This game has absorbed the better portion of my last 2.5 years of gaming. I was in the private beta on Xbox Live back in Dec '09 or maybe just after new year's... A friend of mine was the one who got me the invite and introduced me to the game. He knew I loved Wipeout and said I'd probably like it. I fell in love with it immediately, and I was surprised that he actually enjoyed it as well, because he SUCKS at Wipeout and never liked the series
The beta eventually went open to the public, tons of people played, Bizarre put finishing touches and tweaks on the game (and broke some other stuff, but it's way too late now), and it launched in May 2010, up against a number of high-profile titles. Activision released it at a really bad time, they barely advertised or marketed it at all, and the game basically flopped.
BUT, it was still an AMAZING game. Far more complex, challenging, and rewarding than it's immediate launch competition (Split/Second), it looked and played BEAUTIFULLY, and every single race is almost literally a 160mph chess game.
I have logged nearly 40 days worth of play time on the Xbox 360 version, and just recently picked up the PS3 version for the hell of it. This game is the most addicting, consistently satisfying gaming experience I have ever encountered.. It's a shame that Activision will probably pull the plug on the servers sometime within the next year or two, so I've just kept on playing. No other game gives me the same sense of excitement EVERY time I play.
There are many different tactics for every course, mode, and vehicle... tons of things you can equip to give yourself an edge... there's an indescribable amount of meticulous planning that you have to do WHILE you're driving, so that you can be prepared for whatever might happen (defend against what the person behind you might be carrying, watch what the people in front of you pick up, decide if you want the shield on the left side of the 4th row of items that you'll hit in 2/3rds of a lap, position yourself on the track so you can weave through lightning if it spawns when you don't have a shield...). I actually wanted to write up a huge, detailed explanation of the game, because I feel like a lot of the people here could appreciate it. It's much more rewarding than Wipeout, at least compared to the newer WO games... the weapons and equips are definitely an integral part of the experience, but the game really forces you to drive well, too. It puts more of a precedent on driving than WO Pulse, HD, or 2048 do on proper piloting.
Here are a couple videos of me unabashedly abusing the Drifter mod... it gives you a nitro for every successful Super Drift you perform:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UCtOgVtIwg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyasCaonm8Y
but Drifter has gotten very cheap, as a lot of people have been chain-drifting down straightaways and through chicanes. Smearing their car against walls, and just disregarding the challenge of actually driving. I don't drift anymore unless I'm just messing around, it's much more fun to win when I've actually been very careful to keep my speed and avoid things... I like the technical aspect of having to fight with weapons WHILE driving, rather than just sitting half a lap in front of everyone else by spamming drifter.
At any rate, if anyone here plays this game, don't hesitate to shoot me a message. The game is a better experience on the 360, due to the nature of its interface and social architecture (plus the graphics are a lot clearer), but it's still the same thing on either machine. I've been on PSN more often recently, just for sake of leveling my profile, but I'll regularly be switching back and forth between the two.
PSN: AG-Wolf
XBL: AG Wolf 2097XL
There's also a small dedicated group of fans on Facebook, the remaining players have become their own sort of small community at around 200 people:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/202775333089676/
AG racing is all well and good, but let's see what some of you can do when you're grounded
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