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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing sensation of speed, 19 Sep 2002
XG3 has to be the fastest racing game I've come across ever. I've finished GT3, and XG3 makes it feel like the cars are all 2-stroke lawnmowers!When you start off, it'll feel pretty fast already, but once you get to the larger engine sizes you'll be going up to 3 times faster than that! The sensation of speed is phenomenal as the track blurs around you, and when you pass through the sound barrier, it suddenly gets all quiet and the music fades: a great effect! You need to put it in cockpit-view mode to get the best effect though. There are a few reasons that I haven't given this game even 4 stars though. Firstly, it's hard to come first consistently: frustratingly hard. There's only one difficulty level, and whilst the lower classes are straightforward, as you progress it just gets too tricky even for experienced gamers. You always start off last and your opponents zoom far ahead of you. They then drop these pesky mines right in front of you. You're going at 800kph+, so it's near impossible to avoid them- leading to cursing and throwing of controllers when you are beaten across the line for the umpteenth time by half a second Secondly, there's a rather limited number of tracks. They're all well designed, interesting and challenging, but we could have done with a few more. The rain effect is pretty nifty though. Thirdly, the weapons play a fairly low role. They're heavily geared towards your opponents defending their position, rather than you attacking. Fourthly, the 2-player mode isn't great- it splits the screen vertically, rather than horizontally, so it's hard to see what's going on. There's also a noticeable drop in frame rate. Lastly, the reward for finishing the game is rather tame- another team to race with- a bit disappointing really. What about some FMV? Or options to tinker with the way your bike looks? Or good weapons? Or different outfits for your riders? I'd like to give this game 3 1/2 stars, for being great fun while it lasts, but it was closer to 3 than 4. So that's what it's getting.
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