Racers aren’t my thing. I played two hours of “Gran Turismo 5: Prologue” because I wanted to hear a new Weezer track. But once in a great while, an arcade racer will suck me in. “SSX” did years and years ago and so did “Ridge Racers” on PSP.
So for me to report that I’m genuinely excited about a racing game means something. And that’s exactly how I felt after a half hour demo of Disney and Blackrock Studio’s “Pure.”
The game is as described: “SSX”-meets-ATV. I haven’t touched an ATV racing game that wasn’t forced on me to review, but I would happily play this one.
Blackrock has traditionally found themselves working on hardcore racing simulations; “Moto GP ‘07″ and “Moto GP ‘07″ were their last projects. But “Pure” game director Jason Avent told me their studio has always wanted to make something less realistic. Avent wants to maintain their hardcore roots (they have another racer in development), but creating “Pure” is a cathartic experience.
“We wanted to do a really fast paced arcade racer that was all about flying through the air and pulling load of tricks,” said Avent. “We felt that we’d stick with quad bikes because it’s something we know, but more importantly, no one has every really done a proper arcade game that features quad bikes.”
It’s easy to visualize the basic gameplay constructs of “Pure.” The interface is undergoing some cosmetic surgery before release, but the mechanics are in place. In order to win, players must keep an eye on their turbo meter. As you might have already guessed, you earn more turbo by pulling off tricks. The tricks are simple enough, with different levels of moves assigned to A, B and Y (on an Xbox 360 controller).
As you amass turbo, it first unlock moves in the A-tier, then B and Y. Start crashing around and it’ll take a lap or two in order to get the turbo meter back up.
The real stars of “Pure,” however, are the environments. Blackrock has created some gorgeous scenery. You can’t get a good feel for them here. You need to see it. It all feels a bit exaggerated, but that’s the point. The jumps in “Pure” are not your traditional bunny hops. These are massive, gigantic, stomach-churning drops spanning thousands of feet.
I told Avent about one of my favorite moments in “Crackdown.” As a roller coaster fan, I’ve wished vertically scaled games could find a way to manipulate my stomach the way a roller coaster does before a drop. That happened to me once in “Crackdown,” after I’d launched into the air and looked straight down. Suddenly, I felt a small ping at the bottom of my stomach.
To my excitement, that’s exactly what Avent’s playing around with in “Pure.” “The core tenets of development have been the concept of vistas, vertigo and verticality,” he said. “Trying to provide a context for all the extreme stuff you’re going to be doing in the game. We can draw 30 miles in the distance and properly [show the player] dropping off mountains thousands of feet up. We also tried to focus on speed and, more importantly, vertigo, trying to get people scared of that. It’s not really been focused on before, I think.”
I never experienced the same ping during my “Pure” demo, but I wasn’t playing. That may happen next month. I’ll report back on my stomach’s feelings then.
“Pure” releases on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 simultaneously in September.
