Can you imagine my excitement when this was announced? A brand new Micro Machines game for me to get my hands on. Well, unfortunately, my excitement turned to pure disappointment after spending a couple of hours playing the game.
Don’t get me wrong the design of the races and how the game looks is brilliant. You can see that the same care and detail has gone into each of the racers and tracks and the detail of them is of the highest quality. Playing over the pool table or around the bedroom jumping to different areas, the environments that have been created for this game are brilliant and it does remind me of the tracks from the older games where just as much care and detail were brought into it.
Another thing that I like about the game is that not only does it give you that look but also the feel of the old Micro Machines games. The way the cars drive is brilliantly done and that drifting feel that you get going round the corners still provides you with the challenge to keep the car on the track and not fly off the table. As I found out on several occasions that can send you right to the back of the pack.
In terms of modes and things to do, the game is a little threadbare and that is being polite. There are plenty of different vehicles to pick from however there are only 4 modes in which to pick from.
- Skirmish – This is for Local play with Friends or AI characters
- Quick Play – This allows you to jump quickly into other modes such as normal race and battle mode.
- Special Events – These are races or battles in which you can earn loot crates. These currently seem to update every 90 days…. Which seems a bit excessive.
- Ranked matches – These open up at level 10. This is where you can race to gain XP and try and increase your rank against other players.
As you can see from the above, there really isn’t very much to do within the game and you may be forgiven for not spending much time in races as they can get a little repetitive on your own. When you’re playing with friends though the game is a lot more fun and enjoyable, you have others which when partied up with can create an awesome racing atmosphere, especially when setting up races in groups.
You may be thinking ‘But Jon, what about Online Play? Surely that can be just as fun for those of us with no friends?’ – Well, when I tried the online modes I found that most of the time they were a stuttering mess and some of the players didn’t even show as moving even though they were as when I would complete a lap people would be stuck in different locations around the track, so they were moving and racing, it’s just they weren’t showing as that to me, which did get me quite annoyed.
Another thing that grated on me was that the game treats offline races against AI like online matches in the way that it comes up with the message that it’s trying to find a game. If it’s an offline game against the AI, surely it shouldn’t have to ‘find’ a game but merely set it up. I think that is something that needs to be changed because non-savvy gamers who don’t like online races may get a little confused about that.
There definitely needs to be more options available in the game, especially as there is a distinct lack of a career mode within the game. This would have been the crowning glory for the game and one that I think would have kept a lot of gamers on the game for a while. But while that’s missing in action there is a severe gap in the game that needs to be filled.
Another thing that has disappointed me about the game is that I don’t get the same excitement and vibe from the game that I used too and I think this is down to the lack of modes within the game.
Overall I have to admit that as excited I was for this game I have been let sorely disappointed. The lack of modes at the moment is hindering any longevity and the game does seem quickly put together as a quick cash cow. Whether more modes and other items will be placed into the game to beef it is yet to be seen, but the distinct lack of a career has left a gaping hole.
4/10
*Game bought at retail
No comments:
Post a Comment