Pure is an ATV racer basing itself around winding tracks with massive jumps and multiple routes. As with every racer, the main objective is to claim first prize and leave your opponents in the dust, but Pure spices this up with a boost meter, which is filled through pulling off death-defying stunts over massive jumps.
And we mean massive. Pure boasts some very impressive jumps that leap you several meters into the air, and give you the chance to pull off some over-the-top stunts. There are four types of tricks that can be pulled off, each with their own modifiers and each type proving more difficult as you unlock them. Once up in the air, the level one tricks are there at your disposal, which are mapped onto the A button. From here you could move the left analogue stick in any direction you wanted while holding down A and each direction will pull off a different move. The left or right bumper can also be held down in order to further modify the trick.
Believe it or not, that's a small jump.
Upon landing your ATV, depending on how complex and difficult your combination of tricks was to pull off, you'll get boost added to the boost meter, allowing you to ride much faster. The higher the boost also unlocks the level two, three and four tricks, so using the boost can diminish the higher levels of tricks, which encourages a good level of balance in between.
Each level of tricks become increasingly more difficult to pull off, and eventually once you reach the fourth level, you'll be able to do the 'special' tricks of that certain character. Special tricks are activated through holding down both the left and right bumpers and moving the left analogue in any direction. Each direction pulls off a different special, and all of them are ridiculously over-the-top but satisfying if you manage to land one. Once you've landed, your boost is even further increased and that special can be used any time during the race afterwards. It's a very well thought out and fun system that encourages you to learn the trick sets of respective characters, and try keep a balance of it in order to sustain boost.
There are three game modes that will be available once Pure is released. This includes Race mode, which is your standard racing events with laps, then there's Sprint mode, which is much smaller and clustered races that are much faster than the normal race, and finally, Trick mode, which introduces a fuel meter which depletes exponentially throughout the race but can be slowed down or even frozen temporarily by picking-up certain icons that now appear above the track. The premise is to rack-up as many pts as possible from pulling-off tricks before your fuel runs. Trick points can also be increased through multipliers picked-up through the track, similar to the SSX series and its Stunt mode.
He seems happy now, but if he crashes...
Tricks, speed, handling and everything else about your racer is also dependent on what ATV you use, and Blackrock Studios seem to have something quite special on their hands in this regard. You're able to build your own ATV literally from the ground up starting with the frame. Every piece affects a certain aspect of your ATV, so players once online will all be different, their ATV's suiting their specific styles of play.
Visually, even at this stage in development, Pure looks absolutely stunning. The environments are enormous, with vistas able to be seen from miles away as you're leaping through the air at high speeds. It all ran at a silk smooth framerate as well, even with 16 players on screen at once. The build we played was on the Xbox 360, but we were assured that the PS3 version will look identical.
The soundtrack also worked very well with the pacing of the game, with Electro music and some Rock played in the background. It was an excellent technical showcase and most impressive with three months still left in development.
Oh God the sun is blocking my eyes!
Blackrock Studios' seem adamant on leaving a mark on the gaming market with Pure. The game is already dripping with polish, and with sixteen player online on its way for release, added with three different game modes, and customisability of the ATV's, Pure is shaping up to be a must-have for ATV fans and a game everyone should look into.
Loading...
