Provided Lono hasn’t changed the title of this article, I think it’s a pretty clever one. Because it’s an article about the demo of Pure, Disney Interactive Studio’s new ATV off-road racer. it’s not full of wishy-washy descriptions of things.I get straight to the point. See? Clever title.
Anyway, hit the jump for my Pure impressions. Pure, as I said above, is an off-road ATV (quad bike) racing game from the relatively unknown Black Rock Studio, published Disney Interactive Studios. Don’t let the name of that publisher put you off though – this isn’t exactly a reproduction of Beauty and the Beast in mud. To give you an idea of what it’s like, imagine a PG-rated version of MotorStorm’s quad bikes with less emphasis on the ragdoll physics and the fistfights. It’s not too rough and so, as you might expect with the Disney brand name attached to it, it’s got a nice universal appeal that means anyone can get into it. And anyone can.
The compulsory tutorial level at the start of the demo introduces Pure’s core gameplay elements, and once you’ve picked these up you’ve learned how to play the whole game. Tricks are pulled with three of the controller’s face buttons and tweaked with the shoulder buttons to give you variations. Perform tricks and you earn boost. The more boost you have, the larger range of tricks you can pull to keep your boost up and stay ahead of the rest of the pack. Easy as that.
Pain’s gameplay really is as simple as 1-2-3: pull back on the left stick and flick it forward to propel your rider into the air, pull some kickin’ rad tricks, boost a bit to stay in first, and repeat. However, while it’s simple, the game never feels like it’s looking down on you. It’s hardly a new concept but it feels fresh in the fact that it’s simple enough for anyone to play but not too simple as to feel patronizing. Sure, the little icons in the HUD display the buttons you have to press for tricks, but the game doesn’t flash up “press them now! press them now!” the moment you launch your ATV in the air.
The handling is almost identical to that in MotorStorm’s, with quads all too eager to go sideways the moment they hit the dirt but less eager to throw you off, unlike Evolution Studio’s off-road effort. Even when you’re cast astray from your quad, the ragdoll drama is kept to a minimum and you only have to wait a fleeting second until a big flashy Pure logo obscures the screen (almost akin to the way an ESPN logo would flash up to mark the end of a replay; it’s all very sleek and fancy in its presentation) and you’re back on your way again. It’s forgiving, it’s simple, but most of all it’s good (un)clean fun.
As for the looks, they’re like the controls: simple but functional, and the basic textures and models are hidden in a Vaseline-smeared filter of motion blur so that you don’t really notice the distinctively average looks. However when it’s set on a universal audience (as you’d expect when it’s published by Disney) Pure doesn’t need to have a next-gen bloom filter and super-high-res textures applied to smoothly-defined character and vehicle models as hardly anybody will take the time out to appreciate it: mainly because they’ll be having too much fun.
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“Pain’s gameplay really is as simple as 1-2-3:”
Yes, it is, but I’m more interested in finding out if Pure’s gameplay is that simple.
Ingenious title, Mr Yams.
The demo was really fun, but I’m pretty sure that I’m not getting this game. I’m not really into racers.
I had an absolute blast with this demo. I don’t get into racing much but I do like the occasional distraction. This game got with the first time I did my special. jaw dropped and those endorphins crackled to life.