Genre: Racing
Developer: Milestone
Publisher: Infogrames/Atari
Players: 1-2
Memory: N/A
ERSB: Everyone
Released On: February 18th, 2003
Also On: None
Features: HDTV Support, Dolby Digital 5.1, Custom Soundtracks
Introduction:
Microsoft’s green and black monstrosity might not have Sony’s Gran Turismo, but titles like Project Gotham Racing, Rallisport, Sega GT 2002, and many others have helped mold the Xbox into a racing fan’s Dream Machine. As we look to new horizons, the trend continues in 2003, with sequels to old favorites and newer games to keep us thirsty speed demons in check. So, get your gear ready because Infogrames and Milestone have just delivered one hell of a racer, known as Apex.
Presentation:
If you’ve ever wanted to build your own car company, then this is the place to do it. In Apex you and your buddy come across some concept car blueprints and it’s up to you to choose which one you want you to start work on. Six months later, you’ve got your own concept racer to race, under your own car brand as well. From there you slowly help your business grow from a moldy old shack, to a monstrous state of the art production factory. Of course, on the way you hire some new staff such as a voluptuous receptionist named Carla, Rebecca the intelligent British businesswoman, and as well as a high priced Research and Development Manager (who reminds me of Doc Brown from the Back to The Future movies) named Benjamin Berkeley.
While navigating the company’s headquarters, you’ll be able to start research and development on new concept cars, look at how well your cars are selling on the market, and of course schedule which race you plan to enter, winning to prove that your car is the best out there, putting all the others from companies like, Toyota, Ford, Ferrari, and Mercedes to shame. But there’s stiff competition in the car world aside from the actual race track. If you’re a forced to be reckoned with on the actual track, rival car makers will try to rip off your designs, basically releasing the same vehicle you have, and when this happens, it’s up to you to prove that *their can be only one.
When you progress further and further through the game’s 54 tracks, your vehicle will need to be upgraded to compete in the more difficult classes, until you eventually develop a Dream Car that can outperform everything on wheels. It’s really fun to see your car evolve, but there isn’t only one vehicle that you are restricted to. Even though I mentioned this before, when you first begin the game’s Dream Mode, you are given the choice of choosing one out of 3 concept car models. When you eventually earn a good amount of funding later on in the game, you can go back and begin development on the other two concept cars you missed out on originally. Then when your funding increases even more, you can afford to employ Benjamin, the R & D manager I mentioned above, and he will then develop even more cars for your line. It’s pretty cool actually, but unfortunately, Dream Mode only restricts you to a handful of different car models, despite the game actually including more than 80 licensed cars, which are only playable in Arcade and Versus game modes.
Gameplay:
The actual act of Racing in Apex plays more like an Arcade racer rather than a Sim such as Sega GT, as far as depth goes that is. There’s not much you can actually customize on you car, whereas most Sim racers allow you to enhance every aspect of the car, Apex limits you to basically choosing between Automatic and Manual. Fortunately, it doesn’t hinder the overall gameplay experience much at all, but it might sway away a few hardcore racing fans.
When on the track the first thing you’ll notice is that every car in the game handles excellently, of course they all have their own unique traits, but picking up the controller and getting right to the point isn’t as difficult as most, if not all, Sim racers. The game’s actual tracks, for the most part, are nicely designed and are usually remixes of tracks you’ve raced on earlier in the game, which makes them feel familiar, but at the same time completely new. Unfortunately, not a single one of them are based off of real world locales, at least not to my knowledge, but nevertheless they’re a beautiful site to see.
If anything, the only thing Apex tries to accomplish is delivering a fun experience, and thankfully it’s pulled off very well, easily earning itself a high ranking spot on my list of Xbox racers.
Visuals:
Apex is without a shout of a doubt the best looking racer I have ever seen. Games like Rallisport and Project Gotham Racing are, shockingly, put to shame by the graphical monster known as Apex. If one didn’t know any better, he could honestly mistake Apex for being footage of the real thing. I for one was shocked to see how amazing the visuals looked in this game from the very moment I pressed the start button. There is a great attention to detail in the game, not only to the vehicles themselves but to the game’s environments or tracks. The locales of where the races take place are incredible. Honestly, such amazing texture work and geometry cannot be found in any other racer on the Xbox, or any other console to date. Large cities are jaw dropping, while outdoor environments near the woods and on the snowy peaks of mountains are a bit less impressive, but still great looking.
Enough, about detail…well, maybe some more wouldn’t hurt. Apex also uses the best shadowing, and lighting that I’ve ever seen in a racer. Light shines through the trees, the shadows of the cars follow the path of the sun as they should, and the shadows of buildings and other structures such as bridges, fall upon roadways like the night. Though, the game lacks one key feature that would really propel this game to heights unfathomable, and that is the lack of weather effects. The game seems to have everything else, real time car damage, reflections, lighting, etc… but it lacks the use of weather effects, something which has become a sign quality in modern racing games. It’s quite unfortunate, but the game already looks amazing running at a rock solid framerate, so maybe a sequel could capitalize upon what Apex lacks.
Audio:
There’s one thing I hate about most racing games that have come out in the recent years, which is that every single one of them features a general techno soundtrack, which really can never fit the atmosphere of the game. Thankfully, if you don’t want to listen to that crap, you can just rip some of your favorite tunes from your Xbox HD, I did it with Apex, and I’ve also done it with every other Xbox racer I’ve owned before it, ultimately making the soundtrack for those games some of the best ever, in my opinion of course.
The sound effects of the game in general, are the norm, and honestly I don’t ever expect to be surprised by the hum of the engines, the screeching of the tires, or the sound of collisions in any racer, since they all basically sound the same... Actually, Criterion’s Burnout is an exception. Surprisingly, unlike any racer I’ve ever played in my gaming lifetime Apex features a great deal of voice acting (Yes, voice acting!). When you’re playing the game’s Dream Mode, you speak to your co-workers a great deal, and by doing this they give you the low down on how everything is doing with the company brand and car performance, it’s actually pretty damn cool!
Final Thoughts:
Apex is a game that no Xbox racing fan should go without. It’s a game that practically flew in from Left Field, hit me were it hurt, and left me wanting more and more every time I relinquished control of the gamepad. It’s beautiful, it’s enthralling, and most importantly, it’s fun. Do not hesitate to try this game out!
