- RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED LIMITED EDITION REVIEW CODE
- RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED LIMITED EDITION REVIEW SERIES
In Ridge's Domination Races that serve as the game's crux, hitting the power button gives you a speed boost and temporarily enables you to 'frag' rival racers or destroy designated targets on the track. You powerslide, tailgate or smash up scenery to build your power or boost meter (depending on the race type you're participating in), then unleash it at the most opportune moment. The core conceit is simple, and takes a leaf out of the book of Burnout. With cars the size of barges that are also built like tanks, you're able to demolish small walls and pillars emerging with nary a scratch, with the general rule of thumb that if it's smaller than your car, chances are you can plough on through it unscathed. Each are essential in the game's numerous races through the meandering streets of Shatter City, where smashing through various designated landmarks is a wonderful, instantly gratifying secondary objective. With development duties handed over to Finnish FlatOut studio, Bugbear Entertainment, Ridge Racer: Unbounded is all about destruction and domination over executing ludicrous powerslides, although that's still very much the lynchpin for Unbounded's core mechanic, the power or boost.
RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED LIMITED EDITION REVIEW SERIES
Ridge Racer: Unbounded is an almost completely different beast altogether, but the fun and arcade-centric heart of the series is still very much alive and well. Only some of those elements have made the cut for Ridge Racer's dark half however, as the yang to the series' usual bright and breezy yin. Sony and Microsoft had better be careful or their machines could sound too prohibitive and grumpy compared with Wii U, which will get a year’s head start on them.Ĭontact Doug Elfman at He blogs at /elfman.Here's how you know you're playing a Ridge Racer game: there's palm trees, sandy beaches, azure blue skies, a helicopter occasionally swooping down dangerously close to your car, there's a mental techno soundtrack and you can powerslide at impossible angles. It will be backward-compatible and will feature an iPad-like hand controller with a 6-inch touchscreen. Meanwhile, Nintendo’s high-definition Wii U comes out for the 2012 holidays.
RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED LIMITED EDITION REVIEW CODE
Three out of four stars.)ĬONSOLE NEWS: Reputable video game sites have reported sourced rumors that the PlayStation 4 and the next Xbox system might come out during the 2013 holidays.Īn even newsier rumor suggests the next Xbox will require it being run online at all gaming times, which could somehow hurt the used-game market.Īnd the PlayStation 4 is rumored not to be backward-compatible (unable to play PS 3 games), while requiring a purchase code to play, thereby hurting the used-game market. Rated “T” for mild language, mild violence. (“Ridge Racer Unbounded” by Namco Bandai retails for $50 for PS 3 and Xbox 360 - Plays fun. Personally, I need a car with top-rated acceleration and handling to move fluidly, and there aren’t enough of those cars in “Unbounded.”Įven so, overall, this is a fun and difficult racer (with an online multiplayer), as long as you’re cool with those few caveats. But in the most difficult races, all it takes is one car to bump you, and you spin out and lose. Yes, in the light races, you can crash a few times and win. They seem worse to handle than unicycles.Īnd handling is important in the hardest races. 2: You must earn points to unlock supposedly better cars, but I hate most cars I unlocked. I eventually muted the sound and listened to podcasts.Ĭomplaint No. 1: Since there’s no plot or voice-over narrative (which is true of racers generally), you hear only repetitive music and sound effects. Other events are “frag attacks,” in which your impervious car must ram a certain number of rival cars during a brief timer.
Some are time trials (boring), or drift challenges in which you merely turn corners for points (horrible). Most events are races with explosions (very fun). (Although, many tracks feel like the same tracks.) And there are more than 50 separate racing events, on city roads, to conquer. Some people have compared it to “Split/Second,” but I like “Unbounded” more. So officially, “Unbounded” is a combat-racer (without rocket launchers). “Unbounded” feels more like a wild “Need for Speed” game, because it’s more illustrated than usual (less realism), it comes with a magical turbo button, and you’re encouraged to make other cars wreck. When you first get under the hood of “Unbounded,” it doesn’t feel like previous “Ridge Racer” games, which focused more on technical driving mechanics. That’s the modus operandi of “Ridge Racer Unbounded” - speed, crash, yet victory. And even if you suffer a wreck or two within the same race, you can still win. The premise of most racing games is: It’s fun to drive 272 mph.