Three weeks ago to the day I wrote a hands-on preview for Ridge Racer Unbounded from a demo build of the game, speculating that this may very well be a surprise hit for this year and boy, I wasn’t wrong. Five years since the last Ridge Racer title, the creatively named Ridge Racer 7 wasn’t a title I had very much time for and indeed was the second Playstation 3 title I told, behind the Jurassic abortion that was Turok. Unbounded is also the first title to be developed by someone other than Namco, whilst still published by them. Bugbear Entertainment have picked up the reigns, bringing the vast swathes of the FlatOut franchise with them.

My main issue with the previous games was the focus on drifting and what I deemed to be a relatively unrewarding driving system, as well as being relentlessly Japanese in its design. In Unbounded, gone are the Bruce Bufferesque title announcer and much of the arcade-inspired interface, instead replaced with a far sleeker menu system fit for a somewhat grittier generation. Gone also is Ridge City, replaced by the appropriately titled Shatter Bay, a far more ‘urban’ environment than in previous titles.

Cars handle in such a way that has made be realise just how unrewarding Burnout Paradise was at drifting; it felt like it was essentially auto-pilot, even the most feeble racer would struggle to fishtail out of the trickiest of corners. Unbounded, however, punishes and rewards the racer in equal and appropriate measure and as such a more nuanced approach must be adopted. Overcooking a corner will have you parked in a shop window or ‘fragged’ -or taken down- by a fellow racer, but if you time a corner just so, you will be greatly rewarded. This isn’t the only example of Unbounded’s fair treatment of the player, it’s a rare example of a racing game not condescending to the player at all. The phrase ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ sums this up perfectly as you will find yourself fragged and punished in exactly the same way you will to the AI and even the AI can be seen occasionally battling for control over their own vehicles when taking a corner too quickly.

Drifting is rewarded with Rage, a boost-bar which not only gives your car a boot up the arse, it also turns your car into the red guy from Tron and allows you to batter through buildings and carelessly parked explosives in order to accurately recreate Michael Bay’s daily commute. It’s the big new change to the franchise that adds just enough spice to the game to keep it fresh without simply resorting to idle gimmickry, a very welcome change at that.

Aside from your standard racing and ‘domination’ (takedown) game modes, Shindo racing and drifting is also present. Shindo cars lack the ability to burst through time and space but do possess a far stronger boost, as well as being generally quicker and more difficult to handle. The drifting mode is relatively straightforward in the sense that you are rewarded for drifting whilst trying to beat a pre-set time.

The city itself is fairly well realised, if a little bit repetitive, various walls, walkways and buildings are destructible, as well as those which can be destroyed with Rage and by and large, the whole world is fairly sleekly presented, save for a couple of niggles. The interiors to some of the slow-motion set-pieces are a little bland and grey, one ‘nightclub’ had absolutely no decor or furniture in at all. Additionally, when cars are either fragged or dangerously damaged, the fire graphics look decidedly mediocre and in some instances wouldn’t look out of place in the last generation.

Unfortunately, again we see the removal of local-multiplayer splitscreen, and whilst the online multiplayer is more than proficient, it represents a huge blow for a franchise whose history is almost built upon it, a worrying trend which seeks to destroy all real-life gaming interaction unless it’s with the bloody Kinect, shooing Rabbids down a virtual plughole, or something equally stultifyingly banal.

Whilst the title itself may be cumbersome, Bugbear have clearly taken lessons from Burnout 3 and a plethora of Need for Speed games, it represents a much needed and greatly welcomed paradigm shift for Ridge Racer which will hopefully provide ample competition to a largely underwhelming market.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360.

Second opinion by Pramath Parijat:

Once upon a time, Ridge Racer sold the original Playstation. With its then groundbreaking, drift based gameplay, incredibly realistic graphics, unparalleled physics, and endless options, the title quickly became an instant classic, and became a fast killer app for the Playstation. It became that one game that everybody bought, everybody played, but no one quite ever talked about. In the meanwhile, publisher Namco continued churning out the games. And soon enough, it became a sort of a tradition- every time a new system launched, Ridge Racer would be there. It would always be there, always as a launch title.

The franchise has seen better days- now reduced mostly to a meme due to Kaz Hirai’s infamous ‘It’s Ridge Racer!’ during Sony’s E3 2006 presser, with the quality of the games themselves heavily diluted thanks to poor ports with recycled content, and baffling experiments like the DLC heavy Vita launch title, Ridge Racer is completely irrelevant today. Which, for a franchise that used to be as good as this once was, is sad.

Thankfully, Ridge Racer Unbounded comes to the rescue.

To be very fair, this game is absolutely nothing like any Ridge Racer game before it. In fact, down to the branding on its cover and its menu screen, it shares nothing with any of its numerous namesakes- the graphics, look, sound, feel, everything is different. It might as well be an entirely new racer in an entirely new series. It might be the sequel to Spilt/Second we never got. It might be the traditional Burnout games fans have been demanding for years to no avail.

What it isn’t, however, is Ridge Racer.

All the racing takes place in the crowded streets of some downtown metropolitan city- in itself a shift from the previous games. Racing through the streets, players are encouraged to drift and race through the scenery, getting the game’s own version of ‘style points’ (remember Need for Speed Underground?), which fills up a power meter. Use the power meter to smash through the scenery, like a gas station, a truck in the way, a log hut, and create your own way on the road. Make your own shortcuts, try to finish first, even as you try to control your manic car at unbelievable speeds, the landscapes just zipping by, the objects reduced to blurred, colored lines. Weaving in and out of the traffic, since traffic is the one thing that might slow you down, and trying to avoid your fellow racers-

I’m sorry, did I say trying to avoid your fellow racers? My mistake.

Remember the comparison to Burnout? This is where the Burnout portion of this game kicks in.

Fill in your power meter and crash into your fellow racers in spectacular ‘frags’ that would make Criterion blush. Taking down other racers hasn’t been this satisfying since Burnout 3, and this feels like that game’s true successor that we never got. Coupled with the fully destructible environments, and the more focused racing experience that simulates an insane sense of speed, we are left with an incredibly fun arcadey racer that is among the best in its genre.

Except that it is also unfairly difficult.

Ridge Racer Unbounded shares one thing with its forebears- the centrality of the drifting mechanic, even though it is handled very differently in this game. And therein lies the issue. If you try to use the drift button like you did in the previous games, or in any other driving game for that matter, essentially substituting it for a handbreak, then you’re in for a very rough time. No, the drift button is something you always need to have your finger on, jamming it down through every single corner. And this, by itself, ups the fun quotient of the game infinitely.

The problem is, the game never tells you this. It never communicates the fact that the drift mechanic is executed differently in this game, and that if you don’t use it properly, you will lose every single race. There is absolutely no tutorial, you’re dropped head first into the game, down into the deep end, and you’re expected to figure this out yourself. Unfortunately, the game is unforgiving, and this combined with its lack of tutorial can completely turn people off from the racer.

More issues: there is an excellent track editor in the game. Its versatile, its powerful, and once again, its unintuitive, esoteric, and it makes no attempt to explain itself to newcomers. Once you get the hang of it, it’s incredible. It’s just getting the hang of it that’s the tough part, and the game doesn’t make it any easier for you.

It’s a story of incredible potential, all of which is perfectly realized, but never communicated well to anyone. It’s the story of the lone genius, who toils away into the night and makes a groundbreaking discovery, but because of his poor writing and communication skills, can never tell the world about it, and his genius goes unnoticed. Those few who can actually have the patience to sit with the genius- with the game- and look past the eccentricities and the quirks, those few are in, very literally, for a wild ride. All it demands on your part is to forget everything you know so far about racers, and learn it all afresh.

This latest entry in the celebrated RIDGE RACER series turbo-charges the racing genre with full environmental and vehicular destruction. The signature arcade handling and drifting elements that fans have come to know and love combined with explosive action takes RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED to the next level of competitive racing. With a new car selection including powerful vintage muscle cars, take over every alley and street corner in Shatter Bay in the most visceral and destructive racing game of 2012.

We are currently reviewing the game. So stay tuned.

Breaking free from all the pussyfooting around tame circuits, politely bumping into rivals’ fenders, RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED has a new mantra – Drive, Destroy, Dominate – and it’s one that’s going to shake up the racing genre for good. It’s time to break not only the rules, but plenty of cars too. You think you’ve seen crashes? You’ve seen nothing. In RIDGE RACER UNBOUNDED your car is a high-octane wrecking ball.

Stay tuned to GB for more news and updates.

The destruction and the racing look pretty good, kinda like a mixture between Need for Speed and Burnout. But it’s just a video, so we’re not too optimistic right now.

Ridge Racer Unbounded releases later this year on the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. Stay tuned for more updates.

You can create and destroy anything in the game, and it is one of the most ambitious game Namco has published. Sometimes, it doesn’t even feel like Ridge Racer considering the sheer amount of options given to the player.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

The game will release this year for the PS3 and Xbox 360. It was originally scheduled to be released on March 6th and then delayed for polishing reasons.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Lest we forget it’s been a solid 5 years since Ridge Racer 7 came out in Europe, which has brought forth a sense of maturity and a much more structured approach. It’s the first title to be developed by Bugbear Entertainment, previously know for the FlatOut series -the sixth generation’s answer to Destruction Derby- although still sporting the Namco Bandai badge of expectation. Up until now I’d always seen Ridge Racer titles as far more suited to the arcade than the console but Unbounded represents a huge paradigm shift which can only serve to help the franchise thrive and give the Need for Speed titles a much needed serious competitor, although I’m not all too sure Unbounded is quite the snappy, concise term they were looking for.

In our hands-on session with the game, we were treated to a vast array of tracks and game-types, as well as a tasty, if brief, morsel of multiplayer. Namco seem to have shied away from the largely track-based arcade facade for a more urban cityscape, with a large portion of the tracks now also at night, in the fictional city of Shatter Bay. Also seemingly departed is the previously ever present Ridge Racer announcer, which isn’t at all a bad thing. Even the cover art highlights such a departure from the norm, the font uncannily similar to vast swathes of the Need for Speed franchise and the comparisons don’t stop there, either.

Unbounded plays almost exactly like the bastard lovechild of Need for Speed: The Run and Burnout 3 and builds upon the best elements of each to create it’s own driving experience, delivering an exhilarating experience all round. Drifting is still at the core of the gameplay but seems to have been assuredly tightened and made more difficult, creating a burgeoning sense of reward; no longer just a case of tap-and-go, a more nuanced approach is required from the racer. Drifting and drifting well are rewarded in-game with both boost and the chance to destroy vast swathes of Shatter Bay. Once activated, Rage mode allows the discerning racer to literally smash through buildings and carelessly placed lorries full of petrol, with some rather delicious results. Also present are takedowns, shamelessly lifted directly from the Burnout series but not without reason and are executed relatively well, the single downside being that the fire graphics from exploding cars are decidedly mediocre and seem out of place within what seems like a very polished game, although this may differ in the finished product.

Game modes vary from the typical race mode, a drifting mode as well as an utterly ridiculous Takedown mode which perfectly replicates the violent chaos which was the staple of Burnout 3. You control a Big Rig whose goal is to both outrun comically vast numbers of police cars whilst also brutally crushing them down into a fine paste, a game mode as brilliant as it is utterly mad.

The online portion is solid and whilst not yet confirmed as to exactly how many online players the game will support, we raced comfortably with 8 contestants without nary a hitch, delivering precisely what one would expect from a modern online racer. Ridge Racer: Unbounded has certainly taken be my surprise and I won’t be surprised if I’m not the only one and may well serve to be the surprise of the year, giving the boys and girls at EA some definite food for thought.

This game was previewed on an Xbox 360 debug unit.

Ridge Racer Unbounded will include three racing machines and five new paint jobs.

• The Ghoster: This low rider coupe with its electric blue finish isn$B!G(Jt for cruisin$B!G(J but for bruisin$B!G(J.
• The Immortal: This red super sports beast isn$B!G(Jt easy to tame, but it$B!G(Js worth the effort.
• The Road Wolf: Eat up the competition with this classic red coupe inspired by cars of the 60$B!G(Js.

The five paint jobs are:

• PAC-MAN (Kinghawk GT)
• GALAGA (Hurricana CX)
• TEKKEN (Crimson TT)
• SOULCALIBUR (Wolfseye GT)
• ACE COMBAT (Sylvian Type 8)

Players who pre-order Ridge Racer Unbounded from GAME will get:

• RIDGE RACER 1 Car: The machine from the very first RIDGE RACER that began the legacy.
• The Hearse: A dark and gloomy hearse – with this machine no other car will end the race alive.
• RIDGE RACER Type 4 Car: The hero car from RIDGE RACER Type 4, this is a fan favourite from the landmark of arcade racing.
• El Mariachi: A flashy orange coupe utility with a crazy engine. If you$B!G(Jre feeling a little bit country, get behind the wheel of this!
• RIDGE RACER 7 Car: The hero car from RIDGE RACER 7, this extreme sports car has a whole lot of power.
• The Gallows: A classic yellow hot rod pick up that stands out a mile in the heat of the race.