Arctic Thunder

"A lot of fun...for the first 3 hours or so."

When I bought my Xbox, it came with one game. That game was Arctic Thunder. Because I spent so long playing it (before I got some better games), I feel led to review it. Here I go.

Graphics: 6.7/10
The graphics look incredible at first glance, but that's because you are going so fast you really can't stop and look at the details. I managed to get myself stuck in a few places and look at my surroundings, and I noticed a few things. (1.) The textures don't all line up, (2.) the textures are all VERY SMALL, and (3.) a lot of the character/item models are somewhat low-poly, probably since the creators didn't expect anyone to look very closely.

Sound: 4/10
The sound is really nothing special. Even with my Dolby Surround system and powered subwoofer, I didn't hear anything that really stood out to me. The music isn't at all as fast-paced as you'd expect from a racing game and the sound effects are pretty dull. This is perhaps the most lacking part of the game.

Gameplay: 7/10
I don't have much to say about the gameplay - it's pretty much what you'd expect from this kind of game. I would have given the game a higher rating in the gameplay department, but one thing bothers me: there is NOTHING innovative or original here. It's all been done before (and better) in other games.

Replayability: 6.5/10
This is, in my opinion, the most important aspect of any game. Sadly, Arctic Thunder's replayability is pretty non-existent. After you've played through all the tracks a couple times, you'll feel bored with them because there's nothing dynamic in them at all - it's always the same. The one thing that adds to the replayability here is the fact that there's a decent battle mode for multiplayer.

Overall (not an average) 6/10
Arctic Thunder is a decent game, and probably worth the $5.00 or so you can buy it for on Amazon or some other used game site. However, there are *far* better racing games out there, and this one really has nothing innovative or different. Sadly, no recommendation from me.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 10/31/05