Picture a future in which racers
don kinetic suits and race through urban cityscapes and rural ruins. The postmodern
terrain provides an environment that bends the traditional racing idea and combines human
and "machine" to make a unique set-up. The tag line for Kinetica is "Racing
Has Evolved"unfortunately for us, it hasnt evolved quite as much as
wed like.Kinetica is structured like most traditional racing games in that it has a
single player mode with single, season, and practice runs, as well as head-to-head
two-player gaming. There are ten regular tracks and two bonus tracks, with the ability to
unlock new environment as you play through the season option. You have the choice of nine
characters (again, some become unlocked as you play), who are rated in the categories of
acceleration, top speed, cornering, grip, and mass. As you race, you collect power-up
crystals that give temporary increased kinetic abilities, such as added boost, faster
stunts, and an ability to siphon off energy from other players which is reminiscent of
kart racers.
So far
most of this will sound old-hat to racing enthusiasts. Where does the
"evolution" occur? There are several points where Kinetica has attempted to push
the envelope. The first, and probably most interesting idea used by the game is the
ability to occasionally travel on surfaces in a 360 degree radius, meaning that you can
use the sides of walls and "ceilings" of certain racing environments to avoid
other racers or pick up added boost and power-ups. This opens up new ways of looking at
racing that other games havent necessarily taken advantage of yet. I would have
liked even more play with the environment in this area, as it tends to breathe life into
an old scenario.
The
second area where Kinetica tries to branch out is in the ability to do stunts to gain
boost, in the style of SSX or Tony Hawk. Unfortunately, this is where the game really
shows its weakness for hardcore gamers. There are only ten air moves and four ground
moves, none of which are all that interesting. In a world where some games have huge
twisting, spinning, grabbing, unrealistic and super-cool moves, these stunts are not even
lukewarm. They seem to be compartmentalized moves that fail to connect smoothly from one
to another in an intuitive manner, a la THPS, and dont require skill or style to
execute. The idea of tricks mixed with racing in a futuristic environment is great, but
when you have execution and vast options with games such as SSX, the pull of unique
environments just isnt enough.
After
the disappointment of not having the same "oomph" as some of the other
"neo-racing" titles, I looked to the other aspects of Kinetica for salvation.
The game goes too quickly to appreciate the scenery and graphics, but when I got to sit
back and watch a friend race, I noticed that the environments range from very plain to
very intricate. Some of the cityscapes are extremely detailed and interesting as are the
see-through tubes of the environments that are elevated over a landscape (which is clearly
visible below). Unfortunately, this isnt something one tends to be able to notice
while speeding through a race, but speed is a good thing, so I really cant fault the
game here.
The movement (other than my problems with stunts) is fluid and fast, and each character
had a unique feel and "handling." I love the analog sticks for controlling the
speed, steering, and direction, and it is easy to maneuver the character through
occasionally confusing environments. The camera is fixed behind your character, and in
two-player mode this can be problematic, which is why it is nice that the split screen can
be put in letterbox view (which attempts to preserve the one-player aspect ratio). The
music is a solid, pulse pounding techno that is complimentary to the futuristic tracks.
There really arent that many sound effects, but that is not necessarily a problem.
This game has potential, but if I had my wish, I would want more options/complexity of
stunts and more player interaction with other racers. While Kinetica has some great new
ideas in environments and utilization of new surfaces/perspectives, I still dont
feel like Im getting a truly new evolution. It has the smoke and mirrors of good
graphics and an interesting set-up, but I still ended up feeling like I was watching the
wheelers on Ozma of OZ attempting to do tricks. And, unfortunately, if I want any real
satisfaction, I eventually have to put in a different game.