Pure PS3

Simon Arquette's review of Pure. Subscribe to this column via RSS or Newsletter.

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Column:
Tech Gamer

Format:
PS3

Genre:
Racing

Written on:
11/09/2007

Second opinion:
Race Gamer (PS3)
Family Gamer (360)
Teen Gamer (360)

Pure is a racing game on ATV bikes and has the crazy 16 rider feel of Motorstorm PS3 and the tricks and jumps of SSX.

The opening of the game has you completing a training session, before you can build your own ATV which is really cool! Then it's into the game proper! When you've completed a few races and gained some points you unlock extra parts for your bike which helps to improve your ATV.

There are a few extras to keep you entertained which include the ingenious 10 slots to customise your ATV. You can design different bikes for different races, and with up to 100,000 bike variations, there's plenty to choose from.

There are three types of races, Sprint which is five laps of pure (like what I did there) speed but only a couple of very small jumps. Race which is three laps of jump filled trick boost mahem. Finally there's Freestyle with huge jumps built to let you rack up mad scores. Obviously the more tricks you do, the more score bonuses you get. Freestyle is my favourite race type on the game.

The graphics used in the game are amazing. The background scenery looks like someone has taken a picture and stuck it into the game. To think people are saying that the PS3 has yet to hit its full potential is pretty exciting in light of Pure.

Perhaps best of all, there is always so much going on at once in some of the races. The PS3 copes admirably with all that information and graphical strain which I found quite impressive. It's like trying to bring down Zeus with a pea shooter.

It's the little things in this game that add to the atmosphere and shows you how they've really thought about the dynamics of the game and what they can do to make it as real as possible, which includes the water effects and the tracks themselves. They've done this by using their own in-house engine, Tomcat.

When you ride through the water, it will slow you down a bit, but it's worth riding through just to see how cool it looks when the water splashes out from the puddles. Plus if you drive around a wet track then your clothes and ATV will collect dirt on the way round and make you look like you've been racing. If it's dry, then you'll get covered in dust.

The tracks are never the same in each race because of how your ATV leaves tracks in the dirt and they stay there throughout the race and this can affect how you turn on dirt. So your first lap might be ok, but you come round again and you might find that you won't grip to the track as much because you've altered the ground. The harder you turn, the more dirt and dust flies up off the ground which looks really cool.

This is a fun game that will keep you entertained for a good while. There are seven different places to race and 48 different tracks which, all split across the three race types. You could probably go through all the races within a week, but you might have to keep going to finish first in them all. even if you do the online play should keep you entertained for quite a while whilst there're 16 of you racing at once!

This isn't as rough and ready as Motorstorm in my opinion, but it's still loads of fun. Had it been a bit more chaotic and been able to punch bikers off, that would have made it even more exciting to play.

Written by Simon Arquette

Simon Arquette writes the Tech Gamer column. "Gaming technology and techniques fascinate me, always have and always will do. They've driven me to a gaming degree, and aspirations to a whole lot more. Here though, I'll be reviewing games for how they put their technology to work to deliver a compelling experience."

Simon Arquette's recent reviews:

• International Cricket 2010
• Naughty Bear
• Alan Wake
• Crackdown 2

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