What does the word Pure make you think of? An abstinence of immoral vices? An untouched tropical beach? Orange juice? We'll hedge our bets and guess that 99.9% of people won't be thinking of ATVs racing around cliff tops. OK, so it's only a name, but tell that to the makers of Juiced who've had their series written-off because nobody knew what it was about amongst established titles like Need For Speed, Burnout and Ridge Racer. It's the same situation for Disney's off-road racer as it goes up against established names like MotorStorm, MX vs. ATV and DiRT.
Tricks evolved Pure can certainly hold its own in terms of gameplay, mind. Like a cross between MotorStorm and SSX, Pure combines frantic races around wonderful landscapes with equally wondrous tricks. You have to pump your jumps by pulling back and pushing forward on the left stick - just like the MX series originally introduced.
Once you're gliding through the air you use q and a direction to pull off basic moves like a Can-Can or a Look Back but, like SSX, you'll build up a power bar when performing these. Unlock the next stage of skills by doing loads of q tricks and you'll get to use e for more stylish moves that will eventually open up the w move-set. Like the Tricky bar from SSX Tricky, you'll then open o and u specials that will see your rider perform gravity-defying loops and pirouettes. Obviously, these are essential for winning the trick events, but once your gauge is full - again like SSX - you can hit r to sacrifice your skills for a quick speed boost.
The engine room of Pure is the World Tour mode. This is basically a career mode where you compete in huge races, sprints or trick events with up to 15 other riders. Straightforward races take place across beautiful tracks from pseudo-real locations across the world, including New Zealand, Italy and America. And they are huge. From terrifying leaps through the tops of trees to skilfully bombing over huge cliffside chasms, Pure provides enough eye-candy and thrills to keep you glued to the action for hours.
Some of the tracks have almost vertical sections thrown into the mix to take the racing to a whole different level. Sadly, Pure isn't as free-roaming as, say, MotorStorm, so there's little to no scope for ever taking a cheeky shortcut because you'll be flung back from whence you came.
The great thing about the World Tour mode is that you can build and customise your own ATV. Here you can choose what colours to paint your motor, adjust parts to create either a racing or trick quad, and even slap a leopard-skin print on your seat. And as you charge to the number one spot on the tour, you'll unlock more garage slots so you can handily design and store specific machines for different types of events.
You can't argue that Pure doesn't look stunning with its next-gen glow, big and bolshy ATVs, and beautiful vistas, and you have to admire how the developers have produced a sterling debut on PS3, but it does become samey real quick. The courses start to repeat after a while and races take a familiar pattern of you and one other rider battling for first place, plus it goes without saying that the lack of any form of vehicle variety grates on its durability. Surely they could've thrown some motorbikes into the mix? And, although there are a few different characters to choose from, like the cockney rider who annoyingly shouts "bruv" at every turn, or the token feisty lady who looks a bit like Pink, the tricks set - bar each character's two special moves - are identical.
Thankfully, the trick events are addictive enough to keep you coming back to smash your high scores, and the 16-player online races (online review next issue, folks) should be worth a look. But for now, Pure is a Chesney Hawk of a game; it looks the part, and for a solo performance it manages to hit all the right notes, just don't go expecting a sequel any time soon.
Nathan Irvine
// Overview
Verdict
Overall You'll love it at first but Pure soon becomes far too familiar.
I certainly enjoyed the demo and you can find it online for unde £30 but I already have motorstorm 2 on pre-order for £30. There's too many other games out in the next 2 months to make me want to buy this - had it come out in the summer it would probably get better sales
do any racing games have a split-screen mode anymore? seriously, some of us still have friends who actually come round to our houses and then have to take turns playing some racing games now. if SSX could do split-screen surely these next gen consoles should be able to chew it up.
I certainly enjoyed the demo and you can find it online for unde £30 but I already have motorstorm 2 on pre-order for £30. There's too many other games out in the next 2 months to make me want to buy this - had it come out in the summer it would probably get better sales
I'm inclined to agree - way too much competition over the next few weeks for this title to get the sales that it may have achieved at another time.
Seems enjoyable enough - demo was good, great visuals, decent feeling of speed....I've already allocated my funds for the next couple of months though, so I won't be picking this up.
Pure is fantastic fun. I'm buying it for definite.
Always intended to buy one offroad racer this year... so it was a choice between this and Motorstorm 2. After comparing demos, I mich prefer this. Roll on Friday.
Pure is fantastic fun. I'm buying it for definite.
Always intended to buy one offroad racer this year... so it was a choice between this and Motorstorm 2. After comparing demos, I mich prefer this. Roll on Friday.
I'm with you Megadroid - come Friday, this game will be in my collection for definite!
Nice that 7.5 point review didn't put you off guys, as some people tend to act. Especially that you liked the demo and you actually can think for yourselves.
You can't always base your opinion of a game on a 1 track demo, but here goes:
The demo was fun for about 10 minutes but then the lack of depth shone through. Where were the monstrous crashes, with bodies and car-parts flying around? Where was the challenge? Why were the visuals really good but boring at the same time? Could I enjoy endless, samey gameplay with different tracks? No. Any other vehicle types? No. Purchase? No.
You can't always base your opinion of a game on a 1 track demo, but here goes:
The demo was fun for about 10 minutes but then the lack of depth shone through. Where were the monstrous crashes, with bodies and car-parts flying around? Where was the challenge? Why were the visuals really good but boring at the same time? Could I enjoy endless, samey gameplay with different tracks? No. Any other vehicle types? No. Purchase? No.
Yeah but who gives a f**k what you think? I enjoyed it and at the moment it p**ses on Motorstorm 2 (demo vs demo)
Oh, and there are no 'car parts flying around cos there are no frigging cars in the game douch bag!
The demo was fun for about 10 minutes but then the lack of depth shone through.
I've played the demo 3 or 4 times and still liked it each time. I've read/watched a bunch of reviews and a lot of them do mention that there isn't a lot of depth to the whole thing, but I think it's made up for by the amount of pure and simple fun you can have with the game. I've also compared the demos of this and Motorstorm 2, as I said, and preferred this. Don't worry yourself about where my money is going Mark, I've done the research.
I'm all for deep epic games, but once in a while I like to play a game that gives me a break from the serious stuff and lets me just hurl myself around a track at crazy speeds, doing tricks and having fun. I really like what I've seen so far, I want to see more, so I'm buying it. On top of that, there's nothing else that interests me coming out for another few weeks, so Pure should fill that gap nicely.
do any racing games have a split-screen mode anymore? seriously, some of us still have friends who actually come round to our houses and then have to take turns playing some racing games now. if SSX could do split-screen surely these next gen consoles should be able to chew it up.
Dont worry, the only negative point in the first Motorstorm has been rectified for the sequel.
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, UK BA1 2BW England and Wales company registration number 2008885
