Ridge Racer 7
Review of Ridge Racer 7
For those who may be unfamiliar with the series Ridge Racer is an arcade-type racing game that focuses on the use of "drifting" (skidding around the corners just barely in control) in order to gain the advantage and win the race. This is actually rather easy to pull off and most gamers should be able to get the hang of it rather quickly. The cars in the game fall into several drift types- Mild tends to stick to the road better and is easy to control but is slower, Dynamic is easy to whip into a drift but may be harder to get out of and Standard is a happy medium between the two and should be a good choice for beginner or intermediate players.
A good bit of strategy and timing is needed to win the races. Drifting around corners builds up a Nitrous meter and that explosive charge of speed can make the difference when making that charge to the finish line. The filling rate depends on your speed and the sharpness of the corner. A good way to refill the guage quickly is by using what they call an "ultimate charge"- drifting around the sharp corner just as you come out of a nitrous boost. With proper timing you can fill the guage to capacity quickly. Some vehicles allow the use of double or triple boosts which can really send you flying. Slipstreaming is also an important asset to winning. If you can get yourself behind a car you can gain a bit more speed due to less air resistance. The closer you are to the car the more speed you can gain. This is a new addition to the series and is very effective.
One of the high points of the game has always been vehicle design. While there are no actual licensed cars you will find a good variety of vehicles from fictional manufactures such as Age, Denver and Kamata. Each of the vehicles can be upgraded into 4 different classes and modified with parts from other manufacturers. In order to be able to use these parts/ vehicles you must win a "Manufacturers Trial". Doing this will allow purchasing car parts from that company or get you a new vehicle. Once you have done this you can earn Manufacturer Points by using their products in races which can eventually earn you discounts on future purchases and more variety of items to buy. There are a total of 40 vehicles to earn and each is totally customizeable right down to the paint color to make each one look just how you want it. With 375,000 exterior customizations and over 7000 tuning customizations once all is unlocked you should be able to find a look that is very unique.
The main single player mode is the Ridge State Grand Prix, which is where you will earn your stripes and strive to be the best racer. Along with the main Grand Prix circuits this is where you will find the Manufacturer Trials and invite only Single races from the UFRA, the fictitious racing organization. Some of these trials and single races have varying rules such as limiting you to specific car classes and/or parts, having to start from the back of a pack of 14 cars and win or make three laps around the track within a certain time limit. Winning races earns you Credits to spend on vehicle upgrades, Fame Points which reflect your status as a racer and can get you into more races as it grows and Manufacturer Points, which I explained earlier.
One other nice touch is the incorporation of some online features in the Grand Prix. During the time you spend on the main screen you will notice a ticker on the bottom- this is showing things ranging from stats of actual players from around the world along with various news items from the racing league. You can have a look at how you compare in the Ranking Browser in the main menu.
The other modes include Arcade (a single race using any course and machine you prefer), Global Time Attack pitting you against the track to get the fastest time and Online Battle which allows races between up to 14 players in solo and team-based racing. All stats from races are automatically uploaded to the network but they may take up to an hour to be reflected in your stats. Chat is done using fixed phrases only so communication is limited- it would have been great to be able to use normal chat text at the very least or (preferably) voice chat to be able to talk to other racers.
A total of 44 tracks are available in all (22 tracks and a mirror mode). A good number of these tracks were used in Ridge Racer 6 on the XBox 360- if you already played that game most of them will be readily familiar to you.
The graphics in this game are very sharp for a launch title with nice little touches such as the reflection off your car in real-time and the detail in the cars and tracks. This is especially noticeable if you can play on a high-def television. RR7 is one of the few games that can support 1080p resolution. My television can handle 720p with no problems and I was very impressed with the level of detail. While you will still see a small bit of jaggy edges the amount of detail coupled with the speed the game moves makes this one very slick looking title. Overall the games looks a bit better than RR6 did on the 360- you have to look closely to see the difference however. One thing I would like to see from the series is vehicle damage. The cars are like KITT from Knight Rider- go head on into a building or mountain and you simply bounce off with no damage at all. A minor gripe considering this is an arcade racer but it would be nice to see in a future installment.
The game gives your choice of using normal or the SixAxis tilt controls for steering and shifting gears if using manual transmissions. You have the choice of mixing this so if you prefer one can use the stick for steering while tilting foward and back for shifting gears, use the tilt for steering while shifting with R1 and L1 or use tilt for both. Nitrous use is done with the L2 and R2 buttons with R2 for a single, L2 for a double and hit both for a triple boost. The control is fairly tight and works well whichever way you decide to go. This can be decided on in the Options menu.
The sounds are a bit of a mixed bag. While engine noises are somewhat low the tire screeching while drifting is more pronounced. One of the trademarks of the series has been the techno music played during races. Some of these tracks are quite good while others can get hard on the head. There are some background sounds that you will miss with it on like waterfalls, birds, the crowd, etc. which add a nice touch. The main voice you will hear is that of a female co-pilot of sorts that will give some tips on drifting, building nitrous or talk about the track. She can be a bit annoying at times too but unfortunately she can't be turned off.
OUR PLEDGE: We promise that we have fully played 'Ridge Racer 7' before writing this review. The scores given above are our honest opinion and were not influenced in any way by the manufacturer or distributor of the game.
This review was written by Lyndon McLeod © Absolute PlayStation
Parents Guide to Ridge Racer 7
During the reviewing process Lyndon McLeod made the following notes that we think parents of younger children may be interested in hearing before they deciding if they should allow them to play the PS3 version of Ridge Racer 7.
Ridge Racer 7 on the Sony PS3 game console is suitable for gamers of all ages. We found nothing in this PlayStation 3 game that we feel would offend parents or gamers of any age.
Please note that these points are not a complete guide to every mature element contained within Ridge Racer 7, only those that we found. They are not provided as facts, only information.
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