Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Gamercard Update, RR6=HELL

Well, I'm currently in the gaming hell that is Ridge Racer 6, one of the worst, most painstakingly-boring and frustrating games I've ever played. Therefore, I've changed my Gamercard pic and motto to reflect the current pain I'm in:
RR6-Gamercard

The main reason I hate the game is because it really isn't a racing game:
  • You start at the end of the 14-car pack every race

  • You have to weave in and out of the surprising slower pack (in the easier races)

  • The insanely stupid 'bumper-car' collisions of walls and cars

  • The stupid "drifting" which is horribly done; the cars are like "slot cars" going around the track and when drifting the opponents cars are almost sideways making them incredibly hard to get around

  • After hitting walls or cars, your speed is dramatically reduced (that's why you have to weave in and out of the pack)

  • The enemy cars' rubberband AI which, in the harder levels, always has to be in front of you and has unlimited nitrous to do so

  • The enemy cars' reliance on their unlimited nitrous reserve, yet they only start using it if you are in front of them, or have already used your own very limited supply

  • The only way to beat the cars in the later stages is to get in front of them, watch both ahead of you and behind you, and block them from getting around you when they inevitably blast off with their nitrous

  • Each race HAS to be 3 laps each and makes for a unneccersarily long game


These make the game not racing, but a game of dodgeball with bumper cars. There's no skill in negotiating turns, only when to start "drifting". In the easier levels, the enemy cars are too easy and there's no satisfaction in winning them, then when it gets to the later part of the game, the AI, with its unlimited nitrous, persistance, and unnatural 'driving' skill, the game is too hard. It's so frustrating when you've been working 3 long laps to fend off the cars behind you while paying attention to what's in front of you, to lose at the last second by the cheap AI (that's the only way that you can yourself most of the time). When you do win, it's not satisfying that you've won due to your racing skill, just mostly luck and intense concentration. The only reason I've kept going with this game is I'm so close to completing the game to give up now, so I've pushed myself to continue. Honestly, when a game is a chore, then, it's not a game anymore. :/

The game also has a really bad achievement system. There's a LOT of setup work and you have to play a LONG time before you can get any achievements, the points they award you for don't merit the amount of time and dedication allotted to them. There's also long droughts between each achievement. Just to give you an idea of the insanity behind these achievements, I'll give you an example: there's an achievement for driving 10,000 miles.

Other less annoying points, the default "DJ" voices is one of the most annoying people things to hear (the other unlockable DJs aren't much better, but are tolerable). Most of the game's music is also pretty bad as well, though the ending movie's theme song is pretty catchy (good thing I can replace it with my own). ;)

I've also removed HyperBomberman because I've never played with him (or have ever sent him a message and vice versa). He has Ridge Racer 6, but hadn't played it in a while, but after seeing that I was much further than him, he has started to try and catch up with me (most recently doing the 50 Online Victories). I guess he's trying to compete with me. Well, since I'd never heard from him and the only reason I had him on my list was that he was from the UK and sent me a friend request Aafter only seeing him for a second in a Gaunlet lobby, I decided to remove him. He most likely only sent me a friend request just because I had a higher Gamerscore. I can tell that after having him on my list for months now and have never played with him yet or had any contact, I almost definitely never will, so I don't need him on my list.

No comments: