XGRA Preview
As much as we’ve all been sucked into the Hype of the fastest game on the GameCube, let’s not forget about Acclaim’s ‘Holy Crap That’s Fast’ XG Extreme Racing series. XG3’s sense of speed and sound-barriers wowed us all before we could even look at F-Zero GX, but XGRA’s coming before the Holidays, and it’s got a lot of interesting features that not many people have paid attention to.
The story element, one of the greatest things lacking from XG3 Extreme G Racing, is promised to be here this time. The SINN (Sports Interactive News Network) and the XGRA (Extreme Gravity Racing Association) come together to make XG Racing a motor-sport. There are eight teams in the game, over the six that existed in the series’ last entry, and each team comes with different racers whose individual abilities and strengths affect the way they race. I suppose the categories for this would be stamina, strength, coordination, etc, however little is known about this part of the game. Aside from being able to unlock tracks, weapons and bikes, you can also buy cybernetic implants for your characters to improve the areas that their abilities are lacking in.
The game features sixteen bigger, badder tracks this time around, too, improving over XG3 by six tracks. The environments are more gorgeous, now with varying weather that affects your traction and visibility. All parts of the level are dynamic: bridges, trees, and even XGRA spectators can be smacked into, dented, bounced-off, smashed, and interacted with. The game also focuses a Metroid Prime-like HUD which shows all vital race information, such as shields and power, place in the race, time elapsed and time of lap and even your weapons. Thanks to a new system, weapons can be selected easier then previously, so your focus on the race is not altered.
Having seen a few minutes of video, and many screens of the game, Acclaim Cheltenham wasn’t teasing you. All those things are in the game, and more. One of my favorite new features, aside from the even more insane tracks, is that small, Starcraft-esque videos of other racers appear to diss you, saying lines such as ‘You wanna play, hmm;’ ‘You call that a weapon;’ ‘I’ve seen rookies with more talent then you.’ It really adds a bit of fun, humour, and enticement to kill all your enemies even if you don’t finish the race (we all know what my favorite guilty pleasure was in XG3,) into the game.
Especially if they keep the Ministry of Sound music, which I think was greatly disappointing in F-Zero, the game will surprise many with its complexity. XGRA is shaping up to be one of the greatest, fastest, and most surprising racing titles on any console, and I look forward to purchasing it later on this year. Check out the media of the game below.
Final Score: 8