We've Got Road Rash 3D

Road Rash has finally gone 3D, and we've seen it.

The 3D world streams (as does the music), so the pop-up is minimal, even in this alpha stage. And unlike past Road Rash games, this one has characters with personalities - all competitors are broken into four groups, the Kaffe Boys, the Dewleys, the Desades, and the Techgeists. Each gang has its own music (a deal has been inked between EA, a major label, and several of its top bands - more on that next week) and its own kind of bike (a departure from early games where everyone rode the same basic bike).

Each of the 15 opponents has his own AI and memory - meaning that if you smack him upside the head in one round, he'll remember you the next time.

And to give you a better sense of the other players, short video sequences introducing and documenting them run at the beginning of the game and after races. They're short, they're quick, and they act, according to EA's Hunter Smith, as a sort of "mental break" after you finish a draining race, though the primary purpose of the video is simply to "heighten the sense of who are."

Full 3D motion allows players to run courses backwards and head off the racetrack and onto another road, and although the limits on just how far layers can go off-road haven't been set yet, it's looking promising. Road Rash 3D, developed and published by EA, is set for a late March release.