![]() It’s hard to say if they’ve improved the player chances, but with the all new Burnout style takedowns in races makes for a different dynamic to what RR fans will be used to. With 11 opponents on the track at times, you’re facing off against some stiff unrelenting competition, which if I recall correctly were pretty cheap in RR6. You’ll also gain extra boosts for completing various bonus actions such as speed drifts etc. What’s new in Unbounded are the city circuits filled with destructive buildings and objects which are used to create short cuts and gain boost bonuses. The city is divided into regions – which you can unlock more as you progress – and within each area you can participate in various race types and events such as drifting for score, timed runs or even using a giant rig to smash up cop cars. You’ll get owned in the very first race of many races spread across Shatter city, but the idea is to learn and use the points to unlock more vehicles. The AI is unforgiving, and there’s little in the way of easing the playing in gently. I have to stress this with the utmost importance. ![]() I found the drifting aspect to be a little cumbersome at first, but I stuck with it and once I learned the elements of correct positioning, and counter steering to avoid spinning out, the races became fast, furious and edge of your seat bouts as opposed to pad throwing bundles of annoyance. ![]() The core mechanics are very much rigid and if you attempt to race in a more conventional manner, you’ll end making tasks harder than they should be. This is key to winning races, and what’s imperative is using the boost at the right times rather than wasting it. What makes a return is the boost feature which builds a meter every time you either drift or slipstream an opponent. The idea is to hit a button as you approach corners and then slide round them without hitting the walls or buildings to maintain momentum and speed. The core racing remains with the same principle as RR6 where you’re circuit racing around tracks but unique to this game set in the fictitious locale of Shatter Bay which seems to be based on New York, although somewhat different in many ways. It’s been a while since the last Ridge Racer game on consoles (I reviewed Ridge Racer 6 way back in 2005), and so now in 2012 we have Ridge Racer Unbounded to contend with. There’s always been a slick presentation with these games, with an onus on swift progression and unlocking things whether that be new cars, or circuits. Where once, and maybe twice mastery of the drift controls were a must, later games introduced varying styles of vehicles to accommodate player styles, so grip cars were also introduced. Namco’s Ridge Racer series has had a long run since appearing in the arcades over ten years ago, but since its many iterations on consoles, the series has not changed the basic drift formula very much.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |