The very first thing that struck home about Pure was that it is published by Disney of all people. You know? Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Little Mermaid - YES THAT DISNEY. A company not known for its 'XTREME' off-road adventures or equally gritty sojourns into remote deserts or wastelands. And the very fact that Disney is indeed behind this game should give you an indication as to the positive direction the company as a publisher is taking itself. And if all its future releases are as good as Pure, then they (and we the general gaming public) are definitely in for a bright future.
For those of you reading about the game for the very first time - a sin for which you'd actually be forgiven, as the game's not been released with any real sort of grand fanfare or pre-release hype injection - Pure is an ATV (that's All Terrain Vehicle - or quad bike to you or I) racing game, that features death defying stunts and tricks, crazy (but still realistic) off road courses and a whole host of vehicle upgrades and modifications.
Developed by Black Rock Studios (previously Climax Racing) whose back catalogue includes the Moto GP and ATV Offroad Fury franchises, the fact that Pure is a bloody good game shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone in the know. Though I'll be honest and admit that I'm far from being indeed 'in the know' with respects to this genre as I haven't even played any of the aforementioned. A fact which as it turns out, is highly likely to be much to my detriment.
OK, so now we've got the facts out the way and now that we've ascertained that I actually like Pure quite a lot, let's break things down. The second thing that struck me about Pure is how much like the SSX games it is, and more specifically SSX Tricky.
You see the game utilises a risk vs reward system whereby the harder and more insane the trick you manage to pull off, the more boost you receive. Your boost is stored in a meter that is divided into 3 sections with each section relating to a different, and increasing-in-difficulty set of tricks. The first part of your meter is for the easiest to pull off A button tricks, the second part is for more intermediate B button tricks while the third and final part is for advanced Y button tricks. Max out the whole of the meter and you're granted the ability to perform super tricks which are carried out by pressing both bumpers in conjunction with a direction on the analogue stick to determine the specific trick. Super tricks are over-the-top and as ostentatious as they come and include such delights as the propeller and the superman seat grab, however they do take time to perform and require you to get some serious air time before attempting.
In addition to performing A, B and Y button tricks, the bumpers are also used to tweak each individual trick further - which when combined with super tricks prompts the SSX comparisons. It's also possible to flip your ATV forwards or backwards or rotate it left and right while in mid air. And this trick system is largely a success as it brilliantly manages to be both intuitive and easy to follow while still allowing for intricate complexities and insane combos.
Progression through the game follows a traditional and familiar format with challenges split into groups, with points awarded for your finishing position within each and challenges are split into three different types: 3 lap races, 5 lap sprints and race-until-you-run-out-of-fuel freestyle trick competitions. With 16 challengers in each event, the action is fast and frenetic and the aggressive AI drivers make for an entertaining challenge as they constantly jostle for position and aggressively bash into you if you happen to get in their way. It also helps that the game manages to keep up with the speed and intensity of things with nary a skipped frame in sight and delicious visuals that complement the action.
The game also features an extensive build your own ATV section and rewards you with new and improved parts for your quad as you progress. The initial profile creation section of the game tasks you, (if you so choose) with building your own quad bike completely from scratch, choosing every individual element such as handlebars, suspension rods, wheels and tyres etc. It's a section that it's clear a lot of care and attention has gone into, and even though I know absolutely nothing about the finer workings of an ATV, I could still appreciate that this part of the game was clearly made with a lot of loving attention to detail and those of you that do know your sprockets from your calipers will definitely be attracted to being able to tweak your ATV down to the smallest of details.
Pure also reminds me of Rainbow Studios' Motocross Madness series as your rider will quite literally in some instances, fly through the air arms and legs flailing if it all goes tits up, and the cinematic brutal crash landings all positively add to the overall experience.
And so as we draw to a close, at this point I'd usually write a few paragraphs about the criticisms I have with the game but I'm actually really struggling to put my finger on anything too specific to complain about. There is of course a danger that the game's races and challenges become slightly repetitive over time, particularly as some of the game's tracks are repeated throughout. But even this is clutching at straws as eventual repetition is a complaint that can be levelled at pretty much any game. And even after having played the game for a few days now I'm still very much enjoying it and the prospect of Xbox Live multiplayer combined with the inevitable further tweaking and 'levelling up' of my ATV to make it even faster and grippier still holds plenty of appeal.
If I was going to be really picky I could criticise the lack of a replay option and the lack of imagination applied to the game's achievements - you're mainly rewarded for general progression through the game - but in all honesty, dwelling on these minors would be criticisms for criticisms' sake and the game deserves all the praise it gets.
So overall then, Pure is an enjoyable delight for those of you with an interest in extreme racing, and even those of you, like myself, who just fancy a break from the norm. Move over Motorstorm, there's a new mudslinger in town.
Let's take a look at five racing games/series that have largely been forgotten about, but in their day, were actually pretty awesome.
Rumble Racing was really good so was Pure. I was always sad they did not release more of Rumble Racing. It was nascar but in an arcade form which was fun to the average fan.
Replies(1)Motorstorm
Daytona
Ridge Racer
Destruction Derby
Road Rash
Jet Moto And so many more.
Major Nelson has confirmed 3 more games arriving for Xbox One via Backwards Compatibility.
Major Nelson writes "Here are all of the Countdown offers + this week’s Deals With Gold and Spotlight Sale. Countdown discounts are valid now through 07 January 2016; Deals With Gold and Spotlight Sale discounts are valid now through 04 January 2016."
alien isolation for 7.5 is a steal such a great game and got burnout paradise for 3 dollars, never play burnout but heard good things so i am going to try it when it becomes backwards compatible
