Posted on Thursday, 25 February 2010 by
VRAVAL
On one hand I’m proud to say that we’ve finally got a bit of the gaming germ into the Indian community. On the other hand, I wish there were slightly better games we could actually develop. It seems like there’s a bit of a lack of imagination that’s sprouting its ugly head and although there’s tremendous potential I don’t think we’re just there yet.
Kraze is a new racing game developed by 7Seas which happens to be India’s first ISO 9001:2000 certified games Development Company. Their online portal for gaming is stocked full of flash based games which are quite entertaining across genres, but this one is one that you should seriously, seriously think about prior to purchase. The chances of coming down with a case of ‘buyers remorse’ is really high.
The layout is simple so let me give you the low down on Kraze ‘The Ultimate Racer’. The facts are the game offers Championship Quick Race & Time Trial modes. Those have racing modes such as Off Road, Rally, F1 and Street Racing. There are a total of 13 different vehicles with varying speed and handling, 8 different locations, vehicle customization and the capability to record your races. Profile creation is also part of the deal obviously.
So enough with the facts, here’s the reality – Kraze starts of real slow and proceeds to remain the same throughout. The only difference in game play is the changing landscapes which have their own issues. The 13 cars that are available look really odd but I’ll say this, they’re cute. That’s not, in any way a compliment. Each type of vehicle is available in a handful of colors that doesn’t do much to make it a good thing. Control of the vehicles varies, I’ll have to agree to that but the further you progress the less control you’ll have. Their website states the game ‘challenges the player’s concentration’ but it’ll only challenge your level of frustration. You’ll probably have more control over that than the cars in this game. Just for kicks and also because I kind of had to, I tried the ‘Manual’ mode. That’s totally redundant as moving there was no clear distinction in speed. I actually won an entire race in 3rd gear.
The most annoying facet is the fact that it takes so freakishly long to start up. For a game that has no heavy graphics to take that long is absurd. It’s rather frustrating to see that many loading screens for that long. It should have been called ‘Loading, the Ultimate Non-racingGame’.
The music is also something that seriously needs a do over. It’s campy at best and even though it may seem like it goes well with this particular game, that’s not a good thing either. It’s a short fall from the hard hitting metal or new age music one gets used to when playing other racing games. A couple of the techno trance tracks are a bit entertaining but there aren’t too many of those and you’ll find yourself craving them almost all the time.
The price tag is Rs. 199 which may seem likea real bargain but there are quite a few other titles out there that cost as much and look and play much better. Kraze is a game you’d play only if you have absolutely nothing else on hand and even then, I’d just pick up an old game and play it all over. It’s a good attempt but just doesn’t cut it to be taken seriously. It’s more of a mobile phone game that’s been ported to the PC – notice I said ported NOT up scaled.
VN:F [1.5.7_846]
Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
VN:F [1.5.7_846]
