Source: IGN
As we learned a few months back, Namco’s popular Ridge Racer series is slated to make its debut on the Xbox 360 when the system launches this November. Although only a few months away from release, we haven’t had a chance to get our hands on Ridge Racer 6 until today at the Tokyo Game Show as Namco’s racer was playable in several kiosks on the show floor.
The controls in Ridge Racer 6 are as follows:
A button: accelerate
B button: rear view
X button: brake
Y button: change view
Left trigger: nitro
As you would imagine, Ridge Racer 6 plays much like the rest of the series. It’s definitely an arcade racer and not a sim by any means, and exaggerated physics are par for the course. Right now it seems like the braking effect when sliding into a turn make be a little over zealous as a simple tap while turning will whip you nearly 180 degrees, making the car very slidey around corners. It’s arcade fun, but it’s a little too over the top at the moment.
However, the biggest problem with Ridge Racer 6 at this point seems to be the lack of a real sense of speed, even in nitro mode. It currently feels like you’re driving a golf kart under water. We were also a little disappointed that there was no other traffic in the demo, and it felt like we were driving through a lifeless city. The framerate was solid, but then again this was a time attack race, so there were no other cars that would really slow it down.
This was, however, an early build. Namco still has a few months to tweak everything. Developers just recently received final hardware and we have seen major improvements in games such as Project Gotham Racing 3 since we last laid our eyes on it a month ago, so we’ll give Ridge Racer 6 the benefit of the doubt until we play the final product.