Latest Game Reviews

XGRA Review - Xbox

2nd November 2003 by
66%
Speed, the limit of this quotient as the time of travel becomes vanishingly small; the first derivative of distance with respect to time. Speed like most things strives to become better, with advancements in speed in cars, trains and other forms of speed like internet connections and athlete speed. The way things are advancing today you can only think how it would be in the distant future. Acclaim jumps back in to the futuristic racer genre with their new high speed action game XGRA: Extreme Gravity Racing Association. A combination of speed and weapons XGRA should provide some intense action for fans of the genre and the casual gamer, but is it good enough to rival the popularity of other futuristic racers like the recent release of F-Zero on the Gamecube?

Gameplay

XGRA's story begins after the Nurburgring F1 disaster of 2025, this paving the way for a new governing body for racing, which is how XGRA comes to the fold. XGRA is the future equivalent of NASCAR or the FIA, there in control of rules and are pretty much in charge of the racing world. This racer is all based around the power of gravity, racers are set up in two wheel aerodynamic futuristic motorbike looking vehicles that can reach great speeds and not leave the racing surface. The game has a nice polish to it with a television feel. SINN, Sports Interactive News Network gives a pre-race preview of the track weather and riders themselves, offering insight to the conditions and a different feature to racing games it's done to great effect with even streaming text along the screen that makes it look more like a TV telecast. Its something different but doesn't offer what hopes we were given by Acclaim that we'd get a good story based racer in XGRA.

Starting the season 2080 mode you are given 3 races to impress team owners and make your bid for a racing team contract. Your first race it will feel very different to what your used to in a racing game, the speed is definitely there when you hit the pushing platform arrows you can really reach the heights of speed but the handling is something you have to get used to. The handling of XGRA is loose; a slight tap can move your vehicle across the racing strip and bash you against the rebound walls of the track. The loose handling is a surprise to those who can remember Acclaims predecessor to XGRA, XG3 Extreme G Racing which offered a rigid handling system that drives like a bus compared to the XGRA bikes that are very sensitive.

If speed doesn't impress you then why bother trying XGRA? But who doesn't love a bit of speed. Speed gives off a fantastic adrenaline experience, a rush to the head that makes you wish it would never stop. XGRA is FAST, not your typical fast, you haven't seen this fast before. Its speed after your racer goes over the forward arrow platforms (continued next page)

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