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2060 Cyber Racer (Xbox 360) review"2060 Cyber Racer openly credits the Racing Game Starter Kit, and as far as I can tell this R3dDr4g0n guy just changed some textures around to make the other guy's free game uglier, and then stuck a price tag on the end result. This appears to comply with the starter kit's user license and Microsoft's rules on Indie Games, so there's nothing "illegal" going on, but it's still pretty damn lazy and not the least bit innovative." |
This is an Xbox Live Indie Games release. When playing indie games, I'm not looking for the production and sheen of a commercial release (although more power to anyone who pulls that off). I'm looking for ingenuity and talent. A game that showcases one, the other, or both is likely to receive a recommendation.
The sales pitch for 2060 Cyber Racer asks the question, "Who will be the best cyber racer?!"
I guess the answer is "me", because I kept winning this ridiculously easy game by accident. To clarify what I mean by "easy", I never ranked lower than first place. I'd like to think that means I'm some kind of racing god, but when I'm slamming the car into walls and listening to the sound of shattered glass every few seconds, I know better.
2060 Cyber Racer openly credits the Racing Game Starter Kit, and as far as I can tell this R3dDr4g0n guy just changed some textures around to make the other guy's free game uglier, and then stuck a price tag on the end result. This appears to comply with the starter kit's user license and Microsoft's rules on Indie Games, so there's nothing "illegal" going on, but it's still pretty damn lazy and not the least bit innovative.
If R3dDr4g0n had used the free starter kit as a basis for building a great racer, then that would actually be a worthwhile testament to the "community" aspect of Xbox Indie Games — one person does what they do best (build a racing game graphics engine), and puts it out there for anyone to freely use as part of their own game. Then another fellow comes along and does what they do best (implement some killer AI and tweak the visuals to match the racing speed) and voila, we've got a respectable final product that might actually be worth a bit of coin. I'd love to see that kind of community-driven, progressive development. Unfortunately, that's not real life . . . at least, not this time.
The little number in the corner of Cyber Racer's screen says you're going at speeds in excess of 250 MPH, but the scenery doesn't move at a rate indicative of that speed. The steering controls are quite floaty. The one music track is acceptable, but the visuals wear out their "cyber" charm quickly. And, as mentioned before, each of the three tracks are startlingly easy.
I played the novice course, and won accidentally.
I played the advanced course, crashed a number of times, and won accidentally.
I played the expert course, but the demo's time ran out so I did not win. I elected not to purchase the full game, and neither should you since throwing new skins onto a free product and then charging money for it demonstrates neither ingenuity nor talent.
//Zig
This game cost 200 points at the time of review.
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Staff review by Zigfried (September 03, 2009)
Zigfried likes writing about whales and angry seamen, and often does so at the local pub. |
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