Although we love our sims, here at The ANGRY Pixel, once in a while, we need an escape from all the reality around us. After battling miles upon miles of crazy Bangalore rush-hour, it feels strangely soothing to jump into a game that allows you to jump over cliffs and do crazy back-flips, all at the same time. There is nothing more exhilarating then to soar over the top of the trees, let go of the handle and do something stupidly amazing. So while we can’t do any of this stuff without losing a few limbs, thank God for games like Pure that allow us to escape from the reality into the world where everything, almost everything is possible.

Pure is the latest ATV arcade racer from Black Rock Studio, formerly known as Climax before getting bought over by Disney Interactive, who happens to be the publisher of Pure. In a big departure from their earlier work, Blackrock Studios have come up with a completely over-the-top ATV arcade racer that excels in defying the laws of gravity and human capabilities, delivering an adrenaline laced experience like no other. While the saner side of you will be screaming how impossible it is to pull of these stunts that are the core of Pure, the adventure junkie in you would be willing to cast everything aside and enjoy the thrilling ride as long as it lasts.

Consisting of three main events, Race, Sprint and Freestyle, Pure allows you to change the way you play the game according to what the situation demands. While the onus in Race and Sprint is always on being the first one across the finish line, Freestyle chucks all this in favor of being the one with the highest number of stunts, the crazier, the better, all on a limited fuel tank. Race events will have you striking a perfect balance between technical racing and over-the-top stunts that will fill up your nitro bar and propel you ahead of the pack. Sprint events throw up shorter and meaner courses that will have you navigating the crazy bends, all the while making sure you don’t fall off the edge.

The tracks have been designed based on the events they will be seeing. While Sprint events will have shorter tracks with negligible emphasis on jumps, the longer tracks for Race events will have twisting and turning tracks and ramps that will propel you through the air, where everything becomes muted except for the whoosh of wind as you cut through it. Freestyle events have tracks similar to Race events but here they are littered with pick-ups that will either give you point’s multipliers or special tricks or simply fill up your nitro bar or top up your fuel tank, allowing you to be in the game for a longer time. Although pick-ups respawn, you have to make sure you are ahead of your competition or they will be the ones to walk away with the good ones.

Pulling of tricks midair is as important a part of Pure as crossing the finish line is. While approaching a ramp, you can “pre-load” to propel yourself further into the air. While airborne, you can pull off tricks that are ranked, Easy, Intermediate and Advanced. Nailing an easy trick will boost up your nitro bar as well as unlocking the intermediate trick for your next try. More complex the trick, bigger the nitro boost. You have to make sure to have a good variety of tricks up your sleeves as the game identifies repeated tricks and awards lesser boost. A clean approach and a smooth landing are also essential to ensure that the amazing stunt you just pulled off doesn’t end in you eating dust.

The World Tour mode will have you battling your way through AI riders to the top spot across ten stages of increasing difficulty. Beating one stage will open up the next in the line, besides awarding you with upgrades that range from purely cosmetic to ones determining how your ATV will handle. Like every other racing game, the need for more tracks is sorely felt. However, even with the limited number of tracks, the multiple paths, ramps and shortcuts ensure that you will never get bored. Tracks vary from a Californian aircraft graveyard to a tropical island in Thailand, throwing enough visual as well as gameplay variety on you.

Along the way, you can go back to your garage and get your existing ATV’s fitted with the just unlocked upgrade or use that extra ATV slot to create one from scratch. You can use the quick-build mode to build one ATV or build it part by part, which can get cumbersome after a while. The garage menu could have been made more streamlines as every time you come back, you will have to wade through numerous components to get to the one that you were looking for. Though it has to be admitted that if you are the one who likes to pick through the available parts one by one, you will feel like a kid in a candy store, what with numerous licensed parts and combination’s available at your disposal.

Graphically, the game shines, with sunlight seeping through the trees, huge draw distance, drivers that move in tandem with their machines, all without taxing your system too much. You will be hard pressed to concentrate on your stunts midair, with so much of impressive visual detail all around you. ATV’s sound real while barreling across the landscape while the crunch of the gravel under the tires and the whoosh of wind while shooting over the cliff edge sounding just right. Controls can be a bit iffy if you are playing on the keyboard, especially when it came to pulling off the tricks. In the end, we just had to plug in our Xbox 360 controller to get a better feel of the game.

All in all, Pure is an excellent arcade racer for those new to the genre. Easy to pick up and learn, the game will be a delight for newcomers, while providing a sufficient enough challenge for the veterans. If nothing else, the pure thrill of pulling off and chaining intricate tricks as you shoot across the face of a cliff should be more than enough for you to keep coming back to the game again and again.

8.5 / 10

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