'Trackmania: United' (TMU) is the only puzzle/racing game on the market besides its predecessors, making it one of the most original and refreshing games to be released for quite some time.
Like the originals, United uses what was good in the previous games, but expands on it to make a fantastic original game, while providing the same type of addictive fun gameplay. It comprises of 4 separate modes: ‘Race’ ‘Puzzle’ ‘Platform’ and ‘Crazy’, each with their own appeals.
Race mode is all about beating the clock as best you can, to win “copper” – the type of point system adopted in TMU – which determines how elaborate the construction of your tracks are, (but we’ll get to the editor functions later). Platform is about getting through a tricky course, with loads of jumps. The aim is to do this with the least amount of restarts. Crazy is a small course, in which you have to beat a different CPU controlled car each time. And Puzzle mode involves building a track with limited pieces and then racing the track to try and beat a set time to unlock the rest the next track: the perfect mix of puzzle solving and fun.
Not only are there 4 different modes, but also 7 different track environments; Island, Bay, Coast (from TM Sunrise) Snow, Desert, Rally (From The Original Game) and Stadium which is new . All of which have different cars and different feels to each location. Every car can be customized and requires practice and the learning of different driving styles is required. To master them is challenging, but rewarding.
All this is excellent; however where the game shines is in the editing. Although a little confusing at first, it is most accessible and you can make a wide variety of tracks, all of which you can share over the internet. I’ve never played a game with an editing system this advanced, or with as many functions as most standard movie editors that you can also access at home on your own PC. This opens up a whole new area of gaming experience, and I’m sure we’ll see many other game developers adopting similar capabilities for their driving games.
You can build underground; on hills; over water and in the air. Another first is the ability to direct your own intro and outro movie for the race, adding to an element of the game that was already rich – longevity. With the editing mode you can record your racing performances and become the director of a race you have completed. Ghost editing and skin editing – which is making alterations to the way the appearance of the cars. There are also plenty of downloadable skins, to satisfy every taste. If that isn’t enough you also have an unlimited amount of tracks with hundreds available on the internet that you are able to download in just a few quick clicks of the mouse. The sites are updated daily, and I assure you that you’ll find it difficult to keep up with what’s on offer. Another plus is that each track is very small in size – 8-10 kbs, so it’s more than accessible, even for those under-privileged dial-up users or if you are watching your cap.
The only flaws about this game are that it becomes very frustrating. You often have to try several times to complete set tasks within the game, but a saving grace is the short length of each track. It doesn’t sting that much. It could take forever to get a gold medal and trophies on every track. But there is more than enough motivation, as this unlocks all the single player tracks within the game allowing hours and hours worth of multiplayer fun as well. Although there is no split screen action, which for a racing game is always disappointing. Taking it in turns on the same PC, or online play, are the multiplayer options on offer.
However, I don’t harp on the few flaws: with unlimited tracks, more cars than you’ll ever need, online play, original gameplay and no other competition insight for the genre on the market, all for just $50, how can you go wrong?
If you have played the previous games its not an essential upgrade but still well worth picking up.
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