Fast & Furious Adrenaline [rating: 3.5/5]
Last month we got our hands on a preview release of Fast & Furious Adrenaline which while it had it’s rough edges it had a lot of promise. Well now Fast & Furious Adrenaline has received its full release and the question is have those kinks been ironed out and more importanly is it worth adding to your garage of iPhone/iPod Touch games?
For those of you that don’t know the Fast & Furious line of games are arcade racing games, a dirtier, rougher style of driving compared to track racing and more forgiving to allowing you to drive more aggressively with aggression positively rewarded, where errors are forgiven rather than resulting in you being embedded in a wall. Adrenaline carries on in that tradition. This time the racing takes place in Los Angeles and you are tasked with joining a crew and taking over the city.
This is done by completing various races including Road Races, Cop Chase, Time Trial, Boss Battle and Drag Race. Much of these race types are what you have come to expect in these types of games with the Drag Race offering the only new racing style where you race head to head against 3 other races down a strip using manual gears to get a jump on your opponents. It’s a nice addition to the other standard styles.
While the graphics have been improved from the early version they still aren’t the best that have been seen on the iPhone/iPod Touch, that being said they don’t take away from the overall experience.
The single player mode offers a lot of value, you’ll find yourself racing and competing against 3 other crews in the various races as you aim to take over the city.
What F&F Adrenaline does offer are 3 different control styles. The default option is to use the accelerometer and it works well and is responsive while the 2nd option gives you a virtual steering wheel. The third and my preferred option are the touch controls which enables the left and right sides of the screen to steer your car. This was the most accurate method for me and other than the slight annoyance of your finger covering the mini-map it’s a small price to pay.
There are two multi-player options available too, the local multi-player option worked well and there were no dropped sessions over the 10 or so races I played, and then there is the online multi-player option.
The online multi-player option isn’t a true head-to-head race, instead you will race against the pre-set times of other racers in an attempt to beat them. This is entertaining enough but this is no replacement for true head to head racing and lacks the bite of those games that offer that choice.
What has been well implemented is the Facebook integration which not only allows you to brag about your successes but also allows you to automatically upload video’s of your races.
The results are pretty impressive too with a highlight reel of your action being upload in less than a minute for all your Facebook friends to watch at their leisure.
Overall while F&F Adranaline is an enjoyable racer it lacks the cutting edge and atmosphere of similar titles and may leave you feeling short changed.
The Good
- Multiple race styles
- Upload your racing highlights to Facebook seamlessly
- Multiple control options
The Not So Good
- Game lacks atmosphere
- Stunted online multi-player option
Price: $5.99 (iTunes Store Preview)
Released: Apr 22, 2010
Reviewed Version: 1.0.0
Size: 45.3 MB
Language: English
Seller: Digital Bridges Limited t/a I-play
© 2010. Fast & Furious is a trademark and copyright of Universal Studios. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLLP. All rights reserved. © 2010. Published by I-play. All Rights Reserved. I-play is a trademark and trading name of Oberon Media, Inc. and its subsidiaries.
Rated 4+