Pure

Pure is a new ATV racing game by Blackrock Studios and Disney…. Yes I know what you’re thinking. Disney doesn’t make good games, but you would be wrong in this case. Pure takes the ATV racing genera and SSX’s its up. Big speed and huge air is the name of the game and you will have plenty of chances to experience both.

            Pure has an interesting new twist on customizing your vehicles in that you create your ATV from scratch. That’s right you don’t get a pre-made model then add some performance parts and a little paint job. You start off with nothing and add frames, breaks, transition, engine and the entire exterior of the bike such as the body and the mirrors and footholds. This allows for some very unique bike designs and a one-hundred percent chance that you will not see your exact same bike while riding online.

Tracks in Pure are beautiful to say the least. Tracks range from Italian mountain trails to icy landscapes where the ATV’s will slip and slide struggling for grip. Each track has plenty of alternative routes but the one main gripe I have with the tracks is that there is only one way around each track that will give you an optimal time on your lap. Unlike other off-road racing games like Motorstorm that have multiple paths that make it even for every player to use in Pure you can go through the whole track without crashing but if someone uses the optimal path he can beat you by a pretty hefty distance even with crashing a couple of times. The main progression through the single player is to get through these different event cards by getting a certain amount of points in each event within the card. You need a certain amount of point go progress to each card and eventually you will unlock higher grade engines and new parts to customise your ATV with. It is a very boring process and really the only reward is getting the new upgrades. This process is a major flaw with the game making it very unappealing goes to through. Each track eventually seems longer to get through because you have played it so many times.

Races are massive with sixteen other opponents racing against you offline and online. That’s right sixteen player online multiplayer in all modes. Races are straight forward haul your ass around the track as fast as you can and try to be in first place at the end of lap three. Sprint is the same idea as race but with a smaller track and five laps instead of three. Then there is freestyle. Freestyle has the same sixteen player match up as all the other modes but instead of getting a score before I time limit runs out you have to get the highest score before you run out of gas. As you go through the track there are also score multipliers, gas freezers and boost upgrades. The bigger and harder the tricks the bigger the score and the more tricks you do within the combo time limit the high the multiplier.

Freestyle is where the tricks come in. Tricks are tied with your boost. When you first start a race you only have access to the X button. These tricks are short and pretty average for your ATV tricks. As you gain more boost you get access to the circle button and those are your medium difficulty tricks such as superman seatgrabs and Cordova’s. Then again do more tricks build up your boost and gain the trick mapped to the triangle button and those are the more insane tricks until you completely fill the bar and get your special tricks. This is the point that shit get bat-shit insane. These tricks are something out of a…. well…. SSX game. These tricks will have you twisting and flipping around and with your ATV while somehow being within the laws of gravity and physics just enough that you will be able to land it. If these tricks could be landed in real life I think most of our heads would explode from just trying to figure out how these people do it.

            With the trick system being solid and the sixteen player competition online and off  keeps the events fresh and exciting. But the boring progression through the single player makes the game a snore to progress through. Pure is a solid racing game that will keep you entertained for the time being but will not leave a lasting memory with all these triple A games on the horizon.