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PURE XBOX 360 REVIEW |
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Once in
awhile, you’ll get a different kind of racing,
the kind that involves ATV and the wild outback.
Disney astonished us that it had published their
very own off-road title called Pure. Needless to
say, the game is surprisingly good, packing in
some of the best gravity-defying jumps and the
wildest stunts! Pure reminds us of SSX Tricky on
the original Xbox. The gameplay mechanics may be
similar in design but the action is established
in a completely different territory. Black Rock
Studio, the developer, has taken the ATV concept
and blasted it with a kick, giving gamers a
whole new meaning to the word “thrill-ride”. The
controls are simple – you load up on your jump,
press one of the face buttons, then push the
thumbstick in any direction to pull off a crazy
stunt. Performing a more complex maneuver will
quickly jack up your boost meter. Once your
boost meter is full, you can unleash various
kinds of special moves.
While it’s exhilarating to execute different
types of tricks, landing them requires
precision. The reason being is that these stunts
are built on a risk-versus-reward system, much
like the old saying goes: no pain, no gain.
There is no doubt that you’ll get huge reward
for strutting off your technical skills, but as
you do those special tricks, you also increase
the danger of your character crashing. If you
don’t complete the trick before landing, you'll
not only be chocking up on dirt but also scrape
off some of your boost and valuable position! As
you build up on your boost meter, you’ll gain
access to a more advanced trick collection,
which in turn earns you bigger boost. As you can
see, there’s always a trade-off in progress
here. The same can be said when you keep tapping
down on nitros; there is no doubt you need boost
to stay ahead of your competition, but
inadequate boosters restrict you from pulling
off various extreme stunts! Again, this is
another dilemma that you’ll have to face during
the course of the race.
Pure comes with a flight of single-player
events. You’ve got Sprints, Freestyle, Standard,
and World Tour. Sprints are mostly about
break-neck speed. These are short races and the
fun part of it is trying to stay within the
racing line. In Freestyle, your main focus is
about showing off your "wild side". The tracks
are compounded with power-ups and multipliers;
these provide opportunities to instantly max out
your boost bar so that you can take advantage of
the special tricks; and in return, this will
give you the potential to rack up on major
points. What’s fun about Freestyle is that you
can catch a lot of big air and you get to
experiment on various outrageous stunts. You
keep going until you ran out of gas. Standard
events are a mix between Sprints and Freestyle.
Your goal is to sprint to the finish line in
first place, and at the same time trying to
fulfill the need to pull off tricks and earn
boost. In this mode, you’ll definitely want to
make strategies ahead of time, to save you from
being burned by the pack or left into the dust. |
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PRODUCT
OVERALL RATING: 8.0 OUT OF 10 |
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Of the
single-player modes, World Tour is where the
game shines. The races here are consistently
thrilling as you go through the ranks. You start
off with a relatively weak competition in the
early events but as you work through different
tours, you’ll find the opposition to be more
aggressive and quite fierce. You’ll be choosing
from six riders and whether you choose male or
female, there is no practical difference between
them. What sets the tone of the game is having
the right ATV. From the rugged chasis to the
350cc twin-cylinder engines, you’ll appreciate
the customization that Pure offers. For those
individuals who aren’t grease monkeys, there is
the auto-build option. This will allow you to
avoid the technicalities of building your bike
piece by piece and get right into the action.
The best part of World Tour is unlocking many of
the new parts for your ride and use them to
optimize and enhance your racing experience.
In the gameplay department, Pure provides plenty
of entertainment. The action here is intense and
even with 16 players bumping and grinding at
each other, the frame rate stays smooth
throughout. The physics may not be accurately
realistic but they give you the feeling of raw
off-road experience, such as the roughness of
the track as you powerslide through the curves,
as well as the feel of your tires digging in
deep into the dirt. Graphically, the game is
amazing. The amount of details that go into
racing bring the world of ATV to life. You’ll
see numerous special effects like splashes from
puddles when you make your hairpin turn. When
you wipe out, you’ll wince from the vicarious
pain as your player is dragged across the rough
terrain. Many of the dirt roads make up the look
and feel of what is like in the outback. What’s
more is that Pure delivers a sense of speed
without compromising the smooth animation.
The tracks look impressive. You’ll be racing in
different parts of the world from the main land
USA to the coastal landscape of Thailand. To
make sure you have the best angles on the
action, Black Rock Studio has even brought in a
helicopter in each stage to capture all your
insane tricks! In the audio department, Pure
maintains its superb sound system. The game
captures all the roaring effects that go into an
ATV engine – not only that but also the external
clatters like sliding and grinding on hard mud
with your tires. The music offers a raucous
collection of soundtracks that keep the
adrenaline going and the pace fast and furious.
The only downside to the audio system is the
repetitive announcer, which can be annoying at
times. Thankfully, this is just a small
technical hiccup in contrast to what the game
offers on the bigger picture.
Despite the game being associated with the SSX
titles, we can’t deny the fact that Pure is an
incredible reproduction of extreme sport. The
game provides high adrenaline entertainment with
its raucous music and impressive trick system.
The action is very intense and at the same time,
unbelievably smooth. What makes Pure so
interesting is the intuitive risk-versus-rewards
system that has you instituting decisions on the
fly. Not to mention the controls are very
accessible, too, which will suit both casual
gamers and sim players alike. Creating your very
own ATV with the ability to jack up its
performance is half the fun. But the real
excitement stems from being able to land those
outrageous tricks! Thanks to the game’s visceral
presentation, you’ll definitely feel the weight
and the thrilling sensation of what ATV racing
is all about. Pure comes out to be an incredibly
exciting off-road package – purely fun and
purely addicting. |
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