PURE review (PlayStation 3)

I love racing games. For me, they are the best games you can buy. I prefer the simulations but you can’t go wrong with a good old arcade type racing game, they’re just so much fun (usually). So when we received our copy of PURE to review, I jumped at the chance to give it a go because what we have here, is a recipe for success.

Here’s an equation for you. Disney + Arcade style racing game = loads of fun. If you got that right give yourself a pat on the back because that’s exactly what we have here. Mud, jumps and ATVs. A great mixture for a bit of Sunday driving.

Simple to pick up

Like all good arcade racers, the first thing you do is a quick go around an oval track just to make sure you know what you’re doing. And the first impression you get is the game is incredibly simple to pick up. The controls are easy to master, RB to accelerate, LB to brake and left analogue to control your ATV. That’s lap one done then. Now you need to learn about the jumps.

Again this is all very simple. To get the best results from your jumps you need to push down on the ATV before pulling up. As we’ve seen with a lot of games that use the analogue sticks, mimicking the action is usually the best method. And that’s exactly what you are doing here. Push up your left stick to get ready for the jump and then pull it back just before jumping to execute. Then it’s a case of pressing one of 3 buttons to pull off a trick. Just make sure you land it.

Free styling is what it’s about

There are three single player modes and an online multiplayer mode. Single player you have the usual time trial mode and single event mode, but the main mode is the world tour. Starting from the bottom you need to try and work your way to the very top, competing in ten stages with up to seven events in each stage. There are three different event types to keep you occupied in the form of sprint racing – a shorter track where speed and acceleration are key, a race event which is pretty self explanatory and finally the freestyle event.

Free styling is pretty much what ATV racing is all about and this event is probably the most fun out of them all. You have a certain amount of fuel in your tank which increases with every successful jump you complete. The more combos you perform, the difficulty rating and setup for the jump all determine the number of points (and refuel) you get. Of course the more points you get the more chance of winning you have, but take too many risky jumps and fail to land them, you could find yourself out of the race rather quickly.

Learn quickly young grasshopper

The game itself isn’t a massive one and in no time at all you can find yourself quite far through the game. However this is because the first few stages aren’t really that much of a challenge and are really setting you up for the tough last few stages. It’s here that you need to really perfect your technique and learn the tracks.

To make things a little easier you don’t just have 1 ATV, or at least you don’t have to have just 1. The further you progress through the game the more parts you unlock and the more garage space you unlock for your ATV’s. You can either have just 1 ATV that is balanced in all levels such as its acceleration, handling and tricks rating or you could have a specialist ATV for the 3 different events, or even for each race venue if you really want.

Hundreds of combinations

Thinking about what you want your ATV to do is important when it comes to the customisation and building. Do you want an ATV that can perform tricks better? Maybe one that is faster than the competition? Whatever you want to do, there are that many different parts that you start with and unlock further into the game, that you will be able to create your perfect ATV.

PURE is a lot of fun. It’s not the greatest arcade racer to ever get a release. Sure it looks good graphically and the controls are very simple and easy to pick up, but there isn’t really enough to keep you playing. The freestyle event is the most enjoyable and does keep you entertained. However, the sprint event and race event are basically the same, only difference is the length of the race and a few more jumps found in the race event.

And it’s these two events that get the most playtime, so as you fly through the first half of the game, you’ll find yourself very quickly getting bored of doing the same thing. I know that is the point of most racing games, but it just doesn’t have that little bit extra that makes you want to keep playing. All in all, PURE is a good bit of arcade racing fun. It just won’t keep you hooked for that long.