14 DAY TRIAL // 
Ridge Racer was the first racing title I played on the PSX console, long before anyone had even thought about making or playing Gran Turismo. It had sequels for the PS2, the PSP and now it's the PS3's turn to offer us a couple of quality drifts. Well, the producers have proved that "quality" is only a word, since this title is all eye-candy and a pretty dull gameplay. We'd expect much more from one of the first titles on Sony's next-gen console. Also, even in the eye-candy department it doesn't offer much if you compare it to the Xbox 360 Ridge Racer 6 title. All in all, the game is less than we expected, but there will probably be a couple of fans satisfied with this.
Concept The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of the things that frustrate me in Ridge Racer 7 is that stupid wall bouncing. Once you hit a wall, you'll keep hitting it a couple more times and what's worse you can't exit the track and there's no damage concept. Namco was never the producer to state that they're aiming to create a top-class driving simulator, leaving the task to Poliphony Digital and their Gran Turismo series. Any fan of Ridge Racer knows that once he starts playing there's no worry about damage, tyres wearing out, or other such realistic features. The game is more focused on having fun, the sense of speed and a huge list of customizable aspects. If this game was a mission, its main objective would be drifting and using the nitrous boosts.
There's a little crazy aspect, that probably didn't disturb many players, but it seemed to get on my nerves a lot. I don't know who does the translation for Namco, but I really don't think it's OK to use the word "machine" instead of car. So, I'll race my machine, tune my machine and do a drift with my machine...while we're here let's get a machinegun installed. Aside from this small "lost-in-translation" problem, you'll be enjoying the customization that Ridge Racer 7 has to offer. There's a lot of stuff to unlock, car parts, tracks, spoilers and all the upgrades we could imagine. Of course, the content is unlicensed, making this the Pro Evolution Soccer of driving games.
Since you'll be drifting throughout RR7's tracks, you should keep in mind that there are 3 types of drifts that you can do: standard, dynamic and a mild drift. Doing them is not only spectacular and a way to lose control of your ride, but it always fills your nitrous gauge. We've seen this nitrous gauge affair before...hmm, maybe in Burnout? However, the hardcore Need For Speed fans, will feel right at home while doing those drifts and they're not easy to perform, believe me. The dynamic drifts is one tough cookie, since it allows you to change directions quickly, but it'll make it difficult to gain grip again, making it the perfect tool for advanced users only. If you're not a pro yet, you should settle with the mild drift, that provides a good grip and can be considered the opposite of dynamic drifting.
If you got tired of this drifting affair, let's pass to the race types, since they're pretty varied for an arcade driving title. There's the overtake 13 type of race, that will have you starting at the back of the grid and trying to come in first (quite an impossible task). If you're up for another type of challenge, there's the one make race, that's an event hosted by the manufacturer of your choice. The good thing is that you can participate, even you don't own a car. For those speed demons, there's a time trial mode, that will allow you to beat your own or other players' times by racing on 3 laps of a certain track. Back to the drawing board the game offers you the standard race, that allows you to compete against 7 other cars and try to be the first that reaches the finishing line.
If RR7 is more than a simple arcade to you, you might consider playing the game on grand prix mode, which will grant you access to a series of standard races, that award you points. Your position on the starting grid is set according to the number of points that you have accumulated so far. Not up to the challenge of racing against more than one car? There's always a duel waiting for you and you'll racing a rival "machine" to the finishing line. Finally, the last type of race is the quad battle, that will allow you to race against three other opponents. During the manufacturer's trials, you'll be able to participate in special races, where the player can earn parts to customize his ride and there's a lot of the, I'll tell you that. To buy certain upgrades you'll also have to earn credits and if you didn't know there are about 300.000 options for your car customization. Discounts are also available, specially if you've raced in a certain manufacturer's events for a long time. Spoilers, wheels, tyres, the engine, suspension, everything can be altered, till you reach the perfect setup to fit a true racer's wet dream.
The disappointment comes from the fact that there are only about 40 cars to with, but that's forgivable, given the amount of tweakable aspects. You can even set the number of nitrous tanks that you'll be using during the races and various other nitrous boost-related options. Those manufacturers I keep mentioning are not real, of course, since Namco didn't bother (or couldn't afford) to buy licenses for cars and car parts. So, I guess you'll be happy with vehicles that are branded with Kamata, Assoluto, Gnade or Danver logos. You won't see many tracks in Ridge Racer 7 as Namco thought that 21 are enough, even for those passionate gamers that have been playing this title from its first installment. Cheer up, because those tracks can be raced in reverse, so now we have 42 tracks if my Math isn't rusty.
Gameplay This gameplay feels familiar...wait, I've played this six times before! I might be joking, but the only untrue thing I said was the number of sequels, because there could have been some spin-off that I missed along the way. Focusing your entire racing strategy on doing enough drifts to get a nitrous boost is not something that a true racer should brag about. The higher your speed is when you're drifting the close you get to fully charging that nitrous boost. Also, you should always keep in mind that one long drift is always better than a couple of short ones and nitrous can't be charged while using it. An ultimate charge is also available and you'll use the last remains of the nitrous effects to enter a corner and start charging the next boost. This can only be done if you're driving a car that's equipped with Stage 2 parts. Such add-ons can drastically change the cars' behavior, specially when we're talking about drifts and boosts.
In case you're not familiar with the nitrous concept, you should try pressing the R2 button and you'll see what it's all about, with your vehicle going past its top speed and all. Boosts can also happen in the form of double or triple nitrous and you'll trigger the double one by pressing the L2 button, while the triple is triggered by pressing the L2 and R2 buttons at the same time. This requires Stage 1 parts on your car and quite good driving abilities. All this drifting and boosting, won't be enough to make you win each time, so you'd better use the innovative slipstreaming concept. There's an indicator on the left corner of the screen, that lights up every time you're driving behind an opponent's car. Your car will have a better chance of surpassing the other driver by achieving higher speeds, thanks to the reduction in the air resistance, caused by the presence of your competitor's vehicle in front of yours.
Being a huge Gran Turismo fan I had a hard time adjusting to this game, although I played at least three other Ridge Racer titles in my entire gaming existence. It's frustrating to see that once you hit a wall, there's no way of not bouncing back and hitting it again... and again. Also, I was not satisfied by the camera angles offered in RR7, because only the first person view and a too close behind-the-car camera can't provide me with the thrills I'm looking for. That's how you lose the speed sensation in a racing game, even if it's an arcade one. The AI is reasonably good and they'll bump into you without prejudice, specially if you did the same, a few seconds ago. It's pretty nice to receive such a treatment from a second-place driver and hear a voice saying "Payback time!" in the background.
I guess that there is no need whatsoever to mention the car's behavior on the track, since this is an arcade game. It might be so, but I couldn't help feeling that I was driving a carton box with wheels, that had handling problems. Things go from bad to worse, when you're trying to do drifts, as it's an inferno to get back on track. Also, it might be me, not understanding the game, but I didn't quite understand the function of the Sixaxis joystick in this title. It was activated with a single push of the Select button and made me ram into wheels if I didn't hold the joystick in a steady position.
Video Where is the sense of speed? That's my main question for Ridge Racer 7's producers. The car slides like it was slipping on those neat environments and there no feeling of adherence whatsoever. The backgrounds are stunning, specially when you'll be passing behind a waterfall, witnessing those brilliant lighting effects. After each race, replays are available and they're true quality, but still the stuff we've seen while playing Gran Turismo of Need for Speed. When things get bumpy you'll see sparks flying, specially when you ram into another car or into metallic walls. I was surprised to see that leaves were flying on the track and there was a helicopter in the sky supervising the race, all this being available through some a-la-next-gen graphics. Finally, the PS3 is starting to show a bit of its qualities and those hard working producers would better give us the best they've got. All the cars look great and the lighting reflexions on their hood add a little bit of eye candy to the whole experience, as do the weather changes and time of day changes.
Sound What's Ridge Racer without a sexy female voice in the background telling you that your nitrous boost is ready or that you've just entered the final corner? I liked the songs from the game's soundtrack, but they're all all cheesy commercial music, that becomes an audio routine once you've played more than 5 hours of this title. I'm still dreaming about those neat sounds effects that Need for Speed had for its nitrous boosts and Ridge Racer 7 manages to disappoint me by offering only a pale representation of the sound heard when your car is reaching it max speed and accelerating beyond it. The engines seem to purr rather than growl and the tires are way too loud, making the whole "concert" an unpleasant experience.
Multiplayer The multiplayer is one of the highlights of Ridge Racer 7 and the players will have a lot of fun specially in the online modes. The two player game that involves using two joysticks is almost as fun, but nothing compares to racing against gamers from miles away. You might want to start warming up by playing the global time attack mode, that allows you to race against the clock in an attempt to enter the global leaderboard with a high score. One innovative type of race is the co-op, that will give you the possibility to send pre-defined message towards the players in your team and set drifting or slipstreaming strategies. Team work is perfect and it's a blast when you use your teammates to reach boosts faster and drift together, not allowing the other team to reach the top spots. There's also an on-screen nitrous boost for the entire team and you should really keep your eyes on that, if you want to see your name in the hall of fame. Lots of downloads are also available, ranging from background music, to vehicles and car parts.
Conclusion Ridge Racer's arrival on Sony's next-gen console was a bit bumpy, because it brought the same content as it did in the previous years, with a couple of innovations. Notice that I said "innovations" and not "improvements", so things like repeatedly bumping into a wall are not forgivable at this point in the series. You think that one might learn from its previous mistakes, but all that Namco did was implement a couple of nitrous and drifting mechanics, coupled with a large amount of eye candy. RR 7 is an average game and the series is heading towards mediocrity if they'll keep releasing such titles.
