Protoxide Death Race is a futuristic
style Hovercraft racer similar to Nintendo’s F-Zero, PlayStation’s Wipeout or
Star Wars Episode 1 Racer. It looks great and focuses a lot on the story, but
it doesn’t always live up to either in terms of gameplay.
The single player campaign is heavy on
story, set in a post 2012 world where violent gangs rule and the only way to
settle the score is to race them to the death. You control a young buck looking
to climb the ranks and become the best. This is depicted through numerous text
cut scenes and while it’s great to flesh the story out, it seems to come at a
cost.
Race combat is the order of the day
here as it is in most futuristic racers; The idea is not only to win but to
take your opponents out at the same time. In some instances you don’t even have
to win, with certain objectives taking precedence.
Throughout the 16 levels are weapon
icons that you must fly through to collect but forget about firing them, this
is done automatically when locked onto a target while acceleration is also
automatic. You do get to brake or boost by pressing the on screen icon but
generally this isn’t as much fun as controlling speed no matter how well it
works, while titling controls the steering.
Visually we’re talking an impressive
game. There’s a high amount of detail in each of the 12 vehicle over 16 tracks,
plus the 3D engine powering it all is powerful. But the Al could be more
intuitive and the sense of speed is never really present other than using the
boost function.
The single player campaign is a long
one. This game also features WiFi and online multiplayer, so longevity is not a
problem. But with the efforts put into the story you feel that these resources
could have perhaps been better used in nailing down the gameplay experience.
It’s not awful, it just could have been more exciting.
The core element for any game like
this is the sense of speed and with that missing it doesn’t quite live up to
expectations. The control scheme is one that is widely used for racing games
but having more control over not only speed but direction and combat would give
this a fuller experience. Protoxide isn’t a bad game, and it has some very good
traits, but it’s also not quite the stand out it should be.
4 stars
178 Ratings
Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch,
and iPad.
Requires iOS 3.0 or later
Price: $0.99
Category: Games
Updated: Oct 11, 2011
Version: 1.1.1
Size: 108 MB
Languages: English, French, German,
Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish
Seller: HeroCraft Ukraine Ltd.
