Posted by admin on October 6th, 2008
Pure is the exciting new off-road ATV racing title from Black Rock Studio and Disney Interactive.

First off let’s not have any misconceptions here.. If you are looking for an ATV sim akin to Flight Simulator X in terms of realism then you may be disappointed. However, if you are looking for enough realism to give you the feel of this sport, lashings of fun, dollops of adrenaline fueled highs, and some pretty sweet eye-candy then Pure may just be the ticket..
Our first outing with Pure was with the PS3 online demo, which left us wanting more, but also not fully convinced. Perhaps we just wanted more - or a chance to race online. If we may take a moment to mention a similar product. We were also very excited about the new MotorStorm Demo too, but of the two Pure left us with bigger smiles afterwards. Outside Line were kind enough to send us a review copy and we were more than happy to oblige with our honest opinions on the full package…
Presentation is slick, as you’d expect from a Disney branded product and from a studio of Black Rock’s pedigree. The California beach bum style of voice acting is as you’d expect, and fits this style of game better than a Murray Walker or James Hunt English drawl. The environments, graphics and models are slick, bright and well presented, and the frame rate is solid - so immersion is good. On a decent entertainment rig like our orbiting HQ’s 40″ plasma and home theater sound system you are guaranteed to have a couple of moments when you almost fall off your bean bag / sofa!
Pure is a racing game which perfectly sits with the title of an extreme sports game. As I have already mentioned there is enough realism and feedback that you can hair around tracks reacting to the terrain and finding the best racing line - which is what racing is about, and the former being specifically what ATV racing is about.
What sets it apart from most other racing games and gives the buzz are the vertigo inducing jumps, and crazy stunts you can pull which in reality you would only try and pull if you were ATV World Champion.. and even then only if you were perhaps high on something that may or may not be legal!

Pure 360 PS3 Off-Road Racing Simulation
Nice touches are the fact that you can level up the tricks you can pull by successfully completing lower level tricks, and also enhance these by ‘pre-loading’ your ATV just before a jump - something which keeps the tie to the real sport in a way that both beginners and experienced riders can relate to. Another favorite of ours is some of the showboating that your rider can do, and the interaction between the CPC riders and yours when they get close..
The main focus of Pure is a single-player career mode in which you choose a racer, build your bike and set out to compete in 10 stages of increasing difficulty. There is a tutorial which throws a few easy challenges your way and slowly ramps up in difficulty and length. There are three single-player event types: Sprint, Race and Freestyle. Sprint is about speed and handling, and the tracks are shorter and tighter, with only a few jumps on which to pull stunts and gain boost. Yes, there is Nitrous!
Race mode strikes a balance between technical driving and crazy air, and the tracks are set up to give ample opportunity for boosting over jumps to pull stunts, solely for the purpose of banking more nitrous to accelerate your mad dash to the checkered flag. In that way Pure encourages you not only to be fast, but to be stylish, and being stylish is essential to crossing the line first… Freestyle speaks for itself, and is also a lot of fun.
For those of us who like toys there is a fully featured Garage where you can customize the colour and setup of various machines. A variety that you’ll need to master to get the best out of all of the race tracks. As you race, you unlock more parts, outfits, garage slots, special tricks and locations to race in.

Pure PS3 XBox 360 racing simulation.
Race tracks are all jam packed full of environmental effects. Beautiful water traps, deforming surfaces, mud, trails, moving grass, birds, camera flashes as you whizz past spectators.. The backdrops are all panoramic - adding to the huge depth of field when you do launch stomach churning almost sub orbital jumps… Lighting is very satisfying too… You can almost smell the trees and the mud as you flash through forest scenes because of the pervasive feeling of being outside.
The tracks are well laid out, and offer various alternative routes, so although it’s not fully free roaming it almost feels like it is.
Multiplayer Pure offers racing in ranked or unranked single-race events with up to 15 other riders, but there does not appear to be a local multiplayer option. Perhaps that will come in an update. Top scores for multiplayer will appear on an online leader-board.
Score : 8.5 / 10

Pure 360 PS3 Off Road Racing Simulation
Conclusion : If you are a racing purist who *only* craves the absolute realism, pain and suffering of games like F1 Championship Edition then this may not be the game for you. If you want to get blitzed whizzing through tight forest turns shoulder to shoulder with other nutters, and buzzed as you fly off the edges of mountains upside down with a big grin - hangin’ a leg out, and giving a thumbs up to your fans then Pure is probably what you are looking for…
General News | No Comments »