There's a new ATV off-road racer on the block, Pure looks set to stir things up with some rather addictive gameplay. A playable demo for Pure has recently released on the Marketplace, Pure is the latest title coming from Disney, though this isn't the typical Disney game you might expect, it's not based off of any animated films - which certainly gives it some potential already then. Being a Disney game and all, one might expect to find some lovable characters, there is no playable Mickey Mouse or any other household Disney names! Pure, the off-road racer from Disney, is here for a reason, it's here to be taken seriously, this is no Mater-national, this is Pure, and from our taster of the demo this is one game to look out for upon release.
The demo initially acts as a tutorial, though after completion you are to put this training to the test in what is no doubt a pure-adrenaline rush in the demo's offering of a single track against 15 other A.I. racers. As with most vehicular based games, Pure is all about the thrill of the race, but things get taken to extreme heights here, as you can easily pull off some rather spectacular stunts at insane heights, which most certainly offers up a great view when on the higher jumps. The tricks are fairly easy to pick-up, as is the nature of the demo, it's extremely easy to just run through the initial tutorial and be racing like a pro, pulling off insane stunts within minutes of first having picked up the controller. The driving works as you would expect it to in your typical racing game, the stunts on offer though and the intense vertigo nature of some of the heights reached while pulling these beauties off is quite simply mesmerizing, whilst performing a high altitude trick the game basically goes in slow-mo mode for the length of the jump, or depending on the height and length of the jump you can have a fiddle with the right analogue stick, thus changing camera angles; this is especially amusing whilst performing tricks such as the Superman or the Coffin, the latter of which where you're simply holding on with your feet and laying down with arms folded, appropriately enough, just like in a coffin position.
As you see a jump coming up you simply move and hold the left analogue stick down and quickly flip it up at the peak of the jump to achieve maximum air, from here you can perform basic tricks just by holding the A, B or Y face buttons combined with then moving the left analogue stick in the desired direction, each direction thus performing a different trick. When successfully performing tricks you will quickly rack up your boost meter, boosting is done by holding down the X button and doing so will very quickly deplete this meter. Initially only the A button can be used to perform tricks, the player is required to juggle the need to boost and performing tricks, the more tricks performed the quicker the meter will fill thus enabling the B, and subsequently, the Y button to be used to perform tricks in the same manner, though each more professional and taking longer in the air to perform than the last. If the meter gets filled all the way to the top without the need for boosting to deplete it, then you can perform some absolutely insane stunts, these are performed in the same way also, though instead of using the face buttons, instead LB and RB must be held to perform these special tricks and simply using the left analogue stick in the same way as before to perform the various deadly and impressive manoeuvres, just be sure to only perform these on the jumps that offer up the biggest air-time, otherwise you are guaranteed to crash and burn.
Disney are offering up over 100, 000 vehicle variations, 70 overall tricks and Sprint, Freestyle, and Race events, as well as 16 player online multiplayer in the retail release of Pure. The game looks set to provide all the thrills and spills gamers could hope for come its release in just a few short weeks. Just from playing the demo several times-over, it looks like Disney may very well be onto a winner with Pure, I wouldn't be at all too surprised to even see a sequel at some point, that is if the full game maintains the momentum set by the demo.
From the single track available in the demo, Pure looks to be offering slightly different routes to take during races, hopefully that same idea carries over to the majority of the tracks featured in the full game. The competitors on the track automatically shout and taunt each other as well, for example overtaking someone in most cases may trigger a taunt or response from the rider, as will colliding with the other racers and gaining the lead in the race.
While the gameplay is fun and addictive, the visuals are fairly impressive, there is a slightly-distracting hazy look to the game, this is mostly down in the dirt with the other racers up-close though. The presentation overall is slick enough with some rather nice effects such as streaming waterfalls, puddle splashes and the noise of the engines revving, I'm not quite sure why I like that last one so much, but oh well.
Pure's backdrops are more interestingly beautiful though, imagine flying up into the sky, through the clouds and seeing the view above all for those lengthy few seconds before you drift back down into the ugly, dirty and muddy racing track. During those few seconds the loud sounds of the engine fades away, the rock soundtrack comes to a halt, and upon landing back into the muddy track, it all kicks off again at full blast, that is the Pure-adrenaline rush in a nut-shell, and neither is it one to be missed.
Preview By: Wayne Julian
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