Pure Preview

Pure from Disney Interactive is an extreme racing game that puts players into a variety of different off-road vehicles as they catch air and perform tricks on several different race tracks. Taking the best elements of extreme sports games like SSX and MotorStorm, Pure is a great racing title that will allow for newcomers to easily grasp the game’s racing mechanics while hardcore racing fans should have a blast playing it.

At a recent event held by Disney Interactive in San Francisco, GameZone had the chance to sit down with some of the game’s 16-player multiplayer modes. We also got the chance to get familiar with the game’s controls and trick system as well. The game was a lot of fun to play, controlling a lot more comfortably than other off-road racers like MotorStorm while giving you the ability to pull off some awesome tricks.

The trick mechanic is easy to grasp, yet can often be challenging to pull off. In order to get the best air on a jump, you’ll have to do an action called “pre-loading”, where you have to hold down on the left thumbstick and then press it up right as you go off of the ramp. Depending on how well you pulled it off, you’ll be rated a percentage, which pops up as you gain air off the jump. Getting better air will allow you to pull off more combos and more complex tricks, thus netting you a higher boost and more points.

As you gain more boost, you’ll also unlock more tricks. Each trick is mapped to a face button, with the A button being the low-end tricks, B being the mid-range, and Y being the tougher of the basic trick sets. By pressing a direction on the left thumbstick, you’ll do different tricks, and you can modify them with the bumper buttons as well. Once you max out your boost meter, you’ll also be able to perform the toughest tricks by pressing both bumpers at the same time. These tricks require a lot of air, so you’ll have to make sure that you only do them off of a big jump.

The 16-player gameplay held up very well, with no discernible lag. There were several different modes on display, including a standard 16-person race, as well as a trick mode. The Freestyle mode was pretty fun, as each driver could grab score modifiers in the air and had a gas gauge that would run out and end their run, but they could grab modifiers that would temporarily freeze their gas consumption and give them more time. Additionally, the Freeride mode allows you to have your pick of high scores, letting you vie for things like “highest jump”, “biggest combo”, “fastest lap”, and so on.

Pure is turning out to be a fun and easy to play racer, with a great trick mechanic and some truly fun racing mechanics, as well as fast and furious multiplayer matches. Look for it next month.