Dogg Thang
10th July 2007, 08:46 AM
With all the hype of Pulse, I've been playing a lot of Pure lately. I'm finally going for all of the medals in my UK version, having already maxed out the US and JP versions. For all the talk in the Pulse board of physics, barrel rolls etc, you know what? Pure is a damn fine game.
And to think that the previous game in the series was Fusion - the series had, as rappers would say, fallen off. Nobody will ever compete with the nostalgia-tinted view of 2097, which is still a wonderful game now, but Pure clawed its way up from Fusion to become a fine addition to the WO series.
The environments in particular are spectacular. Blue Ridge, through just a few well placed trackside attractions, has such a natural feel and really gives the feel that this is all taking place in a real world. Vineta K too. Of the downloaded additions, both Exostra Run and Staten Park's high contrast lighting brought back memories of the good old days.
The physics, okay they're different to the games of old, but they work really well around the middle Flash-Rapier mark.
One thing that could have gone so wrong in Pure was the design. I mean, be honest, we all thought that tDR was responsible for the cool look of WO, right? When they left and we got Fusion, that just backed up what we were thinking. But, man, the WO guys pulled it out of the bag for Pure. The design is superb. The ships look stunning (that's you isn't it, Egg?). Even ones that changed so much and nostalgia should have caused a knee-jerk reaction against, like Goteki, looked wonderful and fitted beautifully into the world created by the environments. The logos worked perfectly and the overall sense of style really came together with lovely touches all over the place (Robots Build Robots etc).
And the Omega pack...I don't know who had that idea but that is just about the best addition to a WO game I could imagine. The amount of work in just those four tracks alone looks immense. No earlier assets could be used. And the results are stunning. Not only do they look great, the track layouts for those courses are so unique they would work no matter how they looked. Okay so we still have a branded Delta pack but the Omega pack makes the UK version a clear winner. Wonderful idea and so well executed.
I adore the early WO games. I'm very unforgiving when things go wrong or take a step backwards. But Pure is a fine WO game. A real treasure.
Oh, and the absorb system was a great addition to the series.
And to think that the previous game in the series was Fusion - the series had, as rappers would say, fallen off. Nobody will ever compete with the nostalgia-tinted view of 2097, which is still a wonderful game now, but Pure clawed its way up from Fusion to become a fine addition to the WO series.
The environments in particular are spectacular. Blue Ridge, through just a few well placed trackside attractions, has such a natural feel and really gives the feel that this is all taking place in a real world. Vineta K too. Of the downloaded additions, both Exostra Run and Staten Park's high contrast lighting brought back memories of the good old days.
The physics, okay they're different to the games of old, but they work really well around the middle Flash-Rapier mark.
One thing that could have gone so wrong in Pure was the design. I mean, be honest, we all thought that tDR was responsible for the cool look of WO, right? When they left and we got Fusion, that just backed up what we were thinking. But, man, the WO guys pulled it out of the bag for Pure. The design is superb. The ships look stunning (that's you isn't it, Egg?). Even ones that changed so much and nostalgia should have caused a knee-jerk reaction against, like Goteki, looked wonderful and fitted beautifully into the world created by the environments. The logos worked perfectly and the overall sense of style really came together with lovely touches all over the place (Robots Build Robots etc).
And the Omega pack...I don't know who had that idea but that is just about the best addition to a WO game I could imagine. The amount of work in just those four tracks alone looks immense. No earlier assets could be used. And the results are stunning. Not only do they look great, the track layouts for those courses are so unique they would work no matter how they looked. Okay so we still have a branded Delta pack but the Omega pack makes the UK version a clear winner. Wonderful idea and so well executed.
I adore the early WO games. I'm very unforgiving when things go wrong or take a step backwards. But Pure is a fine WO game. A real treasure.
Oh, and the absorb system was a great addition to the series.