Ridge Racer 7 - My first PS3 game experience !

[EVOTION]

I was only able to get RR7 due to availability problems. I would have really liked to have had Resistance: Fall of Man or perhaps Call of Duty 3 as I don't tend to bond well with racing games. They never seem to have the stickiness and longevity that other games can offer.



After loading the game into the front slot i eventually realised you have to then proceed, from the menu, to the game icon. Clicking down you will see an icon for the game you have loaded. It doesn't happen automatically, well not for me anyway.

I was a bit nervous about the PS3 anyway as its a fairly complicated bit of kit (I'm far more at home with a PC !) but when a game loaded on to the screen that came from the 1980's with beep beep sounds I had a horrible feeling in my stomach that I was a victim of some huge international fraud... :)

As it happens, it was meant to happen and it was just Xevious, an old arcade classic, as you can see in the first picture. After dying within 10 seconds I pressed 'Start' to proceed to the main event. Immediately the graphics were impressive but I wouldn't say any better than an Xbox 360. I guess being a pre-launch game that it doesn't have the full monty of graphical goods.

Clicking down through the main menu it is immediately obvious there is a HUGE amount of depth to this game. It is definately NOT a quick arcade bash sort of game. It is a lot bigger than PGR, for example. I quickly got down to some arcade action which is probably everybody's first port of call, not even bothering to read the instructions. I must say, the driving dynamics are very good and drifting round the corners seemed to come naturaly depsite being an old fart.. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks... :)

There is the usual ghost-car Time Attack but this time it compares your times with everyone around the world for the chosen car and track! (Internet connection neeeded.)

The GP section looks to have the usual 'progress up the ranks' scenario but, judging by the 'percentage of game completed' figures thrown at me, I expect to be spending a good month before reaching the upper echelons of Racerdom.

After a day or two of playing I realised I wasn't getting very far, very fast and was really struggling in the the levels above 'idiot novice'. It turns out that after winning certain races in Manufacturers Mode that you win credits which you may spend on your car in the Machine Connector section. There is a full array of body parts and performance parts to choose from and the better stuff costs a fortune as do the better cars. The extra speed I gathered from upgrading 2 car levels up with extra nitrous was unbelievable. The game actually took on another dimension and it felt as if I had been running through deep water previously... The game went from Manic to Mental !

Tips I can impart in my limited experience:

The cars are much faster with Manual Gears which are not as scary as some may think. Also, the car is much smoother by using the ananloge thumb sticks than the buttons which helps with faster lap times.

Overall... I am very impressed and my boys (right pic) are addicts already which means that I am not getting many 'Road Hours'. :(

More on the Online functionality of this game coming soon!

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[snake]

I hear ya. I've been playing the game online for a few days now and I just cant get anywhere near the leaders. They end up 30-40 seconds ahead after the 3 laps...

Have they got special nitrous and stuff...? Very frustrating.
I have had 13 races and come last in 9 of them and the rest were either 2nd last or 3rd last.. Mostly there are 8 people in the race.

I did come 4th once but it turned out there were only the 4 of us...

[Liquid]

I think the graphics are cool, the lighting and shadow affects of the car going round is spot on. The gameplay is excellent and I do feel in control of the vehicle at all times. Mind you, you do have be a bit sensitive with the thumbstick or you end up fishtailing/tankslapping along the road.

You seem to get the most credits from the UFRA races and a little bit from the manufacturers races. I managed to buy a few more cars including one on bottom row but I cant see what good it does for me.... You cant use it against others in the minor races anyway.

The online bit is great. Totally dominated by the Japanese at the moment!
Am not getting far either. I noticed that if you finish amongst the leaders then you may get some decent bucks for it.

Cool game, better than I thought it was going to be really...

[Racer]

Yeah got it.... Good game!

I find the dark tunnel tracks very challenging.. Must be something wrong with my eyesight..! :?

Found the controls and ease of drifting to be excellent. Practice makes perfect. Takes a while to get used to a track, which is good.
Am only 5 pct through the game so it looks like a long lasting game even before you take into account the excellent online play which is fantastic!!

Getting a room is pretty quick and the formats are really flexible.

I love it.

[ps3ade]

Great game..

Its easy to get good and damned hard to get brilliant.... :)

[sMoKe]

I heard that Ridge Racer 7 is the only game at launch that has the full HD 1080P capability...

Is that right ??

Where are all these super cool HD games ?? :?

[Racer]

yep !!

i've got it on now right in front of me.. on my HD TV.
It is only a 1080i TV so thats the resolution I am playing it at.

It makes a noticeable difference. It was a decent looking game before but now its even better. The Japanese girl at the start loks devine, the cars are even more crisp and the tracks + sound have improved measurably.

I enjoy the game, the online bit is difficult. Its very hard to get near the experienced players, unlike Resistance FOM where it is possible to snipe even the best player! :wink:

I prefer this to my other car game, Need for Speed carbon though I am really waiting for Gran Tursimo to become available for download. :)

[joeythebest]

my first game is resistance fall of man. and its super cool

[Mr-SoFlyy]

how do the dam japanese always come in first?????