Kinetica Preview

In most ways, Kinetica is a prototypical futuristic racing game. It involves sleek, futuristic crafts that often defy gravity, and it contains more than a handful of gameplay elements secondary to the actual racing. In that way, Kinetica is also like many modern hybrid-racing games--much like SSX, the game revolves around a trick system, which, if you work it properly, will add to your overall effectiveness in a race. Where the game deviates most markedly from any given trend, though, is in its visual design. In place of any sort of orthodox vehicles, Kinetica puts at the forefront a very unique set of cyborgs. Essentially, they're humans with automotive components fused onto their extremities, and they literally dance at roughly 200mph as they maneuver the twisted tracks on which they race. It's definitely one of the more fanciful designs we've come across yet.

Mid-air dynamism.

The game is being developed by an internal Sony team, and it's being headed by one of the heads responsible for Twisted Metal: Black. As you'd imagine, a certain level of technical sophistication and polished design is implicit. Luckily, it seems that those expecting such will not be disappointed. The game excels at portraying a tangible sense of speed, and its "trickcentric" system will keep you engaged throughout many of the long stretches. And the rewards for successful tricking are fairly satisfying; watching the exoskeleton-wearing riders perform serpentine dances as they jet through the surreal tracks is definitely one of modern gaming's most unusual pleasures.

Auto got back.

The developers seemed to have borrowed a key element of SSX when it designed Kinetica--the boost-enabling trick system. As it were, you're rewarded for successful tricks with spikes in your boost meter. Activating boosts greatly increases your speed momentarily, and effective use of it is key in navigating some of the game's more treacherous corners. Tricks are achieved in a fairly simple manner; you hold down the R1 button as you're speeding and input certain control combinations while it's depressed. You can enter chains of tricks while the R1 button is down, and the only thing you should keep in mind are upcoming barriers, since you can't turn your vehicle while the trick button is depressed. As such, being a successful trickmeister requires you to know the tracks well--you'll have to identify the long, featureless stretches of the tracks and take advantage of them, as those are where you'll net the highest combos. Air combos and ground combos differ in look, and certain types of inputs (full circles, for instance), seem to work only in the air. The effects, though, are marvelous in any event--Kinetica has some of the wildest animations ever put into a video game, both from a technical and aesthetic standpoint. It's as if the developer literally mo-capped these sultry cyborgs.