In an era of carbon copies, rip-offs, and fads this is the true archetype. Others only wish they were the TXR series.
The premise is simple. The Tokyo Underground was rend asunder after the last batch of races. The unknown 21st century samurai of the road who tore his way through the underground previously completely toppled the hierarchy, giving room for the new generation of warriors to take power. Now begins the new age of street racing. Once again you are a lone and unknown Samurai rising up to take on the new underground. Will you be as successful as the previous or will you be doomed to obscurity?
The presentation of this game is breathtaking. I loved the constant comparisons to Feudal Japan. The street racers are the new Feudal Lords and Warriors of their realms. The constant use of vivid imagery and haikus is a beautiful touch to the whole of the game. This whole premise instills a grand sense of dignity and power to the street racing genre. This game paints the picture of the Japanese underground as a proud group of warriors battling for honor and dignity. As if the racing scene is a new life. Racers go about their normal 9 to 5 lives carrying out all their mundane daily chores and then, when darkness falls, out comes their inner drive. They are re-awakened to carry out the battles of their proud ancestors in the new millennium with the current generation of technology. Unlike other games which cheapen and demean racing as a whole by comparing them to rats. They come out at night, under cover of darkness to hide their identities, scattering when the light of the law shines upon them. Other games are all about “Bling-Bling” and money, and hoes. The TXR series has always allowed the participants to maintain dignity. For this alone I have the utmost respect for the TXR games.
The controls are pretty solid. The steering is a little arcade-ish but most people like that. All racing games can’t be Gran Tourismo. The cars handle pretty well and the controls are responsive. That isn’t to say you won’t lose control of the car every once in a while but it still feels good.
The customization options are many. Each vehicle gets its own unique sets of body mods. There are also weight reduction mods, suspension, and chassis stiffening. All body mods can be purchased as either Carbon Fiber or fiberglass. This is also a weight savings trick and a nice touch. You can leave whatever carbon pieces you wish unpainted or you can color match them to the vehicle. This is also nice since the import trend with CF hoods is to leave them unpainted.
TXR3 also brings a few firsts to the table. Instead of simply offering the same old Tokyo highway system there are two new cities in which you can race. This is a nice and welcome expansion. Another first is the use of real licensed vehicles instead of the look-alikes with similar sounding names (that is, if you knew the chassis codes for the vehicles). This is due in large part to the rise of the street racing genre. Now that it’s cool and profitable to stick your cars in the game TXR can get the vehicles it so rightly deserves. Another first is a tweak to the game itself. Instead of having to TRULY beat every single car in the area you now topple the super-powers to progress and move on. Once those are all beaten (and hence the game is beaten) you go back and assert your dominance by taking out the stragglers.
Most people gripe about the set-up. You have to drive around to find the opponents to race and then challenge them. I prefer that to the simple ok here’s your race and now you go premise of the other games. This is a nice touch which makes the experience more immersive. You people want realism in games and then when you get it you complain. Make up your minds.
On the whole this game is excellent. I love the innovations, its originality, and it’s over-all experience. This game was RELEASED at a $20 price point and I seriously urge anyone who hasn’t bought it yet to do so.