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After GTS World Racing came out, it was clear that iPhone gamers were ready for a racing title that’ll feel like a real racing game. Asphalt 4: Elite Racing brings such a racing game to the iPhone/iPod Touch with a plethora of features; 28 licensed cars, 5 racing modes, ability to customize each car, 9 locations around the world, race during the day or night, different weather effects, multiplayer games over WiFi, the list goes on. With influences from Midnight Club, Need for Speed, Test Drive, and Burnout, this arcade racer should suit just about any racing fan that aren’t hardcore simmers.
There are 5 different gameplay modes to choose from:
- Race: You have to place 3rd or better to win.
- Cop Chase: As a cop, you have to chase down the leader and take him down (by making him crash.)
- Beat ‘Em All: Get a number of takedowns to win the race.
- Duel: Make a bet up to $15,000 and race head-to-head against an opponent,< and must win the race to win the bet.
- Cash Attack: Use your skills to get as much money as possible, takedown other cars, hit jumps, use nitro, etc.
In the menu, you can choose to race, choose a car and customize it, choose a location and race mode, choose between 3 sexy ladies that give you certain bonuses, and choose to host or join a multiplayer game over WiFi. The settings menu let you change gameplay options (MPH or KMH/sec), adjust sound and music volumes, choose a language (English, French, Dutch, Italian, or Spanish), and reset the game’s data. Finally, you can view your records for your class, amount of gold/silver/bronze cups you’ve won, vehicles you’ve owned and unlocked, and ladies you’ve unlocked.
There are instances in the menu when, for example, choosing a car is not as easy as I’d like. It works in a Cover Flow style, but needs to be tightened up more. Also, there’s very little scrolling room when customizing your car with parts, and can become an annoying and tedious task after a while. An “Upgrade All” button would be nice for those of us that don’t care for customizing cars.
Instructions are provided in-game. There are three methods of control available. The first is the touch method, where you press the sides of the screen to turn left and right. The second is the accelerometer method, which has you tilting the device to turn. The third, is the steering wheel method, where you use your finger to turn a steering wheel to guide your car/motorcycle. Pick whichever is the most comfortable for you; I’ve found that all 3 work well, and any of them can be used to win races.
As mentioned above, there are 28 licensed cars to choose from, including motorcycles. You start with 3, but unlock more when you earn enough cash. You can also unlock customization parts to choose for each of your cars, which affect its speed, 1-100 acceleration time, 100-1 braking time, and control. In all, there are 15 different areas of the car/motorcycle that you can customize with new parts. You can also unlock sexy girls that give you special bonuses (no, not THAT kind of bonus), such as extra nitro boost or keeping cops off your tail.
During a race, you will find nitro and cash (glowing white icons) at certain points of the track. Nitro replenishes your nitro, and racing over the cash earns you money. There’s a nitro button and a brake button on-screen. Pressing the nitro button gives you a boost, pressing it 2 more times gives you 2 more levels of boost. Drifting raises your nitro gauge. Braking is self-explanatory. You can also earn money by doing illegal acts (takedowns, hitting civilian cars, using lots of nitro, etc.) which raises your Wanted level. When maxed out, a cop will start chasing you, trying to take you down and end your chance at winning the race. You can takedown the cop though, and I’ve yet to have a cop do anything other than annoy me. Another way to earn money is when a helicopter starts filming you for the local news, and doing illegal acts during this nets even more cash.
You can play multiplayer against a friend over WiFi only (no internet servers), either by hosting a game, or joining one being hosted. There’s an online ranking system by Gameloft Live, which you have to register for, simply by choosing a name, that’s it. Online ranking is done by the amount of total money you’ve collected. I wasn’t able to test how multiplayer is, but I’ve heard elsewhere that it works.
Controlling your car or motorcycle is very solid. Though there’s not much you can do with a mobile racer, the developers clearly spent a lot of time to ensure the racing experience is polished. Although drifting is easy to pull off, it really doesn’t feel right in the game, as it looks like your car is just moving forward while sideways, and is exacerbated when you’re doing it against the wall. Having the option to use 3 different control method is a good idea, and each one is effective in letting you win races. I’ve personally found the 1st method, touch, to be my favorite, but everyone should find which one works best for them.
The A.I. drivers in the game are pretty ruthless, especially in the later stages of the game. But even the first race will have you sweating it out against the top three in the race. I find the challenge to be refreshing; it makes each race an adrenaline-pumping experience. Although sometimes it seems like they cheat. When you use nitro, they seem to go faster. When you crash and start accelerating after being reset, the other drivers drive as slow as you are going. While it may be to keep the game exciting, it is a bit unsettling.
The visuals is both great, and bad. It’s true that Asphalt 4: Elite Racing is, at this point, the best-looking game out for the iPhone/iPod Touch. It’s 3D environments are varied and features day or night driving, weather effects, lots of objects on and off the road, buildings in the distant skyline, and the cars themselves all look great. But it also features the problems that consoles went through during the Dreamcast/PS1 era where racing games were going too fast, textures would pop in and out, cars would flicker and disappear altogether, objects in the near distance would pop-in, and with the faster cars, everything would feel pixelated during a race. The different camera angles are a nice option to have, contributing to the replay value of the game. You can also play the game at any orientation, in either portrait or landscape mode; another nice little touch.
The sound effects are mostly fantastic. Some sounds can get repetitive and annoying, such as the siren on your car during Cop Chase mode. For the most part, the sounds are professional and work well in the game. The music is also well done, with new music being used for each location. As expected will fade off your music when you start the game up.
This is a long review, but Asphalt 4: Elite Racing has a lot to offer for a mobile game. It actually feels like a $9.99 game, which a lot of other games in that pricerange can’t claim. Asphalt 4: Elite Racing is a great racing game that gives a sensation of speed and excitement while playing. There’s a lot to do, easily providing hours of gameplay, even without the WiFi multiplayer. With it, it’s a complete racing game with solid production values, that is worthy of staying on the iPhone/iPod Touch long after many other games have been deleted.
Tags: asphalt 4, gameloft, Racing
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