Pure

Rating E

Score: 9.0/10

If there were a perfect “A” game, it wouldn’t be this game. It is extremely close though. This game is available for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and the PC.

Racing games have been getting pretty stale, usually involving tricks and stunts to cover bad controls and boring gameplay. Pure, however, has what gamers are searching for. This game has amazing controls, looks spectacular, and the tricks are simple but flashy.

The core gameplay is simple. You drive laps around the track, flying past scenery that includes miles and miles of mountains, ocean, lakes, and landscape. You’ll hit huge ramps, which might give chills to the faint of heart. The great music will silence as you dive downwards. You’ll do insane tricks that will help you go even faster. This is what Pure is all about.

The trick system begins with one button and a direction on the control stick to do a trick. Tricks start simple, but after you practice enough, you can do better and bigger tricks. Each trick gives you a bit of nitrous power and bigger tricks wield more nitrous upon completion. If you don’t complete the trick, then you lose a chunk of nitrous and precious time. You can choose to use the nitrous or save it while you get better tricks and eventually, get you “special trick”. This special trick will completely refill your nitrous upon landing, but you’ll need huge air to land it. It’s extremely flashy and satisfying.

Besides playing alone, you can play online multiplayer. There is no local multiplayer. The online is a blast, but no local multiplayer is kind of a letdown.

Garage mode lets you customize everything about your ATV. Customize the case, the handles, the wheels, everything. If you aren’t familiar with ATV’s, and don’t know how to maximize performance the way you want, the game shows you how your ATV will change stat-wise. There are plenty of different parts, so you can have an ATV to complement your style.

Unfortunately, that’s all the gameplay there is. The only other mode is Time Trial, and its only function is to find shortcuts and good jumps on difficult tracks. One thing about Pure, though – what is does, it does right.