Shindo Racing is more about speed, with no destructive targets to be had. all of these things contribute to your score in Domination Races. Drifting, blasting through buildings, destroying targets, taking out opponents in creative ways. Domination Races are races, first and foremost, so you're trying to come in first - or as close to it as you can manage - but you're also awarded points to your score for wreaking general havoc on the city and your opponents. Regardless of your arena, be it single player, multiplayer or user-submitted content, there are a few different types of races available.
(But you don't have to take my word for it.
so I'm not going to be selling the movie rights anytime soon, but there's just something about rampaging around a city in the dead of night, rolling semi-trucks out of your way in an attempt to take out as many as you can within your five minute time limit that is somehow cathartic and soothing. In Fleet Enemy, you play the part of a policeman who has to attempt to single-handedly take down a gang of rogue commercial truckers in the middle of the night. My most popular track to date is in my city, "Annistonia" (named for Psibabe) and is called, Fleet Enemy. Special challenges highlight user content, challenging players to attempt to beat the creators' scores on their own tracks.
Basically, you are given the ability to make your own tracks and events, pack them up in a city of your own creation and then publish your new city to the Ridge Racer Unbounded server, where players all over the world can download and try out your handiwork. There is also a normal online Multiplayer, which has you racing in the same types of events and locations as are featured in the Single Player Mode, but against real-life opponents over the Internet.įor me, however, the biggest draw is the Track Editor and the Cities of the World.
You initially have a single event available to you, but as you earn points in the events, others become unlocked and available to you.
First, there's the Story Mode, which has you progressing through a series of events, tracks and sections of a city. Ridge Racer Undbounded has a few very different feeling offerings inside. Unbounded brings with it some of the destructive fun found in the Burnout series, and, personally, I think the game is quite fun whether it should be in the Ridge Racer series is something that fans can argue back and forth, ad infinitum, I'm sure. Die-hard fans may feel that it's far from the original Ridge Racer game, but in all honesty, there's been good deal of movement and evolution in the feel of the series. Namco saw what Bugbear Entertainment was doing and thought that, with a little bit of massaging, it could be an installment in the Ridge Racer franchise. It's presented as a Ridge Racer game, but originally, it was going to be a completely different game. I've taken to using YouTube to provide Dubstep soundtracks for me sometimes while I'm playing games, so finding Skrillex present and ready to play was a nice surprise.įans of the Ridge Racer series may be a bit put off with this offering. My favorite audio aspect of Unbounded, however is the variety of Dubstep and Electronic music in the audio selections. Sound effects do the job, from the racing engines to the whine of the Power Boost, the crashing of broken concrete walls and the booms of explosive targets gettin' blowed up. A few things are displayed in an H.U.D., such as your speed and how much energy you've collected towards your next boost. This tends to be just about the right frequency so that it's visible when you want to know the score. Instead, your time, score, kills or other vital scoring information is displayed against the environment in certain sections of the tracks. One nice feature is that there isn't much of a traditional H.U.D. This actually is to be expected for a Ridge Racer title, however, as they have always featured original vehicles.
Unbounded takes the free-reign destruction side of the indestructible car license coin, choosing original cars that show realistic damage, rather than licensed cars that are contractually obligated to remain factory fresh. Ridge Racer Unbounded features a darker setting than previous Ridge Racer games, both visually and thematically, set in the gritty, dirty world of a Dystopian dark future, where government has collapsed and a group of racers who call themselves the "Unbounded" run rampant on the dilapidated streets, fighting for their rights to race and taking over cities all over the world.
We now return to our racing game review already in progress. The preceding has been a public service announcement on behalf of all of my English teachers. Something may be bound, or it may be unbound.