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Ridge Racer Unbounded
00:42, 24th Aug 2011
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Although it’s been more than four years since the last full
Ridge Racer title hit the shelves and perhaps more than a decade since
it was in its prime, it seems there are still a lot of ardent fans out there. And when Namco announced this bold departure into Burnout territory, those fans were quick to scream their disapproval across the internet with little optimism for this spin-off.
The developer (which previously brought us the FlatOut series) can’t mention the game without emphasising the fact that this isn’t Ridge Racer 8 and is instead a new standalone project – but that doesn’t mean the drift-heavy stylings of the franchise aren’t clearly present. However, by dousing the action with Burnout-style takeouts and a clichéd
storyline lifted straight from any Need for Speed released between the years of 2003 and 2008, it all begins to feel a little too familiar.
If you at all care about the plot in an arcade racer, you’re an underground racing driver who joins up with a street gang in the fictional city of Shutter Bay – and you have to take over the town by driving really fast and trashing the place as you go. Yep, destruction
is big on Unbounded’s agenda, with vast amounts of items and buildings
that can be smashed through and sent crumbling to the ground, either to cut yourself a neat shortcut or to hinder the other cars around you.
There’s an air of Split/Second about the way you’ll need to build up a
power meter and then use it to spark a stylish set-piece, with a scale ranging from blowing up gas tanks to bringing down whole bridges. Although with persistent damage throughout you’ll need to keep an eye out for that debris on the next lap, or look for one of a number of alternate paths through what look like very open courses. During our demo from the game’s producer, Joonas Laakso, he pointed out that exploration is a key feature of Unbounded.
Having seen the game in action, Unbounded is certainly taking the
fast and furious route. The opposing AI are a nasty bunch and within a few corners Joonas has been smashed into a wall and totalled his car.
And in true Burnout fashion, this seems likely to be a regular occurrence, with the game quickly dropping you back into the action without too much of a penalty. We’re told the AI will set traps and aggressively hunt you down – as you will to them – but it will adapt its difficulty to suit your performance so it should remains a challenge without being overbearing for a novice...
Ridge Racer title hit the shelves and perhaps more than a decade since
it was in its prime, it seems there are still a lot of ardent fans out there. And when Namco announced this bold departure into Burnout territory, those fans were quick to scream their disapproval across the internet with little optimism for this spin-off.
The developer (which previously brought us the FlatOut series) can’t mention the game without emphasising the fact that this isn’t Ridge Racer 8 and is instead a new standalone project – but that doesn’t mean the drift-heavy stylings of the franchise aren’t clearly present. However, by dousing the action with Burnout-style takeouts and a clichéd
storyline lifted straight from any Need for Speed released between the years of 2003 and 2008, it all begins to feel a little too familiar.
If you at all care about the plot in an arcade racer, you’re an underground racing driver who joins up with a street gang in the fictional city of Shutter Bay – and you have to take over the town by driving really fast and trashing the place as you go. Yep, destruction
is big on Unbounded’s agenda, with vast amounts of items and buildings
that can be smashed through and sent crumbling to the ground, either to cut yourself a neat shortcut or to hinder the other cars around you.
There’s an air of Split/Second about the way you’ll need to build up a
power meter and then use it to spark a stylish set-piece, with a scale ranging from blowing up gas tanks to bringing down whole bridges. Although with persistent damage throughout you’ll need to keep an eye out for that debris on the next lap, or look for one of a number of alternate paths through what look like very open courses. During our demo from the game’s producer, Joonas Laakso, he pointed out that exploration is a key feature of Unbounded.
Having seen the game in action, Unbounded is certainly taking the
fast and furious route. The opposing AI are a nasty bunch and within a few corners Joonas has been smashed into a wall and totalled his car.
And in true Burnout fashion, this seems likely to be a regular occurrence, with the game quickly dropping you back into the action without too much of a penalty. We’re told the AI will set traps and aggressively hunt you down – as you will to them – but it will adapt its difficulty to suit your performance so it should remains a challenge without being overbearing for a novice...
SUMMARY
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