Gamenikki
Systems
Screens
Summary
pros
- Awesome scratching potential in the menus
- Graphics are very smooth
- Soundtrack is solid
cons
- Controls are irritating
- Too much repetition in tracks
- Game needs more highway action
final score
5
The Review
187: Ride or Die
- Number of Players: 1-2
- Genre: Racing Action
- Developer: Ubisoft France
- Publisher: Ubisoft
- ESRB Rating: M
- Online: Yes
- Supports: Dolby Digital, System Link, Xbox Live
187: Ride or Die is a difficult game to review. It is not a good game in any classical sense of the word, but it shows some potential that provides some decent entertainment for gamers who approach it with the right mindset.
At its core, Ride or Die is a hybrid of a vehicular combat game and a street racing game. You play Buck, a small time gangster looking to put an end to a rival crew. The story here is run of the mill and merely serves as a way to tie together the gameplay.
Ride or Die has a few different game modes. The game’s main modes are the race, the elimination race, and the battle. These are self-explanatory. Both race and elimination race pit you against five rivals, while battle mode forces you to blow up cars in a pedestrian fashion. There are also escort missions and police car chases sprinkled throughout the game. However, these missions are essentially highway races.
While the gameplay modes seem scarce, Ride or Die still had a chance to be a good game. However, Ubisoft France did not take the time to refine the gameplay. Race mode is extremely repetitive. If it seems like you race on the same few courses all the time, it is because you do.
In addition, the courses are cramped, and the races do not have any sense of speed. If I really wanted to see some slow pickups race in an industrial zone, I would call up some friends and have a party. The weapon selection is very straightforward. While you can pick up mines or Molotov cocktails, these do not seem to do much damage when compared to the shotgun or AK-47.
Battle mode seems to be an afterthought. It has potential, but by the time I was finished playing Ride or Die I was more frustrated with it than anything else. Once again there is a paltry amount of courses, and it moves at a slower pace than should be expected for a racing game.
The highway races are where the game shows what it can be. When you are flying down the freeway blowing up your rivals’ cars, you finally feel like you are playing an interesting game. Unfortunately, these races are few and far between.
I saw potential in Ride or Die. However, the poor controls really do this game in. During races you are able to fire weapons at your rivals, using one of two control schemes: you can either use a button to shoot forward or backward, or you can use the right thumbstick to shoot anywhere you wish. The thumbstick idea seems like a great idea, but the sluggish reaction time and its accuracy problems make it less fun than it could be. In addition, the first mode includes an auto-aim feature, which renders the thumbstick mode useless.
Ride or Die features some good songs in the soundtrack. These tunes are catchy, and the fact that you can scratch using the thumbstick makes this aspect one of the most enjoyable of the entire game. However, the in-race generic beats leave a lot to be desired.
The voice acting in this game is, quite honestly, ridiculous. However, much of this has to do with the script. The vulgarity in this game is incredible, and over the top. While I understand why they would include some of the slang, the fact that it is repeated over and over again gets irritating after about five minutes. The “racial” voice comments are also repetitive, and vulnerable to looping for up to two or three minutes.
Multiplayer and Xbox Live play is available. However, these aspects do not really add anything to the gaming experience, as these modes feel the same as the offline play modes.
Ride or Die feels incomplete. Throughout the game I saw the potential for something better, but Ubisoft France seems to have stopped short of their goal. If the game focused more on the highway racing, and improved the track selection, everybody would be better off. However, as it stands now Ride or Die is a game that provides more lasting enjoyment as a scratching simulator than as a racing game.
At its core, Ride or Die is a hybrid of a vehicular combat game and a street racing game. You play Buck, a small time gangster looking to put an end to a rival crew. The story here is run of the mill and merely serves as a way to tie together the gameplay.
Ride or Die has a few different game modes. The game’s main modes are the race, the elimination race, and the battle. These are self-explanatory. Both race and elimination race pit you against five rivals, while battle mode forces you to blow up cars in a pedestrian fashion. There are also escort missions and police car chases sprinkled throughout the game. However, these missions are essentially highway races.
While the gameplay modes seem scarce, Ride or Die still had a chance to be a good game. However, Ubisoft France did not take the time to refine the gameplay. Race mode is extremely repetitive. If it seems like you race on the same few courses all the time, it is because you do.
In addition, the courses are cramped, and the races do not have any sense of speed. If I really wanted to see some slow pickups race in an industrial zone, I would call up some friends and have a party. The weapon selection is very straightforward. While you can pick up mines or Molotov cocktails, these do not seem to do much damage when compared to the shotgun or AK-47.
Battle mode seems to be an afterthought. It has potential, but by the time I was finished playing Ride or Die I was more frustrated with it than anything else. Once again there is a paltry amount of courses, and it moves at a slower pace than should be expected for a racing game.
The highway races are where the game shows what it can be. When you are flying down the freeway blowing up your rivals’ cars, you finally feel like you are playing an interesting game. Unfortunately, these races are few and far between.
I saw potential in Ride or Die. However, the poor controls really do this game in. During races you are able to fire weapons at your rivals, using one of two control schemes: you can either use a button to shoot forward or backward, or you can use the right thumbstick to shoot anywhere you wish. The thumbstick idea seems like a great idea, but the sluggish reaction time and its accuracy problems make it less fun than it could be. In addition, the first mode includes an auto-aim feature, which renders the thumbstick mode useless.
"...If I really wanted to see some slow pickups race in an industrial zone, I would call up some friends and have a party...."
Ride or Die is not a great looking game, but its graphics hold up better than the gameplay. The game features a few good-looking cutscenes. The cars also look nice, reflecting damage throughout the race, and many resemble their real life counterparts. The racing environments are interesting to look at the first time, and the game runs smoothly.Ride or Die features some good songs in the soundtrack. These tunes are catchy, and the fact that you can scratch using the thumbstick makes this aspect one of the most enjoyable of the entire game. However, the in-race generic beats leave a lot to be desired.
The voice acting in this game is, quite honestly, ridiculous. However, much of this has to do with the script. The vulgarity in this game is incredible, and over the top. While I understand why they would include some of the slang, the fact that it is repeated over and over again gets irritating after about five minutes. The “racial” voice comments are also repetitive, and vulnerable to looping for up to two or three minutes.
Multiplayer and Xbox Live play is available. However, these aspects do not really add anything to the gaming experience, as these modes feel the same as the offline play modes.
Ride or Die feels incomplete. Throughout the game I saw the potential for something better, but Ubisoft France seems to have stopped short of their goal. If the game focused more on the highway racing, and improved the track selection, everybody would be better off. However, as it stands now Ride or Die is a game that provides more lasting enjoyment as a scratching simulator than as a racing game.
Written by: Bill Shaeffer