Fasten your seatbelts and turn your iPhone up to FAST!
Asphalt returns again this year with a strong sixth instalment in the arcade racer genre.
When it comes to racing games, I’m not easily convinced, I’ve found even some of the more highly credited games have a tendency to become tiring after a short amount of time for me. After playing Asphalt 6 though, I’m happy to report back that this is one helluva action packed, addictive racer!
Keeping true to previous versions, you’ll find the same fast paced, arcade style gameplay here packed with a multitude of different game modes and cars.
As with most of Gameloft’s newer games you can see the iPhone 4′s retina display being used here to maximise graphic potential. The cars look stunning, and the tracks just as detailed and packed with cheeky little shortcuts. You don’t feel like your playing another generic arcade racer here. Especially when you activate a fully charged nitro you go into adrenaline mode which is in my opinion the highlight of the game! The track darkens and the outlines are traced out in neon blue, your competition turn bright neon pink so you can easily target them and best of all you reach blazing speeds so anyone in your way is guaranteed to get trashed. Eliminations are what drive the competition away. When you take down an opponent the realistic crash physics come into play, the camera slows down and the focus is placed on the unfortunate victim, Burnout style! It’s just so tasty to watch!
The usual driving control methods are available here as with most racers on iOS devices including tilt to steer or half wheel, auto accelerate and tap to break. Boasting over 42 licensed vehicles, both bikes and cars, and 15 tracks over 55 different races there is a wealth of gameplay available for the player from regular races, drift challenges and my personal favourite, the takedown challenges.
The Career mode shines out too and is the perfect place to start. Race through 11 different leagues each consisting of 5 races each. In each race you can earn up to 5 stars, usually 3 stars for completing the main objective which can be among finishing first or surviving until the timer runs down. You’ve then got a further 2 stars to earn in extra objectives. With so much to do you’ll always find reason here to replay races to achieve those extra stars to unlock the later leagues.
It’s also not just about unlocking new tracks and leagues, but also tuning your car! Get some engine tweaks in, a nitro boost then slap on some pimpin’ decals! The only thing missing is a pumping stereo system that takes up all your trunk space. Not to worry about that though, the music in the game compliments the games adrenaline levels perfectly plus you can always play your own tracks too. So if you like taking down hardened street racing opponents while listening to the likes Justin Bieber, then you can… if that’s your sort of thing.
A racer just isn’t complete though unless you can prove to your friends that you’re superior and Gameloft once again deliver here with great multiplayer. Both local (wifi and bluetooth) and global online are available here. Online multiplayer adapts a leveling system we’ve seen grow in most online gameplay in the last few years rather then just sticking in a few leaderboards.
Final Verdict
Asphalt 6 is truly a different breed of racer altogether, real life cars, real life tracks with arcade bash em’ and thrash em’ gameplay. The sheer amount of stuff packed into this game is enough to keep you entertained for a long long time. Speed is the key selling point here, it’s fast, it’s furious and it fits in your pocket! Street racing on the iPhone at it’s best.
