E3 Hands-On: Joy Ride (Xbox 360)
I’ll have to admit that I was a bit down on Joyride before actually playing it. I’ve never really enjoyed Avatars in both functional and design senses. They’re obnoxiously boring, forced catchalls that don’t even work as basic caricatures of the player. So when Microsoft announced their new, free kart-racer Joy Ride during their keynote last Monday, I had no choice but to roll my eyes at the even more staid visuals that, in my opinion, are emblematic of Microsoft’s half-hearted attempts to woo the casual audience.
But then I actually played the game and came to this conclusion: for a free, almost throwaway kart racer, Joy Ride isn’t half bad. Though the game doesn’t do anything particularly new nor does it have the charm of say Mario Kart or Crash Team Racing, I thought that novice development studio BigPark did great in bringing a kart racer to the 360; Lord knows I can’t even name one for that system at the top of my head.
Of course, Joy Ride isn’t totally free — avatar clothing, new cars, and even game modes will be up on the Xbox Live Marketplace as DLC. Microtransactions, kids: that’s how you make money. But BigPark isn’t that heartless: I was told that gameplay-related DLC is shareable between racers, meaning that you only need to play with someone who’s actually purchased a particular course, track or other piece of downloadable content to experience it.
We started the demonstration off in an open-ended stunt track, where I got to practice some of the controls. The game handles much like any garden-variety kart racer, though you do get to perform a lot of neat stunts with the Y button in conjunction with the left analog stick. Right Trigger controls the gas, Left Trigger is brake, and the Left Bumper allows you to perform a speed boost, indicated by a meter that fills up as you do stunts.
The open-ended area also serves as the game’s main hub world (a bit similar to Burnout Paradise’s Paradise City, but not really) where you get to start impromptu races and other sorts of kart-related competitions. Only straightforward races were shown in the demo, however, and even the expected zany weaponry wasn’t shown. I might be ragging on it a bit for lacking some personality, but that’s probably because tracks and weapons haven’t even made it into the game.
Watch out for more impressions in the next couple of days, and make sure to check out GAME!’s E3 blowout next issue!
Joy Ride Screenshot Gallery:
