I met with Firemint to get a hands-on with Real Racing. It was amazing.In general we here at iPGN are not huge fans of accelerometer controls. They are generally poorly tuned, slopy, and/or gimmicky. They also have a problem when you don’t play flat on the table, or move positions, so we usually feel that accelerometer controls just don’t work. Firemint’s real racing changes all of that.
The controls are what accelerometer controls are supposed to be. First it auto calibrates, so you dont have to zero out the center every time you change positions. When you tilt to steer the controls feel amazing. It turns as little or as much as you want and you feel in complete control. I know looking at the screenshots people were hoping for a touch steering control but I’m here to tell you, even though you have the option for touch steering, you wont need it. The controls are amazing.
Okay, lets talk about the graphics. I haven’t seen anything this impressive since Zen Bound. It looks better than any PSP racing game I have played. I’m not sure if its because of the higher screen resolution of the iPhone or if it’s because of the textures and colors, but this game looks amazing. In the cockpit view you become totally immersed in the game. The draw distance is far, and the details are crisp and bright. I didn’t want to put this game down.
As far as gameplay goes it has what you would expect from a racing game. You have 12 race tracks, 36 cars and 3 car classes (hatchback, sedan & muscle car), and 9 championships. There is tons on single player content. They have also made sure that you can unlock everything in the game in any of the car classes in case you find muscle car, or sedan too difficult.
Firemint has also added online league play. This means if you qualify (through the online leaderboards) as one of the best, you will be entered into an online rally against other players for the title of the best real racer. This works by allowing you a special mode where you get to play alone and fight for the best time. Best times in the online ralley will take the big prize. In addion to the online rally, you can aso upload replays of your races to youtube from the game. What better way to brag about your record breaking time than to you tube it to all your friends.
Real racing is scheduled to come out late April. There is not final word on pricing, but they did indicate it is a premium game. I would easly pay 9.99 for Real Racing when it comes out. Firemint will let us know as things get closer about price and the release date, so make sure you keep on checking the site.
From what I have played I can’t see how Real Racing won’t get 5 stars. Real Racing is amazing, and I can’t wait for it to come out. In the meantime I’m playing Firemint’s other title Flight Control.
