Ridge Racer Unbounded - Destructively Fun Despite Occasionally Annoying Physics

Despite its occasional bad physics and annoying camera glitch, Ridge Racer Unbounded is surprisingly enjoyable that it's one of the few racing games that I actually finished. Let me begin by saying that I have never played any Ridge Racer game before. So, I won't make comparisons with the previous games but instead I'll just focus on this game alone.

Ridge Racer Unbounded is a race-and-smash (I just invented that term!) game that takes place in a city called Shatter Bay where racers -- you among one of them -- compete for glory, drive fast and unbeliveably tough cars and crash into things and each other. But you don't play this game for the story. There is no significant story to it, heck nobody plays racing games for the story, except, for some reason, destroying the city of Shatter Bay seems so important to you and apparently, it is the mutual-goal your share with your fellow racers. As to why they want to wreck the city remains unclear.

Your playground, Shatter Bay, is divided into several districts, each with its own set of events. The better you perform in each event, the better the rating you'll be rewarded with, maximum 3 stars. The better the rating, the more points you'll get, which you need in order to level up and unlock new kickass vehicles. You will also need to accumulate a specific amount of points in order to conquer the district and unlock new districts.

As you would expect, your performance is measured according to the type of event. There are several types of events or races, namely Domination Race, Shindo Race, Drift Attack, Time Attack and Frag Attack. Domination is straight-up racing except you get to hit walls and stuff as well as your opponents. Shindo is similar to Domination, but this event has its own class of vehicles, and instead of hitting stuff, your means to obtain power are power-sliding and speeding, but you will be immune to frag and you also can't frag other players. You can still crash though.

Then there's Drift Attack, which is self-explanatory. For a limited amount of time, you'll be power-sliding along drifting-friendly courses to gain power, scores and time bonus. Time Attack similar to Drift Attack but without the drift and sliding. Then there's Frag Attack: you drive a big ass truck and crash into police cars, enough said. So, naturally, you'll develop quite a warm relationship with the police whose power and ability on the road are inferior to yours, but hold on your horses, this is not Hot Pursuit, there's no police-chase events except at the very end of the game.

Now, I won't go all the way explaining every bit of events available in the game in detail because that would be annoying, and also because I don't want to sound like I'm trying to make a manual. So, let's go straight to the point: the star event of this game is the Domination Race, which is what Ridge Racer Unbounded is all about. Ever tried breaking the fourth wall and wondered why there are no civilians wandering the streets in racing games? Well, Ridge Racer Unbounded gives a good reason why. This is what distinguish Unbounded from the other Ridge Racer games, as far as I know.

Domination Race is basically a normal race event, except you're encouraged to be as aggressive as possible. That's right, aggression. Drive fast and dangerously and furiously. Drive well and aggressively to earn power which will help you take down rival racers to earn more points and power. Smash through things! Poles! Pillars! Whatever objects you know are destructible! And not just destructible objects, but smash your ride into the explosive things, too, like a gas station! Not only you'll get points, but the explosion upon impact will immediately send your rivals into debris.

Every action that involves destroying things will give you points and power. But if you want to be aggressive and smart at the same time, then go ahead and crash into walls to reveal shortcuts. Hit several in a chain and you'll gain a huge advantage in points and position. Ridge Racer excels when it comes to giving you the sense of speed, power and aggression. Taking down rivals and crashing into walls are incredibly satisfying. When your power bar is all boosted up to max, you're always going to feel hungry for rivals to take down.

How good is Unbounded? While I do admit that the game feels a little shallow and doesn't seem to come up with anything new, I had a lot of serious fun playing it. It does feel arcadey, so if you're into the Dirt series or even the semi-realistic Racer Driver GRID series, then Ridge Racer Unbounded is not for you. If you're into hitting brick walls and your fellow drivers, then it doesn't hurt to try. But it doesn't hurt not to either, really you're not missing out on anything here.