Ridge Racer 6

"Brake? What's That?"

One of the more interesting racing games I've laid eyes and hands on, Ridge Racer 6 is the very definition of boring when it comes to racers. I cannot fathom how anyone would think that what they've done with this game was a good idea.

Graphics: 8

For a launch title, it looks nice. The framerate is at a constant 60, tracks are fairly detailed, and the cars themselves are pretty well designed. The motion blurs when you activate nitrous are very well done. My only real gripe with the graphics is the hilarious glitch where you understeer and hit the outer edge of a curve, your camera and car seems to stutter/jitter forward while it rides the railing.

Gameplay: 2

Perhaps I'm being too harsh here, but this racer needs some serious work. First of all, you do not need the brake button, ever. Once you learn how to take a sharp corner, you'll know how to take every single one of them. Where other racers use the true-to-life out-in-out method, where you start on the outer lane and turn inward with an exit that moves to the outer lane again, Ridge Racer 6 allows you to take every turn in the game with an in-in-in method. Couple that with never needing the brake button, and you have a seriously broken racer.

What's worse, because every turn is taken the same way, the gameplay gets old very quickly... which is unfortunate because there are many races to take part in. The only races that are even remotely challenging are the special 1 on 1 races that unlock once you go from left to right on the hex board. The game starts you off on the left of the hex board, and you work your way to the right, with different paths that elevate the hex board. The races don't have anything different really, the only real reason you'd want to race all of them is for completion and getting all of the unlocks, which really is only new cars and skins.

This racer however takes the cake when it comes to easy. Because the way the game works, you can actually end up turning with your car facing the complete opposite way. This can be done with rapid curves in succession, and without hitting the outer barriers. Ridiculous. This game also allows you to spin your car around 360 degrees on a straightaway multiple times without hitting the barriers. Sure, this isn't a realistic racer, but being able to turn with your car facing the complete opposite way is just insane.

The game basically babies you by using what seems to be a gravity railing. It almost seems like there's an invisible rail in the middle of the track, like a train track or a Hot Wheels track, and the game helps you by gravitating your car towards it whenever you drift, which allows such ridiculous driving like the in-in-in and the reverse turn.

Sound: 6

Forgettable. The music is nothing to write home about. Some of the tracks in the game are insanely annoying after awhile, and you'll know which ones I'm talking about if you've played the game for any length of time and are reading this review. The engine noises don't sound like they have enough power for the speeds at which you are driving. Some cars are just annoying to listen to, particularly the bigger cars that sound like vacuum cleaners against your ears. The drift sounds however are done pretty well.

Overall: 3(not an average, gameplay weighs heavily)

It's nowhere near a good racer. It feels broken and unfinished. Taking sharp turns at 300 kph is fun for awhile, until you realize that there's no turn you can't take at that speed. This game should be the textbook definition of boring and monotonous for gaming, even more-so than massively multiplayer online roleplaying games.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 06/11/07