"Unbounded is a rough and brutal racer which excels in its thrilling driving and furious destruction."
Positive
- Racing is furious and merciless
- Immensely satisfying destruction
- Damage modeling is superb
Negative
- Steep learning curve will intimidate amateurs
- Scenery is often repeated
Half of my initial hours of playing Unbounded were spent on one thing: swearing. Ridge Racer: Unbounded is a game that insists on never making life easy for players, forcing you to getting accustomed to tough and plentiful opponents, and with drifting and handle so inconsistent you will definitely curse them at some point. But after its steep learning curve and trial-and-error, you might discover an Unbounded you couldn’t see; a rough gem that will force you to become better and better, master its tenacious drifting and assaulting your opponents tenaciously It is the toughest racer you will play all year, but it is satisfying in a long run.
There is no story to be found, but the setting of the game is the fictional city of Shatter Bay, divided in several districts for you to dominate. There are a series of different events to participate in, which will require points to unlock further, but only finishing in the 2nd and 3rd place will allow you to actually pass the event, and finished 1st, means you have dominated the event. The main event is the Destruction type races, a no-rules street races against 11 opponents, forcing you to battle and destroy your environments and opponents. Shindo Races are typical races minus the destruction, focusing on speed. Drifting events set you loose alone against a target points. Frag attacks require you to destroy as many enemies as possible and the Time Attack sets you in a battle against time. Points are awarded in the top slots, while extra points are awarded for your actions. It is a simple system that works in giving each repeated event a purpose. Overall points are given for your rank, but each district has its own point system, requiring you to achieve a requirement to unlock further races in the location. With points gained from your actions (mainly in the Destruction Races), you will improve your rank, and gain new vehicles, possibly new districts, and creation blocks to create your own city. Creating your own city is easy and fun, and the game lets you even publish it online for other players to use.
The racing in Unbounded is tricky, challenging, and full of destructible objects. There is no open world, and the races are strictly short, suffering from some inevitable repetition. Aside from having some really rough opponents to contend with, and in most races up to 11 opponents, nailing the handling can be a diabolical ordeal. Unbounded is a seriously tough racing game that will require you to adapt yourself to its handling, and more importantly its corner turning and drifting. Drifting is very hard to master, that will require you to come to a corner with speed, while holding down the break a little, and turning, without turning too much that would cause the car to not position itself properly for the next straight line behind the corner. The mandatory concentration needed can be daunting, and it wouldn’t be anything new to lose several positions because of an imperfect drift. That is how demanding the game can be, though you can afford some wall slamming to help you, though you can still crash if the impact is too violent. There is no mini-map, so unless you’ve experienced the track, you might not be able to be fully prepared for the next corner.
The tracks are full of destructible objects like rubble, and other decorations, and some rather harder-to-destroyed objects like small walls and statues. The destruction is absolutely awesome, but it comes to the expanse that it can occasionally be difficult to determine what’s destructible and what’s not, which may cause you to crash. Your vehicles break apart quite nicely, and crashing your opponents feels almost as satisfying as ravaging your opponents in the Burnout games. There are destructible locations, which are scripted in each track, and require the Power you gain from your action in the track. Power can be gained from drafting opponents, air time and drifting, and with the Power, you can instantly destroy an enemy on the slightest contact. Alternatively, you can opt to use it to gain a great acceleration, or open a shortcut. These destructible areas can only be opened when Power is available, to open a decent shortcut, which awards you with a hefty amount of points. The shortcuts feel scripted, and can successfully trigger you with continuous Power to open consecutive shortcuts. As for the rest of the events, but the Frag Attacks, there is no use of shortcuts. The Shindo Racing removes the Power for regular Boost in fair-and-square races that decreases the thrills and frills of the Domination. The Time Attack and Drift events are hampered by very limited time that can make them frustrating rather than fun.
Unbounded is quite good looking, with mostly the sunset vista is exquisite, if overly repetitive, and increasingly dull the more you play. It is also very urban-centered, and relies on track repetition frequently, despite supposedly being in different districts. The car models look nice and shiny, and the damage to the city and to the cars are absolutely stunning. There is a car crashing animation when you frag opponent, which gives you points on the damage you inflicted, including distance travelled, stuns and such, showing excessive car damage. Your own frag cannot be skipped like when you inflict the damage, and shown as a black and white animation of your pitiful destroyed vehicle. Soundtrack is entirely composed of dubstep music, including Skillrex, though surprisingly a great fit for the game’s theme rather than having Burnout/Need for Speed kind of tunes.
Ridge Racer: Unbounded is one hell of a ride. It is so outrageously challenging it will require you to experiment and fail time and time again to learn corners, shortcuts and where to use your assets. The handling is as challenging as handling your stiff competition, and while the Destruction Races are brilliant devious destruction, the other race types aren’t as much fun, and nowhere near earn you enough points. Although if you can handle a challenge, not many racing games offer this kind of rough and rumbustious fury of racing and destruction.
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Graphics = 7.8
The sunset looks stunning, but plenty of track repetition.
Sound = 7.3
Dubstep soundtrack, it depends on your taste, but it fits the game’s tone.
Presentation = 7.5
Good menu presentation and the instant loadings are awesome. Minimal story though.
Gameplay = 8.0
Rough and furiously aggressive racing which can get very exciting. Plenty of mayhem to cause and shortcuts to burst through, even though it feels scripted and repetitive after a while
Race Types = 7.4
Destruction Races are awesome and the highlight of the game. Meanwhile the rest, don’t come close and barely earn any points unless you come first or get enough points.
Recommendation Level = Medium
Unbounded is quite a nice game with a steep learning curve. It isn’t as accessible as other racers. It makes you taste defeat from the first race. It is definitely not a game you’d breeze through.
Level of Difficulty = Very Hard
The tough and tricky drifting is enough to contend with, and the opponent AI are rough and fast. Plus the non-Destruction Races can be quite demanding.
Play Time = 8 hours
Plenty of districts to dominate with plenty of different events. Aside from the single-player campaign, there are the online play and the Creation tools to immerse yourself in.
OVERALL = 76 / 100
Unbounded is a rough and brutal racer which excels in its thrilling driving and furious destruction.