Techland — makers of last year’s balls-to-the-wall racerNail’d— is back yet again, this time in the downloadable space, withHaste(working title).
Along with a handful of otherdigital titlesthat Ubisoft was recentlyshowing off, I was able to take the new ATV affair for little ride.
Haste(working title) (PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade [Previewed])Developer: TechlandPublisher: UbisoftRelease: Spring, 2012
When I first gazed uponHaste, the striking resemblance toNail’dcaught me off guard until I realized it was by the same developer. Those of you familiar withNail’dwill feel right at home, asHastelooks and plays extremely similar. In fact many of the game’s same mechanics have made the transition from retail to download.
you may still control your direction in the air, the boost meter is mostly identical, and brakes — at least in the Laos track I played — were irrelevant. That being said:Hastenails the same blazing speed; impressive framerate; and tight, but floaty controls that madeNail’done intense ride.
With a chance to let loose on two different style events — race and stunt — my initial impression was a little mixed. Racing was an insanely fast experience and gratifying when not crashing, but the stunt mode, in which first place is decided by the highest trick score, was thoroughly lacking. LikeNail’d, stunts are limited to front and back flips and shooting through flaming hoops. It’s still very early, so hopefully further variety can be added to spice up the flair.
The rest of the game, especially for a downloadable title, sounds promising. With forty current tracks (sixty total is the goal) and diverse racing locales with multiple routes, there’s definitely plenty of racing to be had. My only concern is with such a large amount of tracks, how much are cut up and repurposed segments fromNail’das opposed to completely new course designs?
Either way, with six multiplayer modes and full customization of each ATV,Hasteis shaping up to be one complete downloadable package when it blazes onto Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network next year.
