Ridge Racer 7
Like Resistance I got this for Christmas and am only now getting round to writing about it…
Premise
Erm drive cars round Ridge State fast and win prizes. Best get your drift on ‘cos the corners are tight. Or you could say a re-hash of the PS1, PS2 and 360 Ridge Racers. Same old tracks but with better graphics… Oh and this time you can customise your cars (watch out Need for Speed)!
Controls
Steer, accelerate and drift. If you need to brake your playing the wrong driving game. The reason I like RR is its all about the drifting, many games have tried but RR always feels on the money. Gliding round one of its corners at top speed is exhilarating. But it is all feeling a little too familiar!
Graphics
Looks great or as good as the 360 version (maybe a little better). There are 2 new tracks here so be ready to see a lot of the tracks you have seen before. This would be fine if RR didn’t revolve around racing on the same tracks again and again and again and again. The 2 new tracks do look lush and are probably my favourite (the one with the waterfall being my all time favourite now). The only track which lets the whole thing down is, I think, called Ridge City and it is pretty much a series of tunnels connected together. Unfortunately they are pretty dull and bland tunnels. Which is a shame as in other Ridge Racers they used to have amazing tunnels with girders, light shafts, neon etc.
Gameplay
You race, you win. You win you get cars. This time the game is set in Ridge State and you must compete not only in single races but also in Manufacturer Trials , Grand Prixs and Ridge State Challenges (UFRA events). Manufacturer Trials allow you to get sponsorship with a car manufacturer and this allows you to buy their cars. Other manufacturers allow you to buy parts to equip e.g. engines, spoilers and loads more. Grand Prix are one or more races which net big points to your manufacturer rating and money to buy new stuff. Win a lot and open more races and cars, and so forth.
Conclusion
The basic mechanics of Ridge Racer will never bore me. However they need to realise that people like to see new and cool areas to race in not the same old tracks. Sure its nice to drive down memory lane every so often but for 90% of the tracks in the 360 (Ridge Racer 6) and the PS3 (Ridge Racer 7) versions to be near identical is asking a bit much.
If you love RR and haven’t played it in a while dive in you’ll love it. If you are sated with the 360 and PSP versions then rent and see ‘cos you could get bored fast. If you are new to Ridge Racer and want an easy to ‘pick up and play’ racer which is fast, fun and looks cool then go for it you won’t be disappointed.
-Nic
Tags: namco, ps3, ridge racer