Gamecyte Preview: Pure

''Developed by Disney's UK-based Black Rock Studios (formerly known as Climax Racing, and responsible for THQ's MotoGP and the later ATV Offroad Fury games) Pure is first and foremost a solid ATV racer with spot-on controls, set in beautiful environments modeled on real-world locations. But as you've no doubt surmised from the screenshots above, those real-world locations don't just feature the occasional hill - they drop you off the edge of cliffs that would make Evel Knievel himself jealous.

With all the air you'll be getting, there's plenty of time to pull off crazy tricks and rack up points during each decent; and as virtual skateboarders and snowboarders might expect, it is here that Pure's first level of strategy is to be found. Do you go for broke, and risk chaining tricks together to create killer combos? Do you simply hold a trick midair for greater control? Or, over those smaller jumps where you're only getting - let us say, one or two double-decker buses worth of hang time - do you play it safe and not trick out at all?

Due to a particularly intuitive trick control scheme where you simply press one of three face buttons and choose a direction on the analog stick to bust out death-defying stunts, those are pretty much the only questions you'll be asking yourself midair - but considering how much your midair success influences your chances on the ground, there's plenty of pressure to perform. Every time you land a trick, Pure gives you more precious boost (and, in the game's Freestyle mode, fuel) that you can then immediately expend to gain a burst of speed.''