Pure - Hands On

By Tristan Clark

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Pure is an upcoming dirt racer in a similar vein to Motorstorm. But as we found out with our hands on time with the game, it’s got its own set of features that sets it apart from the pack.

The similarities to other games in the genre are obvious at first glance: you choose or create your own quad bike, select a racer, and speed along a series of off-road tracks. The basic gameplay feels reassuringly tight – the vehicles are responsive and handle well (although you’re always going to spin out of control if you’re not racing carefully). It has quite an arcade feel to it – on the lower difficulty levels at least, you can get through races without touching the brakes at all. Mind you, that does leave you open to a few crashes, but at least they look satisfyingly brutal!

The racing itself is fast and frantic, as it should be – the developers have really nailed down what the racing experience should be about, so you’ll find yourself coming back time and again for one more race. What sets the gameplay apart is the tricks system, which encourages you to pull off increasingly risky moves as you make jump after enormous jump. It’s easy to bottom out at first, but if you manage to pull a trick off, you’ll get access to new ones. It’s seems like a simple yet effective addition to simply sitting back and marveling at the heights your racer will get to.

From what we saw, the game should offer the usual array of modes and options. The garage lets you create your own quad, allowing you to customise its look and how it will handle. You can then take your ride into single races or a meatier championship mode.

The graphics are pretty lush and detailed, and some of the vistas you see at the height of a jump are pretty impressive. Models are equally detailed, and brought to life with some fun physics – it’s great to see a biker tumble down in front of you, sans bike, after they screw up a trick in the air. A high quality set of sound effects help round out a package that’s as fast, kinetic, and intense as you’d hope it would be.

All in all, we’ve got high hopes for this one – it looks like a dirt racer that ticks all the boxes. We’re not sure if it’ll hold up in the long run – stay tuned for our full review in the coming weeks to find out if it can compete with the likes of Motorstorm!

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ReplyPosted by Ruptunex on 20 August 2008, 10:56PM

What's with all the racers!!!??

 

ReplyPosted by BlackRetina on 21 August 2008, 03:53PM

Baja: Edge of Control looks better.

 

ReplyPosted by Naeberius on 21 August 2008, 03:55PM

fuel is expensive
these are alternatives

 

ReplyPosted by Nocturnalfreakshow on 23 August 2008, 08:13AM

Baja looks dull, at least in Pure it looks like you can lauch yourself off , like big mountians and huge chasms.

Baja is just like mtorstorm, totally limited to the ground...yawn... gimme BIG AIR!!!