discuss a solution.
At the Farm, Jesse tells the boys that Boss wants the orphanage to build something on the land. He says whatever Boss wants to build will need a permit and they will need to see that permit in the County Court House. However the boys can't sneak in because Enos is currently guarding the court house. Daisy invites Enos to a picnic. Luke runs Bo through his plan, tail Enos to the picnic, steal the car, and use it to open the gate to the Impound. The player follows Enos without being spotted to the picnic site and while Daisy keeps Enos distracted at the picnic, Luke gets in the police car and drives away. The player drives back to town with Luke while Bo keeps watch on Enos and Daisy in the General and reports back to Luke.
At the court house Luke gets by Rosco, who is angrily looking for Enos, and sneaks into the backroom. Only finding a fishing permit, Luke reports back to Bo that the struck out. Bo warns him that Enos is getting frigidity. Luke speeds back to the picnic ground to return the car. After Luke makes it, Enos takes Daisy back without ever knowing what happened. However Boss learns that someone went through his stuff and has Jesse arrested and his truck impounded.
Luke comes up with a plan to free Uncle Jesse. He and Bo meet with Cooter in town and first work to free the pickup. While Cooter watches, Luke instructs Bo (the player) to drive around town knocking over trash cans, doing donuts, ramming into Boss' statue, and honking the horn. Rosco finally chases after the boys, leading to some small banter (Bo, Luke, Rosco, and Cooter reciting the first few lines of Good ol' Boys) and Bo leading Rosco out of town. After Cooter finishes getting the pickup out of the impound, he calls the boys and the player's goal changes to losing Rosco. Rosco ends up with feathers all over his car. Meanwhile Cooter finds some off road tires for the General and they all head to the Duke Farm.
Daisy meets up with the boys and they figure they can use the pickup to pull the bars off the cell for Uncle Jesse. Luke wonders what the distraction should be this time and Daisy suggests using dynamite for a distraction. Luke, who used to run moonshine to the miners up at the coal mines. Luke tells Bo where he remembers seeing some cases and Bo drives to the coal mines to get it. While driving there they are chased by Rosco and Enos.
After losing the officers, the boys arrive at the mine shaft to find it is locked. They head down to the old mine offices to find the key before driving back to the mine shaft to get the dynamite. After getting the sticks, the boys drive back to town. The player has a timed drive back due to the unstable dynamite. Luke has Bo take a forest road to avoid a road block, where there are a number of logs from logging companies down. The boys then make it to the jail house.
Luke sits in front of Rosco, reeving the General Lee's engine.Rosco tells Luke that it won't make any difference as he isn't moving from his post. Bo however uses the dynamite to blow up Boss Hogg's statue. While Rosco obsesses over the destroyed statue, Cooter uses the pickup to pull the wall off the jail. Rosco tells Jesse not to move, but Luke teases him by asking if he needs a lift and Jesse asks if he couldn't have picked him up in a car with working doors. Jesse climbs in through the window. The next mission starts as Jesse directs the player, Luke, to drive to a nearby farm. Jesse and Luke hide in Jimmy's barn, watching as Rosco and Enos drive past. After they are safe, Luke and Jesse return to the Farm where Bo is waiting. As they talk, Jesse informs the boys that Boss mentioned hiding something secret at one of his still sites. Luke points out that Boss has a lot of loads. Jesse adds that Boss' driver is going to pick up a load of moonshine and he plans to follow the driver. Bo protests but Jesse gets in his truck and drives off.
After hearing about the shine runner, Luke radio's Uncle Jesse to say that he heard the driver is at the farm by the swamp. Jesse assumes he means Three Oak Hill. The player, as Jesse, drives to the location Luke said. As he gets closer, Jesse asks what kind of vehicle is he looking for and Luke tells him he's heard it will be a flatbed truck. After finding the truck Jesse follows him, and the player has to follow the truck without being spotted by the truck or any officers but also can't loose sight of it. After arriving at the still site, Jesse sees a model for a 'Hogg Heaven, Fishery and Waterpark'. Jesse realizes Boss plans to flood the valley to make a lake, washing out the orphanage and a number of farms with it. Uncle Jesse loads up Boss' still to get rid of it. As he heads out, he hears Boss call Rosco on the CB to inform him that he heard Jesse is snooping around his still site and he wants Rosco to find Jesse before Jesse learns about the park. Jesse drives off, calling for assistance. Bo informs him that Cooter is putting a new transmission in the General and Jesse says he'll meet them at Cooter's.
The player drives as Jesse and takes the still to Cooter's. Once there, Jesse talks to Bo, Luke, and Cooter. He explains' Boss' plan to blow the dam and how the permit that Luke found was for a 'fishery' not for 'fishing'. Jesse adds this whole plan will fall apart though if they win the Hazzard County Derby and pay off the orphanage's mortgage. Unfortunately Rosco is listening to the entire conversation at the door. As Rosco goes to report in to Boss, Bo asks Uncle Jesse how that is going to do anything since Boss keeps raising the interest every hour. Jesse starts to lay out his plan. Meanwhile Boss and Rosco are confused at how the Derby will help. Boss says they can't even enter the race without an official entry form and only Boss is distributing them. Boss does hesitate on underestimating Jesse and says they may have to launch 'operation waterwings' a little early.
Jesse makes something in the still, saying it is the key to their victory and now they only need to get an entry form and some paint. Daisy arrives, rushing over and informing them that Boss is trying to demolish the orphanage right now. Bo decides they need to go over there but Jesse stops them, saying that their priority is the paint. He says Cooter will stop the bulldozers and Daisy will handle the demolition crew.
Bo and Luke aren't happy about it but they agree. As they head to the junkyard, Enos falls in behind them. After losing Enos, Luke directs Bo, the player, through a dirt road shortcut. After jumping into the Junkyard, the boys drive around to the back and pick up orange paint. As they leave, they find Rosco has arrived in the junkyard and are forced to jump the General to get out. However Boss is waiting outside for them. Luke directs Bo, the player, to head to the broken bridge to loose them all. After jumping they escape.
Cooter sets out to wreck the bulldozers. Uncle Jesse tells him the first one is at the town square. The player drives as Cooter in the tow truck to town, Jesse saying he heard that the bulldozer was going to pickup the remains' of Boss' statue first. Cooter asks if Jesse wants him to save a piece, but Jesse says he's got enough useless rocks on the farm. Cooter finds the bulldozer and then drives it around, wrecking it in an open hole. After Cooter heads to the Coal Mine to get the second bulldozer. Once he finds it he drives it into a mine shaft to destroy it. Jesse then sends him to Fox Hollow where Jethro is driving the third one. Cooter arrives at Fox Hollow and takes the bulldozer over to the creek bed despite Jethro chasing after him. With all three destroyed, Cooter heads back to the garage.
Daisy heads out to stop the demolition team. After spotting the first truck, she slows down and detracts the driver with her horn before knocking down the sign for directions to keep the driver from finding the orphanage. Jesse then sends her through town to stop the second truck. After Jesse sends her to the picnic ground to stop the third truck. For this one Daisy pulls up by the sign and pretends to have car trouble. As the driver attempts to help her, Daisy takes his truck keys, leaving him stranded after she dives away. Daisy then races to work to ensure she isn't late.
Bo and Luke drive over to the Boar's Nest in the General before honking the horn. Inside, Boss and Rosco try to figure out what the Dukes are up to. Hearing the horn, Rosco assures Boss that the boys won't get the sign up form but Boss says the boys are clearly up to something outside. Rosco is sent outside where he sees the General Lee. The player acts as Cooter in the General, driving away to lead Rosco on a chase. Jesse tells him on the CB that he needs to give them time to start part two of the plan. After Cooter reaches the race track, Boss sits in his office at the Boar's Nest thinking that Rosco is chasing the boys clear away from the entry form. However Boss hears the horn again and assumes Rosco lost the boys. He yells for Enos to chase after the boys. Enos goes outside and spots Jesse in the General Lee (a second one) and Jesse leads him to the coal mines. Rosco and Enos both radio their locations back to Boss, confusing him on how the boys can be in two places at once. However Bo and Luke are in Boss' office, and Luke explains that they have three General Lee's before Bo takes the entry form. They go outside and get in the real General Lee before driving off. Boss Hogg and Alex follow them, Boss calling Enos and Rosco to fill them in on the trick. Jesse and Cooter help the boys during the chase, but eventually they loose Boss Hogg. Bo calls Daisy to tell her that they got away and Daisy congratulates them for getting the form stamped. Luke asks what she means and Daisy tells them to meet her at the starting line and she will take care of it. Daisy gets past a police officer guarding Boss' office and grabs the stamp for the form before driving off in her Road Runner. However, unbeknownst to Daisy, her car has no break fluid.
Daisy loses control of her car and unable to stop, she calls for the boys to come help her over the CB. She tells them that she is headed for Rainbow Canyon and the boys head toward Daisy, calling Enos, Cooter, and Jesse for backup. Unfortunately none of the others are able to help. The boys find Daisy and let her car ram into the General until it stops. Daisy is upset that the boys are now going to be late for the Derby. The boys decide to jump across the canyon and the player drives as Bo, getting enough speed up the road to jump across.
After arriving at the starting line, Luke shows Boss the official entry form. Boss says it doesn't matter because even if they win, they can't pay off the orphanage. Luke reminds him that the winner of the race will be interviewed live on tv. Boss says they never did win a race against 00 anyway then Boss orders Rosco to ensure the boys don't win. The race starts and goes all around Hazzard with various obstacles in the way. After winning the boys are interviewed and Bo says they have a few words to say about Boss. Luke brings up how the Bank is trying to foreclose on the orphanage and Bo says that Boss has donated the land to the orphanage. Not knowing what else to do, Boss agrees. Bo thanks Cooter for his help and Jesse thanks Jesse and Daisy. Daisy hugs the boys saying she is proud of them.
Jesse and Cooter give Bo and Luke some special rocket fuel that Jesse cooked up in Boss' still (and the boys had been using through the game) and Sally Joe runs over, saying they did it and the General really is as fast as the boys claim. Bo asks if she wants to go for a ride but Luke says Bo has been doing most of the driving and now it's his turn. Bo and Sally Joe kiss in the back of the General while Luke jumps Rainbow Canyon.
Gallery[]
Reception[]
Return of The General Lee received many negative reviews from gaming websites and publications; however, gamers in general and fans in particular found the game to be more enjoyable and was met with generally average reviews.
When the game was first announced and screenshots were first released, there was mild controversy because the Confederate Flag on top of the Dukes' car The General Lee was absent from the screenshots. The screenshots did not show a complete picture of the top of the roof, but the angles were good enough that one should have been able to see the flag had it been there. The flag was later added to the car and is present in the current version of the game on both consoles.
Trivia[]
- This game features 00 and Buzz that was talked about in The Dukes of Hazzard: The Reunion. Buzz and 00 previously appeared the first video game, The Dukes of Hazzard: Racing for Home. Bo and Luke also loose in a race to 00.
- Bo and Luke talk about getting parts for the General when it was all black. This ties into the story from Happy Birthday, General Lee.
- This game makes a few references to One-Armed Bandits
- Luke teases Bo for liking a female representative of the Orphanage
- A Re-Elect Rosco P. Coltrane as Sheriff poster is hanging on the Boars Nest and other buildings around Hazzard, just like the pilot when the Dukes were saving the Orphanage.
- In both stories, Boss wants the land the Orphanage is on to build a new business.
- The boys give credit to someone else for saving the Orphanage. In the first episode it was Rosco. This time it's Boss.
- The Balladeer mentions Luke running moonshine up to the Coal Mines, and it's implied that Bo did not go with him.
- Since Bo is younger it is possible Luke had done some moonshine runs for their Uncle without Bo, or that Bo and Luke ran a few shine runs on their own.
- Daisy drives the Road Runner in this game. In the previous game, Cooter had restored Daisy's old roadrunner and gifted it to her for Independence Day.
- This game features the plan used in Dukes Meet Cale Yarborough, using three identical General Lee's to confuse the law enforcement.