Ridge Racer Unbounded

Ridge Racer Unbounded
Developer	Bugbear Entertainment
Publisher	Namco Bandai Games
Release date	27 March 2012 30 March 2012
Genre	Racing
Game modes	Single-player, multiplayer
ESRB	T
Platform	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 3 Xbox 360

Ridge Racer: Unbounded was developed by Bugbear Entertainment and published by Namco Bandai. Created for Windows, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Released on March 27, 2012 (US). This is the first Ridge Racer game with destructible cars and destroyable scenery which is similar to Burnout and Split/Second. It is also the last installment for the home consoles in the Ridge Racer series.

The game takes place in the city known as Shatter Bay.

Development

Ridge Racer Unbounded started off as an unrelated prototype for what would've been a new IP by Bugbear. It wasn't really meant to be related to Ridge Racer. However, upon seeing Blur and Split/Second bomb sales wise despite critical acclaim, Bugbear felt it would be too difficult to launch a new IP and instead accepted Namco's request to attach the Ridge Racer name to the title.

Up to the release of the game, Bugbear has been trying to add as much content as possible, as a result of the aforementioned games failing. Bugbear hope it will justify the game being sold at full price, but worries that it won't be quite enough.

As for the future of the series, Namco saw the game as what would've been a start of a separate series. Had it succeeded in sales, there would've been a sequel.

Synopsis

Ridge Racer Unbounded offers a number of changes that depart from traditional Ridge Racer gameplay. Announced additions to the game include the ability to design and share tracks and a new emphasis on vehicular combat.

While Ridge Racer Unbounded was originally scheduled for release in North America and Europe in early March 2012, Namco announced a delay just before the planned release, stating that they wanted to allow more time "to pack the disc with features that will truly make the game sing." The game was released on 27 March 2012 in North America, 30 March 2012 in Europe and 5 April 2012 in Australia on all platforms. However, the Japanese release is so far unconfirmed. Despite this, the game seems to borrow inspiration from Critical Velocity (クリティカルベロシティ, Kuritikaruberoshiti), a video game released in 2005 that was released only in Japan.

Solo mode: 

Solo mode is the single-player option of the game in which you join the unbounded gang and start out low ranked and compete to dominate all of the districts to raise in rank. City Limits, Upper Westside, Williams Way, Lower Eastside Old Town, Shatter Port, Tower Heights, City Center, and Ghost Bay are the seven Districts to take over.

Game Modes:

When playing the game there are five modes, Domination Race, Shindo Racing, Frag Attack, Drift Attack, and Time Attack.

Domination Race

Domination Race Mode

The basic mode of the game. You drive the track while using your power bar to destroy your opponents in your way. As well as use the same power bar to make shorts cuts and destroy targets on the road.

Shindo Racing

Shindo Racing Mode

Unlike Domination Race, You can only use your power bar to nitro and cannot destroy your opponents.  Nor can you create shorts where you normally could in the Domination Race.

Frag Attack

Frag Attack Mode

In this mode, your aim is to destroy as many Cops on the track as possible within a limited amount of time. For every racer, you destroy or creating short cuts you gain points for the score and gain more time on the clock.

Drift Attack

Drift Attack Mode

In this mode its all about the drift. Set on a timer you have to preform drifts to earn points and gain more time on the timer.

Time Attack

Time Attack Mode

It's all about completing one lap around the track to get the fastest time. Collecting collectible freezes the timer and adds to your power bar.

Multi-Player

The Multi-Player mode is available for the players to play in the game, as 2-player mode. It is used for the 2 players to play in order to finish a single-mode.

City Creator

Players can now create cities, which is similar to track creators in racing games. The basics will let you create simplistic courses, and will be a good starting block, but switch to the advanced tools on offer and you’ll be able to create all sorts of crazy tracks, complete with steep vertical curves, loop-the-loops, collapsing scenery, and even dinosaurs and fire storms.

Vehicles

There are a total of 49 vehicles in Unbounded, 14 of which are available as DLC. Most of these cars are completely new fictional machines made for the game. However, four machines from previous Ridge Racer games return to Unbounded under new names: the Ridge Racer 6 iteration of the Soldat Crinale ("Crinale"), the Kamata Fiera ("Ridge Racer"), the Assoluto Bisonte ("Ridge Racer Type 4"), and the Kamata RC410 ("Ridge Racer 7"). The Crinale also has the Kamata name in the paint, suggesting that the car may have been co-developed with them during the events of the game, or this may possibly have been a devloper oversight.

Street Class

• Wolfseye GT
• Motega XR
• Grover LE
• Gremlin GS
• Ashburn '72
• Roadwolf (DLC)
• Gallows (DLC)
• Ridge Racer (DLC)
• Soulcalibur (DLC, skin for the Wolfseye GT)

Race Class

• Crimson TT
• Dorean LE
• Kinghawk GT
• Hotfoot GS
• Wraithe XR
• Nakamura Racer '70
• Mariachi (DLC)
• Ghoster (DLC)
• Ridge Racer Type 4 (DLC)
• Pac-Man (DLC, skin for the Kinghawk GT)
• Tekken (DLC, skin for the Crimson TT)

Super Class

• Sylvian Type 8
• Crosshare XR
• Wolfram GS
• Hurricana CX
• Grimnir 720
• Crinale (Unlocked by completing "The Final Battle" event with 3 stars)
• Reaper (DLC)
• Immortal (DLC)
• Ridge Racer 7 (DLC)
• Galaga (DLC, skin for the Hurricana CX)
• Ace Combat (DLC, skin for the Sylvian Type 8)

Shindo Race

• Shindo Wolfseye
• Shindo Motega
• Shindo Kinghawk
• Shindo Sylvian
• Shindo Grover
• Shindo Hotfoot
• Shindo Wraithe
• Shindo Ashburn

Shindo Drift

• Shindo Crimson
• Shindo Dorean
• Shindo Gremlin
• Shindo Crosshare
• Shindo Wolfram
• Shindo Hurricana
• Shindo Grimnir
• Shindo Nakamura

Special Class

• Behemoth
• Punisher GT

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
	PC	PS3	Xbox 360
Destructoid	N/A	N/A	5.5/10
Edge	N/A	N/A	9/10
Eurogamer	N/A	N/A	8/10
Game Informer	N/A	6.75/10	6.75/10
GameRevolution	N/A	N/A
GameSpot	8/10	8/10	8/10
GameTrailers	N/A	N/A	7.6/10
GameZone	N/A	8.5/10	N/A
IGN	8.5/10	8.5/10	8.5/10
OXM (US)	N/A	N/A	6.5/10
PC Gamer (UK)	80%	N/A	N/A
PSM	N/A	7/10	N/A
The Daily Telegraph	N/A	N/A
Digital Spy	N/A	N/A

Ridge Racer Unbounded received "average" reviews on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. 411Mania gave the PlayStation 3 version a score of eight out of ten, calling it "a welcome addition that fans of the genre should not ignore." The Digital Fix gave the Xbox 360 version a score of eight out of ten, saying, "Everyone involved deserves a huge pat on the back for Ridge Racer Unbounded - Namco for having the stomach and recognition for change and Bugbear for reinventing an aging and tired series." The Guardian gave the same console version a similar score of four stars out of five, saying that its frustrating moments "are far outweighed by the deeply satisfying ones. It's anarchic, well designed, thrilling to behold and will put a massive grin on any true petrol-head's face." The Daily Telegraph likewise gave the same console version four stars out of five, saying, "The problem with Unbounded is that it doesn't seem comfortable sharing its secrets with you. It's called Ridge Racer, it looks like Burnout, and anyone who has played an arcade racer will, not unreasonably, expect a certain handling model...Unbounded is not that game."

However, Digital Spy gave the same console version three stars out of five, saying that it "lacks the sparkle of games such as Split/Second or Burnout. The destruction elements feel a bit weak, the cars control poorly at times and the computer AI is truly merciless. The biggest problem, though, is the lack of a proper tutorial in the game, a sure-fire way to alienate many players almost instantly." Destructoid gave the Xbox 360 version 5.5 out of ten, praising its "surprisingly good map editor", but criticizing the level design and the poor lighting conditions during sunset scenes, stating that "the lighting makes driving much harder than it needs to be," and suggesting players play the 2010 Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit game instead.

Trivia

• This is the first (and currently only) Ridge Racer game to feature visual damage on vehicles and buildings.
  • Critical Velocity, a game also developed by Namco, also allows cars to be visually damaged.
  • Other racing games that have this feature are the Burnout and Split/Second game series.
• This game, alongside Ridge Racer Vita, is often cited as one of the two games to start the ongoing Ridge Racer hiatus.
• A free-to-play version called Ridge Racer Driftopia, inspired by Unbounded, was announced on 12 April 2013. A beta version was released for Windows and PlayStation 3 in August 2013. On 19 June 2014, Bandai Namco announced that Driftopia had been cancelled, and the beta servers were shut down on 15 August 2014.
• This is the only Ridge Racer game that was ported to PCs, unlike previous installments that were only available on consoles.
  • A PC port of Rave Racer had also been considered in the past, but was also ultimately scrapped.