The future of racing is here! Take on extremely fast courses with fighter jets, what more is there to want? Well in this case, not much more! The basic concept of the game is that you are in a world of the future. Pilots have formed a popular league of racing fighter planes. You fly everything from old decommissioned fighters to anything of new age plane technology. The blazing speeds of the game are sure to win you over if your as much as a racing fan as me. N.Gen Racing is the game for anyone who enjoys fighter planes, and speed.
Gameplay
The new racing craze of the future is something of a hybrid Star Fox, Wipeout, Air Combat combination game. While not really in the league of as other major racers, this game has enough originality to keep you satisfied with its play.
In this game there are four different championships to conquer (Trainer, Fighter, S-Fighter, X-Fighter), which all relate to skill and speed. The first impression is not something of speed, but drag. You feel the game is way to easy in the beginning, but oh boy, does it speed up, and quick! Once you pass the simple ness of the first championship, you really start to see where the skill comes in. Even though the jump is so drastic, the learning curve is still fairly easy. Once you get the hang of it, the game starts to become a lot easier. After acquiring more planes, you can really start to actually "sup" up your planes, adjusting everything from your engines to your aerodynamics, reminiscent of a Gran Turismo, but nowhere near as deep.
User of these planes will come to realize that the key to the races is to keep quite low to the ground. Those who use high altitudes will suffer from a lack of speed. The battle elements in N.Gen are surprisingly weak, while finding it somewhat difficult to navigate high speed, and combat, it doesn't really affect the plane, by way of damage. The weapons in this game for the most part are only for shoe, and slow you down a little. Always there to help you catch up, are the health (energy) and after-burner rings (seed boost), resembling something from the star fox era. Both make your world a whole lot easier, in the battle for success.
Graphics
Well this game was a surprise from the start, the graphics engine from an unheard of developer, already one strike. But to my surprise N.Gen racing provides a steady frame rate throughout the rounds of speed, and in a smooth manner. The special effects don't really compare to anything of a real flight simulator, but here they accomplish their task of flash and brightness. Certain textures effects in the game are actually quite impressive when considering the amount the game has to show. Overall the graphics engine was satisfactory, it leaves something to be desired, but it holds own with both the landscape view and speed combined.
Audio
Now here is where this game gets good, THE SOUNDTRACK! I am not sure who produced it, but this track list is rock'n. When you get to those later tracks pushing 1000 mph, and you here that wicked techno track in the background, you get pumped. This part of the game really shows how much Wipeout has influenced out racing community. I was quite pleased to hear the music when I first started playing, if you're into any part of the rave seen you will love the music on this game.
Control
Even though the game executes its game play well, the difficulty faults, in that you can actually breeze through the game with little to no effort involved. By choosing a setting called "Arcade," allowing the controls to be easier on the user, it decreases the difficulty level by a lot. For you flight sim fans though, they have a control setting for you to master, called "Pro". This gives you complete control over your plane. This control setting is for the more patient gamers because that is exactly what you need to learn to use the "Pro" setting to its full potential. For the most part in the arcade settings the controls are nice and tight. They give you the feeling of controlling the plane without error. In pro mode however, the controls here get a little sloppy and lose, they don't leave any room for error really. These controls give the user the sense of over sensitivity and loss of control. The slightest movement can send you careening off the course, once mastered however, become a lot more usable and handy.
Replayability
With a two-player mode, and some extra options, N.Gen racing will keep you interested enough to come back for more. After defeating the games most difficult challenges however, the game play becomes a little drab. You might be ready for a change. But you can always comeback for a speed fix!
Overall
N.Gen racing creates a world of innovation while lacking in some overlooked areas. The game was actually well developed for and unheard of company. While not on the level of a Wipeout, or a F-Zero, this game should provide you with a new level of innovation at the least. It shall introduce you to a well-developed idea of plane racing, at blindingly fast speeds I might add.