<\/p>\n

I admit that I’m not much of a gear head when it comes to driving or playing racing games. \u00a0I find that arcade racers that lean a bit toward the realistic but offer plenty of\u00a0spectacle\u00a0are games that sit just right in my wheelhouse. \u00a0Kart racers are usually too “cartoony” and suffer from rubber banding which ultimately causes more frustration than fun. \u00a0Realistic driving simulations can be fun but I often find myself quickly being inundated with jargon that comes off as complete Greek. \u00a0Sure, I’ve replaced brakes on an old car once or twice, but I also drive to work everyday fending off the speeding morons on the Detroit Autobaun more commonly known as 696. \u00a0Driving in a realistic world happens everyday, albeit in an average four-door coupe. \u00a0I don’t need to play a video game to escape into a dramatic racing world that I’ll never experience first hand. \u00a0Instead, give me a game that has enough real world handling, but a bit more excitement and no real consequences if I accidentally ram my car into another vehicle or a building.<\/p>\n

Ridge Racer Unbounded<\/em> pieces together almost the perfect amount of real world driving, spectacular crashes, unlockable course building and online racing to build the engine of a\u00a0competent arcade racing simulation. \u00a0Unlike traditional Ridge Racer<\/em> titles, Unbounded<\/em> feels more like the next Burnout<\/em> title, but with some of the original drifting\u00a0tendencies. \u00a0The game loads with a bit of a bland menu offering up single player, multiplayer, creative and statistic selections. \u00a0Choosing single player, a map of fictional city Shatter Bay is displayed with nine regions in the city hosting seven specific events in each.<\/p>\n

The individual events include Domination Race, Shindo Race, Drift Attack, Time Attack, and Frag Attack. \u00a0Domination races are your general race events mixing demolition crashes, drifting for power boosts and finishing third, second or first. \u00a0Shindo racing is all about style and drifting behind the wheel of beautifully designed high-end sports cars all the while trying to fill the boost meter to stay as far ahead of the rest of the racers as possible. \u00a0Drift Attack revolves around trying to drift for a certain distance to gain third, second or first place. \u00a0The longer the drift, the more time is added back to the ever-diminishing timer. Drifting is fun, but I find that the other event types are more engaging. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Time Attack reminds me of TrackMania<\/em> and the crazy courses with half-pipe ramps designed to force high speed racing while the car is upside down. \u00a0As with the drifting races, Time Attack has a countdown timer which can be stopped by collecting blue icons floating throughout the race. Frag Attack is just what it sounds like: Race against the clock while trying to take out as many other racers before the timer stops. \u00a0The twist to Frag Attack is that sometimes you are racing in a huge semi, crashing through\u00a0barricades,\u00a0sidewalk debris, and bridge support columns, all for the sake of filling the boost meter to charge at police vehicles.<\/p>\n

Now I’m not condoning reckless driving, but there is a child-like giddiness that builds as you speed through a detailed city block, ramming other race cars and bursting through entire buildings to open shortcuts that driving in the real world just would never allow. \u00a0The fun factor in Ridge Racer Unbounded<\/em> is spot on. \u00a0The challenge is then balancing fun with actually coming out on top in any given race. \u00a0<\/p>\n

As I mentioned earlier, each region of the city has seven unique races. \u00a0During each race, points are earned for fragging other cars, bursting through buildings, hitting jumps and staying in the air for great distances, drifting for long stretches or just driving at top speeds for long distances. \u00a0Adding to those points are the place finishing points. \u00a0Third place nets 5000, second 10,000, and first earns 15,000 points. \u00a0These points are then applied in two different areas. \u00a0Events in each region unlock by gaining a specific number of points. \u00a0Your driver also levels up with the points earned from each race. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Leveling up the driver unlocks new car types which allow different (and sometimes better) cars to choose from within each race event. \u00a0With this type of point system in place, Unbounded<\/em> offers plenty of replay value, but it can also be a bit frustrating. \u00a0I found myself replaying the same races several times over and over again, often times restarting if the initial start didn’t fall in line right away. \u00a0All for the sake of unlocking additional content. \u00a0Fortunately, the point system for leveling up the driver accumulates and continues to build at the end of each race which means that better cars are just a race or two away if one particular event is unbeatable with the current supply of cars. Unfortunately, however, if the points earned in a race are not more than the previous run, those points don’t add up. Thus later events in a particular region remain locked until enough points are earned.<\/p>\n

Multiplayer in Unbounded<\/em> consists of racing with live opponents as well as racing on user-created tracks. \u00a0Points earned during these races apply toward your driver level and the system can almost be gamed by finding certain player created levels that do nothing more than artificially boost points and provide cheap power leveling. \u00a0I’m not saying that is a bad thing. \u00a0In fact, I think some of the most fun I have had with the game is playing player-made tracks that seemingly have destructive boost points every three or four seconds causing a cacophony of slow motion destruction and chaos. \u00a0The player created levels are great, but getting into online matches is even more fun. \u00a0Maybe I’m a bit jaded after having no fun with the online Twisted Metal<\/em> experience, but it is nice to load up Unbounded<\/em>, select multiplayer and just hop right into a match without waiting for a game to start.<\/p>\n

Track creation is handled by first picking which type of race (Time Attack, Domination, Frag, etc.) and then creating the general shape of the track. \u00a0Then the track editor switches to placing various objects throughout the course, either explosions, barricades, or jumps. \u00a0The editor itself is fairly simple and easy to use, and any objects placed on the course are either green (meaning they can be added) or red (meaning there isn’t enough room for that particular object). \u00a0Once the shape is set and any obstacles are put into place, the editor allows players to test the track before publishing for public sharing. \u00a0As you level up as a driver, track editor themes and objects become unlocked.<\/p>\n

Load times throughout the game are a bit of a disappointment. \u00a0Events take a while to load, but resetting while a race that has already been loaded takes only seconds (which is a great thing for perfectionists). \u00a0After events are complete the game saves progress, but at a snail’s pace. \u00a0While the races can take a few minutes to run, I felt that a lot of my time was spent staring at loading or saving screens. \u00a0One other thing I feel I need to call out about the game is the over use of orange in the color palette. Many of the races are set during dusk and a range of orange hues shower the screen somewhat dulling an otherwise vibrant game.<\/p>\n

Overall, Ridge Racer Unbounded<\/em> is a fun fusion of arcade-style street racing and community-driven track creation. \u00a0Mixing Burnout<\/em> with Ridge Racer<\/em> works well, but fans of the Ridge Racer<\/em> series may not be getting exactly what they think they are. Anyone looking at Unbounded<\/em> to be the next installment of “traditional” Ridge Racer<\/em>, may initially be put off by the sudden changes. Gamers looking for the next shiny new racing game to drive, however, shouldn’t think twice about taking Unbounded<\/em> for a joyride.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Pros:<\/strong>
\n+ Fun, destructive racing
\n+ Track creator is easy to use
\n+ Lots of variety in race types<\/p>\n

Cons:<\/strong>
\n– Load times can be a nuisance
\n– Heavy reliance on orange<\/p>\n

Game Info:<\/strong>
\nPlatform: Reviewed on PS3, also available for PC and Xbox 360
\nPublisher: Namco Bandai
\nDeveloper: Bugbear Entertainment
\nRelease Date: 3\/27\/2012
\nGenre: Racing
\nESRB Rating: Teen
\nPlayers: 1-4
\nSource: Review copy provided by publisher<\/p>\n