Arctic Thunder Preview

Midway's arcade racing games are generally known for having over-the-top level design and gameplay with a nearly nonexistent learning curve, and Artic Thunder is no different. Whereas Hydro Thunder took place on various waterways around the world, Artic Thunder lets you race on snowmobiles through several unique locations ranging from an oil pipeline in the Alaskan tundra to a haunted forest, complete with enormous spiders marching across the landscape. Artic Thunder also includes missiles, grappling hooks, bombs, and other items for wreaking havoc on other drivers zooming through the track.

There are six options to select from in Arctic Thunder: race, arcade, training, battle, points, and upgrade. The race and arcade modes are nearly identical--both are straightforward races that don't give any particular rewards for finishing, but you can try to set new track records. The race mode also includes a turbo boost meter at the start line that, if timed properly, can give you a useful boost at the beginning of a race. The training mode is similar to the two previous modes except there aren't any opponents, so you can take your time to explore each track to find any possible shortcuts.

Picking a winner

The real attractions of Arctic Thunder are the points and upgrade modes, which work together to give the game a fair amount of replay value. In the points mode, you receive points based on your race performance. You're awarded points based on what place you finish in--first place receives the highest amount of points--the use of trick ramps scattered across each track, and other factors. Unfortunately, the tricks in Artic Thunder are all automatic and change depending solely on how much speed you have when you launch off the ramp. After accumulating enough points, you will have a variety of ways to spend them. You can enter the upgrade menu and spend points to modify rider performance, sled performance, the number of weapons in your inventory, or weapon accuracy. You can also unlock new riders and new tracks, both of which require more points than the upgrades.

Turbo boosting it!

Combat in the game takes a few different forms. You can either use a character's default punch or kick attacks by pressing the right trigger on the Xbox controller, or you can use any one of the special weapons on the track. The most efficient weapon is the missile because it automatically tracks the rider in front of you and a few direct hits from it can easily knock a rider off his or her sled--though the recovery time after being knocked off a sled is virtually nonexistent. Moreover, weapon accuracy can be an issue for some riders in the early stage of the game, but the upgrade option lets you fix that problem by adjusting the rider's accuracy levels. Other weapons, such as mines and bombs with sweeping explosions, don't really require much accuracy. They're all fairly typical of a racing game with a combat element, so fans of the genre should have no problem becoming accustomed to them quickly.