If you’re driving down the road and see gas selling for $.99 you’d probably swerve over, hop the curb and eagerly screech to a halt. Such is the case with Race illegal - High Speed 3D by Chillingo and Apetrus, a $.99 cent racer that’s a no-brainer for most race fans regardless of whether they’re getting hi-octane or simply low grade soup.
Once you start your engine, you’ll find that High Speed 3D revs up quite nicely and is indeed a full-fledged racer complete with a career, a story, a garage, a wide range of races and no fuel sucking IAP’s. While that may not qualify High Speed as hi-octane, since it does produce a few misfires, you certainly won’t feel ripped-off as you leave the station.
The graphics are good although the light bloom, sparks and motion blur tend to get a bit excessive possibly to distract you from the weak visuals of the 9 non-licensed cars. The road graphics are surprisingly good with very little pop-up, a long draw distance and excellent detail making it easy to see upcoming traffic and turns.
Don't expect anything as realistic as Real Racing 2. The racing is not as outlandishly arcade as Asphalt 6 with power-ups in the road and rooftop jumps, but more along the lines of Need for Speed. Where High Speed excels is in it’s excellent accelerometer controls which are as good if not better than both of those powerhouse franchises. This precise control makes High Speed 3D a lot of fun as you weave your way through racers and traffic and drift around high speed turns. Like most arcade racers, there’s auto-acceleration and not much braking and while the nitro gives off a lot of sound and fury you don’t get much of a boost unless it‘s fully upgraded.
In fact, it’s impossible to get very far ahead of the other racers as there’s a lot of rubber-banding in High Speed which some of you may find irritating but it does make for close and exciting races. Even if you crash into oncoming traffic it doesn’t take long for you to get back in the action, which is what High Speed is all about.
High Speed 3D comes with a trunk load of options and accessories at no extra charge. It has 3 difficulty settings, 4 views including bumper and rearview, 3 control options (tilt, touch and wheel), 3 map views, slow-motion jumps, 5 levels of vehicle upgrades, 3 classes of cars that increase the speed of the game as you progress, the ability to choose your music and the ability to choose an avatar from your library to use in the story. Along with the tuning you can also add decals and customize the paint in the garage and your car displays damage.
The career progression and story is a confusing wreck. There are two race modes; championship and street race. Winning events in one mode earns cash and unlocks events in another so you’ll find yourself jumping back and forth searching for unlocked races. You must win all available races before you can advance to the next higher vehicle class. There’s a storyline on top of this involving rival street gangs, a brother and various women but no multiplayer.
What it boils down to is that there are a total of over 50 races which include 7-man sprints, 1-on-1’s, timed races, takedowns and drifting. If you find yourself having a hard time with a particular race upgrade your tuning as much as possible. Although most of the races have fees, you can rerun races if you need cash. There’s also a quick race mode.
High Speed 3D is all about goin’ fast and havin’ a blast. Although it’s a bit rough around the edges, it’s got character. That’s something that the sterile NFS Shift/Unleashed series and the Asphalt cookie cutters lack. Perhaps in response, Gameloft has reduced the price of Asphalt 6 to free for a limited time.
With it’s sense of speed and fantastic tilt controls, I’ve had a great time with High Speed 3D and have certainly gotten my money’s worth of cheap thrills. It’s even made me rethink my feelings toward excessive rubber-banding in arcade racers.
goyami@comcast.net