Amidst some of the most dark and disturbing games on the Xbox live store, it’s ever changing variety often yields some interesting games. Enter to the main stage Beach Buggy Racing which makes an appearance in an area which is often craved by gamers, the racing genre. This is a different approach to Xbox One racing that we haven’t seen before on this genre, but will it be any good?
Beach Buggy racing is the closest thing you’re going to get to Mario Kart off the Nintendo platform, and whilst Mario Kart has it’s many selling points, Beach Buggy Racing attempts to exploit some of their well-used tricks in its own version of pick and play racing. And it’s so so obvious, it actually amazes me at times how similar the 2 games are. Comparing the pair though will only result in me slamming beach buggy racing which I’m not going to do!
What I will do though is tell you about some of the features that Vector games have installed into this pint sized package. The game splits its career mode into 4 sections 100, 250, 500 and 1000 HP, each using the same tracks as the previous section with no real variety or change in difficulty. The only thing that does change is to unleash the power of the car; you can upgrade them further as the HP changes, boosting Speed, Handling, Strength and breaking.
Although this is obviously to add a bit more depth to game with is lacking, it doesn’t really achieve much, an open plan where the AI upgrades in line with your changes would have proven to be more successful in my opinion. But it isn’t just straight racing, thankfully. The game provides interesting challenges based around some of the in game power ups. One of the, the bull horn challenge, users the ability which gives the player bull horns on the front of the car, the idea is to smash as many objectives and fellow racers as you can in the space of 2 minutes.
The sheer amount of races in each category is staggering, inflated is a good word to use actually, often feeling drawn out and unnecessary to be perfectly honest. Especially with little or no variation to the tracks you find yourself going round the same scenery 3 or 4 times a section. What is meant to give you a variety ends up dragging out to something rather monotonous.
Variety is the big issue here for me, as previously mentioned the sheer amount of races is just too much, but off the track there isn’t much either. Although boasting 8 different characters, you can’t use all of them till you complete all of the boss challenges which are at the end of each HP category. Same goes for the cars which they have in their possession, forcing you to really use only one car throughout.
You’re probably now wondering, “Well, what is good about Beach Buggy Racing?” And one of the stands out things for me is the good use of the power ups and using them in a different style of racing. The AI is no slouch and uses them very well and is a well-crafted piece from the developers. Although suggesting there is a wide variety of them, it seems lots have too similar qualities to each other and their isn’t much variation, which starting to become a theme.
Graphics and audio aren’t a major selling point either; it looks more like a game which belongs on the Wii U rather than the Xbox One. The audio isn’t particularly interesting and the cars don’t give you that tingling feeling they probably should do. And when you consider the type of animated racing game this is, it is no surprise at all but you do get the feeling of an expectation, which Beach Buggy Racing sadly doesn’t deliver.
The fun factor is definitely there though and you can pick up and play the game with some joy, but you’re probably not going to complete every race in a short space of time. For some this will be a plus point but I honestly expected more variation and better action. And this is what really lets this down, and it’s a real shame because I see a platform in which you could build on. The AI has a very good skill set and is the main selling point of this game but clearly has you go on you learn what they’re all about and as with almost everything in this game it becomes slightly dull and repetitive.
I always hate having to write short(ish) reviews because I feel as if I can’t give you the full experience of playing Beach Buggy Racing but honestly there isn’t that much to write about. The game is probably great for kids below 10 even 12 years olds will find it tedious after a few races and the general lack of humour within the game as well where others have tried this is a disappointment as well. I can’t see myself 100%ing this game any time soon.
