The Future Is WOW
Pure Will Bring Unrealistically Fun ATV Racing to 360, PS3
By Shaun Hatton - July 1st, 2008
Last month Toronto Thumbs was treated to a preview of Black Rock Studio’s upcoming ATV stunt racing, adrenaline-pumping title, Pure. While the game shown wasn’t the actual final build, it was polished enough to be more than impressive and, oddly enough, sent me on a stunt racing games kick lately (hello, Excite Truck!).
While on the surface Pure may look like your standard racing game, it isn’t a typical racing sim. Instead, the game adopts a much more arcade feel and puts a greater emphasis on being able to pull of stunts rather than actually finishing the race in first place (though that’s a good bonus).
The courses are all off-road and there’s no “one set path” to take to get from start to finish. You can come across alternative pathways that take you on more scenic routes or even be sent over crazy, death-defying jumps. There’s a stunt metre that fills up with each successful stunt you perform and ultimately allows you to execute more complicated tricks.
I, however, had no such luck pulling off any tricks as I’m notoriously awful at racing games. On top of that, I was playing with several people watching, which always makes me nervous for whatever reason. Needless to say I saw more of the dirt than the beautiful scenery shown when Tim Fitzrandolph, International Producer of the game, demonstrated it before handing the controller to me - though truthfully the wipeouts were pretty damn entertaining themselves.
At first the assortment of tricks available to you are somewhat tame, but as more are unlocked they get progressively more impressive and/or hilarious. In many ways, Pure reminded me of a mix between Excite Truck and a Tony Hawk title. Think Freekstyle without all the suckage.
Graphically, Pure is very impressive and definitely shows off the power of this generation’s consoles. Fitzrandolph commented that the reason the game would be available on the 360 and the PS3 is that those are the systems with the processing power to handle the environments in the game. While most gamers won’t have time to pay attention to the landscape, those that do take a glance will be treated to awesome views, particularly while catching some air off a ramp.
Another feature that was shown off was the unique bike-builder interface wherein you can essentially build an ATV, piece by piece (we’re talking about frame, shocks, brakes, etc.), while customizing the colour of each component.
Additionally, Pure promises to feature licensed music and 16-player online multiplayer when it’s published this September by Disney Interactive Studios. Black Rock Studios, formerly Climax Racing, has a proven track record (no pun intended) of producing best-selling franchises such as Moto GP and ATV Offroad Fury.
