Apex

"Hyped for a Gran Turismo 3 killer. Guess what? It ain't."

Apex is the first realistic racing game for the X-box. Anticipation was a little high for this one, but it turns out that this game is a disappointment.

Before I start saying the big flaws of this game. Let me tell you the great stuff on Apex. You can tell quickly that the graphics are top notch. The graphics are like Gran Turismo 3, but even better with real car physics. You can even create you own dream car and give it new paint jobs and body kits by making money from races. Sounds are pretty good. Not too shabby.

Now...the flipside. You can tell that the AI in this game is horrible. Simply horrible. The cars you go against in races always take the same path every lap and are always bunched up together. They will never be far apart from each other. You can always catch up when you are behind, and they will never be ahead if you are ahead of them. You can't even leave the track. There are always rails on the tracks which prevent you from doing that. That's not a big problem, but here is another big thing they left out. There is two player split screen mode...but....where the hell is X-box live? There are now big multiplayer games on X-box with X-box live and this game doesn't have it. What is up with that? The controls are pretty clunky too (as you would expect). It will take awhile to get used to. The music is really repetitive too. It can get annoying.

Graphics: 10/10

Absolutely phenomenal. Hands down. These are some of the best graphics I've seen in a racing game. Smooth framerate and real car physics make the graphics category a 10.

Sound: 7/10

Car engines, screeches, and other sound effects are good. The only big problem here is the music. It's decent but annoying at times and repetitive. Everything else is good.

Control: 7/10

They are clunky at first, and it takes awhile to master. Once you get used to it, you won't have any problems. The button layout is a bit frustrating.

Gameplay: 5/10

Here is the downfall of the game. The AI. It's really weak. this game is also missing X-box Live. The stuff that saves the game is the Dream Car Mode where you can make your own car and customize it. It's really cool, but the AI, and the weak multiplayer options mess this game up in gameplay.

Replayability: 5/10

What saves this game from getting a lower score is the multiplayer and dream car mode. Multiplayer is fun with a friends, but only for a little while. If it had X-box live, it would be so much better. Replay value is low for this game.

PROS:

+Awesome Graphics
+Real car physics
+Dream Car Mode

CONS:

-Super weak AI
-No X-box Live support
-Can't leave the track

Bottom Line

This isn't a GT3 killer. It is a notch below it. I really don't recommend buying this game. I only think that you should only rent it. It's worth a rental, but not a purchase.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/26/03, Updated 07/26/03