I got this today on the basis that I quite enjoyed the demo, despite the fact that they couldn't really have released this at a worse time. So soon after Halo 3 and so close to Project Gotham Racing 4. It shows, as the online community at the moment for this is painfully small.
It's a damn shame, because the game is actually pretty bloody good.
Despite the online population being so small, I haven't touched the offline mode so I can't comment on the solo career at all.
Where i've been playing from the start, is the Xbox Live Career, a career mode completely seperate to the offline mode. Buy yourself a starting car and enter the beginning series of races, then head out into the rookie channel where you get to pick an event. It tells you what events have people looking at them and playing them, and you can bring up a full player list that tells you when somebody's waiting for opponents, or whether somebody wants to play a particular race, so i've never found it difficult to play online against someone despite only a few people playing. A very good thing.
To advance to the next series, you need to complete a certain number of objectives. This can be anything from finishing a circuit race in 3rd place or above, to obtaining so many seconds of airtime in one race, to breaking a certain speed milestone. Once you've completed so many tasks, you have to race a promotion race to advance to the next series.
Any places that aren't taken up by human players, are taken up by AI. Also, a very good thing.
Before the race starts, you get to check out the other's rides, their performance ratings, and if they're selling their car, you can even buy it off them there and then on the starting line. Otherwise, you can approach another player and place a bet with them. If you beat them in the race, you win the bet, regardless of the race winnings.
Even spectating, you can bet on who will win! Just watch races and place bets on who you think will be first.
Each racer has a DNA rating. This is basically your EXP. You have a DNA rating in certain things, such as overtaking, nitrous use, drifting, etc. The game learns how you do certain things, and changes your DNA accordingly. If you're a really rough driver, smashing into players to overtake them, your overtaking DNA will turn red. If you're a very careful, smooth driver, your overtaking DNA will turn blue. The more you do a certain thing, the more advanced that DNA becomes. Essentially, a driver AI of yourself that builds as you play.
It also means you can tell, before you race, what kind of racer they are. Whether they use rough tactics to get past or whether they're clean. You can also download their DNA and race against an AI representation offline.
The handling is VERY arcade. As the eurogamer review points out, very much more like Ridge Racer than Need For Speed. Taking corners at full whack, drifting round hairpins to raise your nitrous gauge before letting it loose on a straight. Incredibly good fun.
Graphically, it's a bit hit and miss. Framerate is stable throughout, however some in-car views are very glitchy (Nissan Skyline especially, where the steering wheel goes through the hands and the dashboard just looks really, really weird with lighting), and there's visible scenery pop-up on some stages.
Overall though, i'm having a hell of a lot of fun online. And despite PGR4 coming out soon, if you're an arcade racing fan at all, i'm pretty sure you'll find this different enough to enjoy beside it.
It's a damn shame, because the game is actually pretty bloody good.
Despite the online population being so small, I haven't touched the offline mode so I can't comment on the solo career at all.
Where i've been playing from the start, is the Xbox Live Career, a career mode completely seperate to the offline mode. Buy yourself a starting car and enter the beginning series of races, then head out into the rookie channel where you get to pick an event. It tells you what events have people looking at them and playing them, and you can bring up a full player list that tells you when somebody's waiting for opponents, or whether somebody wants to play a particular race, so i've never found it difficult to play online against someone despite only a few people playing. A very good thing.
To advance to the next series, you need to complete a certain number of objectives. This can be anything from finishing a circuit race in 3rd place or above, to obtaining so many seconds of airtime in one race, to breaking a certain speed milestone. Once you've completed so many tasks, you have to race a promotion race to advance to the next series.
Any places that aren't taken up by human players, are taken up by AI. Also, a very good thing.
Before the race starts, you get to check out the other's rides, their performance ratings, and if they're selling their car, you can even buy it off them there and then on the starting line. Otherwise, you can approach another player and place a bet with them. If you beat them in the race, you win the bet, regardless of the race winnings.
Even spectating, you can bet on who will win! Just watch races and place bets on who you think will be first.
Each racer has a DNA rating. This is basically your EXP. You have a DNA rating in certain things, such as overtaking, nitrous use, drifting, etc. The game learns how you do certain things, and changes your DNA accordingly. If you're a really rough driver, smashing into players to overtake them, your overtaking DNA will turn red. If you're a very careful, smooth driver, your overtaking DNA will turn blue. The more you do a certain thing, the more advanced that DNA becomes. Essentially, a driver AI of yourself that builds as you play.
It also means you can tell, before you race, what kind of racer they are. Whether they use rough tactics to get past or whether they're clean. You can also download their DNA and race against an AI representation offline.
The handling is VERY arcade. As the eurogamer review points out, very much more like Ridge Racer than Need For Speed. Taking corners at full whack, drifting round hairpins to raise your nitrous gauge before letting it loose on a straight. Incredibly good fun.
Graphically, it's a bit hit and miss. Framerate is stable throughout, however some in-car views are very glitchy (Nissan Skyline especially, where the steering wheel goes through the hands and the dashboard just looks really, really weird with lighting), and there's visible scenery pop-up on some stages.
Overall though, i'm having a hell of a lot of fun online. And despite PGR4 coming out soon, if you're an arcade racing fan at all, i'm pretty sure you'll find this different enough to enjoy beside it.
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