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Ridge Racer Unbounded
Ridge Racer: Unbounded is the latest
instalment of the long standing Ridge Racer series and the first console
release in a number of years. The developers have taken a completely
different direction than previous titles. Fans of the series will not
be guaranteed an enjoyable game as this is something completely
different to previous outings. There are some things that remain
unchanged so that fans of the series still have something to cling on
to.
The
biggest change in Unbounded is that the racing has moved away from
circuit racing and on to the streets. There are no more closed off
walls and there are now explosive shortcuts and trucks that can be used
to gain victory. This is a quantum shift and the game now feels less
like a Ridge Racer and now more like Blur or Burnout. There is no story
whatsoever here; there is no explanation of why they are racing on
streets and no ultimate aim, other than to take over a city for no
particular reason. This provided little motivation to continue racing,
there are a lot of cars but there is little difference between them
other than drive type. There are of course multiplayer and versus modes
here and Unbounded can offer some good pick up and play fun.
There
are a number of different modes featured in Unbounded, Domination
features’ racing that encourages use of shortcuts, takedowns and traps.
Takedowns are taken straight out of Burnout and shortcuts out of various
modern arcade racers. There are also races that focus purely on racing,
this cuts back on takedowns and shortcuts and is pure racing. There are
also some other surprising race types that I won’t spoil, but these are
few and far between. Ultimately Unbounded has taken a bunch of ideas
from other arcade racers and put them all together, this kind of thing
doesn’t generally work but here it all fits together seamlessly and the
racing is tight. There is a very steep learning curve in this title,
with no hand holding and some genuine skill to finish first in any race,
even from quite early on. This provides a great sense of challenge and
can add replay value for those wanting to come first in all the races.
An
aspect that hasn’t changed over the years is the excellent handling
model; Unbounded features the same over the top drifting racing seen in
previous titles. It has been tweaked quite a bit and the cars no longer
feel like they are on rails to the same extent as seen in past
instalments, this takes some time to adapt to but is overall a very
welcome change. Drifting around corners in Unbounded is not only the
fastest way around a corner but it is build up your boost meter, which
when full gives a turbo boost, lets you use shortcuts and perform
takedowns more effectively.
Unbounded looks spectacular, with a wealth of highly detailed cars,
there are limited colours but this hardly an issue. The environments
also look nice and there is some good destruction here too. The cars
show on intense destruction as is also seen in Burnout Paradise,
although these videos do go for a little too long and you will be
skipping them after a couple of races. There is also a strange
occurrence where if you hit a wall straight on it may not trigger one of
their destructions sequences and you will just be looking directly at a
wall.
Ridge
Racer has some excellent sound effects, the engines sound exaggerated
and feel in tone with their appearances. Also the explosions and
takedowns sound appropriately over the top. One aspect of the sound
that worked out surprisingly well was the sound track. This title
features dub step soundtrack, and although I generally am not a fan of
the genre, it fits in perfectly with title and adds to the controlled
chaos that is the racing as a whole.
This
is not Ridge Racer as we know it; it is a complete re-imagining of the
series. For the better or worse Ridge Racer has changed, it is no
longer a circuit racer but it still features similar drift centric
handling. It seems to have just moved with the times, this change may
not appeal to the older fans, who like me like the older games. But may
also appeal to a wider audience, this is worth a look for Ridge Raver
fans and arcade racing fans alike, don’t let the monumental shift simply
turn you off the series. |
