With some credit and Sony points I’m glad I only paid about $30 for it. However, don’t read into that wrong. It is a fun game. It is a frustrating game. Think Mario Kart Wii frustrating. I’ve not seen rubber-band AI this bad since well into the early ’90s. That was the last century mind you.
I’ve played somewhere around 10-12 races and I’ve placed only twice–these are the first two races of the game. In the last 30 seconds of the race it’s Mario Kart Wii all over again. The only power up in the game is essentially a blue shell, but it’s also a shock when five cars whip around you at the end at the last split second. This is weird because I never experienced any of this in the demo, and one of the tracks was in the demo.
The boys love it (explosions–what’s not to love?), and play with other humans is pretty fun, but it’s going to take a while for the single-player game to grow on me. I just need to approach it differently.
Everything else? Impressive.
Tonight might be a Red Dead Redemption night. I need a little redemption.
Your experience is almost opposite of mine. Granted, I’m just happy to keep unlocking new events and episodes over placing first, but I find a couple of laps around the track to learn the layout and some more agressive hits tend to keep the AI in their place.
It is a little more rubber-bandy than I initially suspected but not unplayably so.
Actually, since posting this I’ve developed a new strategy.
Don’t be in the lead. I try to stay in the pack and then gun it on the last lap. It does make for some more intense racing.
However, a lot of the other modes are more fun. I like the game–borderline on love it, but I still don’t think it’s worth $60.
I hate this game !!!!! Way to hard – A>I keeps passing me even if I do really good in a race . So no longer am I having fun instead clenching my teeth as I can’t get 1st – Why do developer’s find Rubberband AI fun to play with ?
Like Nat said, being in first is rarely a place you want to be in until right at the end of the race. I think I’m just so used to being behind that I can usually develop a set of tactics to take people out at the right moments and get myself in the lead when it counts.
I spent most of last weekend playing and never felt like the game was cheating. It was only after everyone else started complaining about the rubberband AI that it started to be noticable. I am just happy if I unlock more races and cars, very few of which require you to be first place.
So something I’ve always thought about the “hang back in the pack” strategy — what happens when everyone is using it?
Either way, I’m intrigued. I’ve bumped this up on my GF queue.