Ridge Racer 7
Namco does it again; this is powerslide-fueled arcade racing heaven.
Published: November 28, 2006
The Ridge Racer series is synonymous with the PlayStation brand, and for nearly as long there have been haters. It's understandable; RR is little more than learning to memorize when to enter and exit a turn to maintain top speed while happily powersliding around it as if the cars were on rails. The thing is, even after seven games (and it gets into the low double digits if you count all the non-PlayStation and portable versions), it's still enough to keep me coming back.
That, and it's pretty. Holy hell is it pretty.
But if you're expecting a significant upgrade to the formula first introduced in Ridge Racer on the PSP, you're going to be left a little underwhelmed. If you played through Ridge Racer 6 on the Xbox 360, you're going to have an even bigger feeling of déjà vu (nearly all the tracks are slightly prettier versions of the ones found in the year-old game, and the gameplay is nearly identical). Still, this is the first time the series has been able to go online on a Sony console, and Namco didn't skimp on combining the best parts of their offline games with a ranking system and updates that should keep things going even after you've spent the good 20 or more hours it takes to really complete the single-player game.
Building on the series' idea that you're racing around a fictional (and quite possibly near-future) city, RR7 introduces the Ridge State Grand Prix, a series of 14 multi-race marathons all around Ridge City, from the oceanfront to the almost garishly tinted neon wonderland of downtown rave city to industrial parkways and jungle-claimed lost cities. Finish the Grand Prix and you've in effect finished the main single-player game (and the final track is one of the coolest bits of fan service ever, taking the ever upgraded Seaside Route 765 track from Ridge Racer V and a remix of arguably the best song in series history, Movin' 2 The Beat from R4).
But Namco isn't stupid. The Ridge Racer development team does a fantastic job of slowly feeding you unlockables, first forcing you to compete in a simple one-race challenge to establish a relationship with a vehicle manufacturer, and then again to begin buying parts to customize your vehicle. Though all are capable of drifting, cars come in one of three flavors: Mild (heavy grip, but slower drifting around corners), Dynamic (incredibly loose and easy to drift, but hard to regain control with) and Normal (a balance of the two other styles), and as you race with a particular manufacturer and equip certain parts, you'll strengthen the relationship with them, unlocking special vehicles and rewards.
This is done almost transparently, since you'll likely settle into a particular vehicle rather early on, and it isn't until fairly late into the first part of the single-player game that other rides become available. When they do, it's really just extensions on the same basic themes, albeit with different constructs. What could have been a wafer-thin experience, though, is boasted by the fact that you still have all those customizations (not to mention the bonus of sticking with a particular manufacturer until you get to 100 points). And they are wonderfully customizable indeed.
See, you're never really locked into the whole Mild/Normal/Dynamic constructs of your vehicle unless you want to be -- upgrades to your tires will allow you almost as much grip or lack thereof (and quite possibly more, though I was never able to tell) as you'd like. Manufacturers will eventually give you parts that let you get as grippy or loose as the other types of cars, effectively eliminating the whole class system for drift -- except for online where the combatants only know the make of your machine, not (if the race type allows) the customizations you've added.
That, and it's pretty. Holy hell is it pretty.
But if you're expecting a significant upgrade to the formula first introduced in Ridge Racer on the PSP, you're going to be left a little underwhelmed. If you played through Ridge Racer 6 on the Xbox 360, you're going to have an even bigger feeling of déjà vu (nearly all the tracks are slightly prettier versions of the ones found in the year-old game, and the gameplay is nearly identical). Still, this is the first time the series has been able to go online on a Sony console, and Namco didn't skimp on combining the best parts of their offline games with a ranking system and updates that should keep things going even after you've spent the good 20 or more hours it takes to really complete the single-player game.
Building on the series' idea that you're racing around a fictional (and quite possibly near-future) city, RR7 introduces the Ridge State Grand Prix, a series of 14 multi-race marathons all around Ridge City, from the oceanfront to the almost garishly tinted neon wonderland of downtown rave city to industrial parkways and jungle-claimed lost cities. Finish the Grand Prix and you've in effect finished the main single-player game (and the final track is one of the coolest bits of fan service ever, taking the ever upgraded Seaside Route 765 track from Ridge Racer V and a remix of arguably the best song in series history, Movin' 2 The Beat from R4).
But Namco isn't stupid. The Ridge Racer development team does a fantastic job of slowly feeding you unlockables, first forcing you to compete in a simple one-race challenge to establish a relationship with a vehicle manufacturer, and then again to begin buying parts to customize your vehicle. Though all are capable of drifting, cars come in one of three flavors: Mild (heavy grip, but slower drifting around corners), Dynamic (incredibly loose and easy to drift, but hard to regain control with) and Normal (a balance of the two other styles), and as you race with a particular manufacturer and equip certain parts, you'll strengthen the relationship with them, unlocking special vehicles and rewards.
This is done almost transparently, since you'll likely settle into a particular vehicle rather early on, and it isn't until fairly late into the first part of the single-player game that other rides become available. When they do, it's really just extensions on the same basic themes, albeit with different constructs. What could have been a wafer-thin experience, though, is boasted by the fact that you still have all those customizations (not to mention the bonus of sticking with a particular manufacturer until you get to 100 points). And they are wonderfully customizable indeed.
See, you're never really locked into the whole Mild/Normal/Dynamic constructs of your vehicle unless you want to be -- upgrades to your tires will allow you almost as much grip or lack thereof (and quite possibly more, though I was never able to tell) as you'd like. Manufacturers will eventually give you parts that let you get as grippy or loose as the other types of cars, effectively eliminating the whole class system for drift -- except for online where the combatants only know the make of your machine, not (if the race type allows) the customizations you've added.