Freekstyle Review

From face value, Freekstyle seems to be just another game cashing in on the new ‘extreme’ generation of teenagers and so I really I didn’t expect much of a masterpiece from this game, however the first few minutes of play seemed to prove me wrong. From the second you pick up the controller, you are immediately drawn into the game, with simple controls and fun gameplay. But sadly, ‘simple’ is what this game is – performing tricks is like riding a bike, so to speak – even the most complex tricks just require you to press L1+R2… hardly the most taxing finger manoeuvre. <br /> <br /> The game consists of various modes – a racing mode and a stunt mode. The ‘career’ racing mode takes you track by track through the game, starting with some strange desert track. By performing tricks along the track you receive points which you can then use to ‘boost’ your bike through the course – these are a crucial part of the gameplay of Freekstyle and you MUST use them to stand any chance of winning. The vast majority the courses look great – there’s a lot going on outside the track to make you feel like you’re in a real location – even though some areas are lacking detail, you barely notice it with the breakneck speed you whiz round the course at. Pulling tricks off is relatively easy – most jumps are designed to give you enough air to pull off a trick for a substantial amount of time, with some allowing 3-4 tricks to be pulled off with no worries. Although trick pulling feels complete, it’s a little too easy, and very soon you learn that there is no need to level out, or for that matter, worry too much about your landing at all – just quit the trick a tiny bit before you hit the ground. <br /> <br /> Although the racing mode feels fun and fast paced, it is spoilt by glitchy walls which force you to fall off your bike for no good reason apart from the fact that SOMEONE didn’t work out the clipping properly. An excellent example of this is the excellently placed shortcuts which are sadly let down by terrible glitches which make making a run of the entire shortcut impossible without your butt scraping the ground at least 3 times. Maybe I’m just crap, but I sure as hell couldn’t do the first shortcut on the first level! A large problem in the racing is the irony that in order to gain a boost, you have to do tricks in mid air, which often causes you to lose nearly all the speed you gained when you first hit the jump. Borrowing an idea from the Mario Kart school of driving, the Freekstyle computer opponents have a HEAVY handicap, meaning that the minute you gain first position, you are over taken by 1, 2, even 3 bikes within seconds – on the other hand, starting at 6th you can move to first without even using a boost. This is, as many people argue, is implemented to make the game ‘fun’, however, this just frustrated me to the point that I smacked the power button on the PS2. Hard. It’s a real shame that the game has this handicap, as without it, I really would be happy to give this game a much better review. <br /> <br /> To top off what is a very disappointing mode, we are also forced to race a course TWICE to proceed to the next course, finishing at least 3rd the first time, 1st the second. Someone get the pillow… Also adding to the frustration is the immunity the computer players have of you and the immunity you have to walls… you simply can’t crash on the main course – whenever there’s a shortcut, as mentioned before, you are almost certain to crash, however on the speedway, the walls are just there to stop you falling off the edge, nothing more, nothing less. I’m sure even Atari racing games counted walls as harmful to your vehicle… oh well… each to their own. On the subject of crashing, it also seems apparent that your bike sticks to the road – you can be virtually stationary on a wall of death and still stay there – maybe it’s all based on a planet with gravity of factor 10. Yes, that’s right, I knew there was an answer somewhere. <br /> <br /> Moving onto the stunt mode, we are met with enclosed courses which are extremely reminiscent of the Tony Hawks courses, except with one massive problem; they don’t work. Anyone who’s even glanced at a BMXing, Skateboarding or Snowboarding game will know that quarter pipes are little round bits around walls which allow you to pull tricks off from – you go up them, pull a trick or two and descend back down. Oh, sorry, EA didn’t quite get that bit. You know, that ‘descend’ thingy m’jig. Instead of what you would expect, you jus fly up into the air and plop down over the other side of the pipe. Pitiful, considering this really is the main part of all the stunt levels. I hope the guys at work will excuse me for my dirty clothes; I’m awfully dusty from rolling around on the floor with laughter. <br /> <br /> As with many PS2 titles (buffer the bloody data you foolish developers!), loading times are terrible, and there’s even a nice long bar in place for restarting a race. Not to worry though, loading times are a great time to make a cuppa. Or a cup of blood or something, whatever the rebellious teens do these days! Ah yes, the rebellious teen nature of the game. Featuring bands that seem to be Linkin Park under another name, the soundtrack is bland, repetitive and as with most extreme sports games, it’s so ‘cool’, it’s uncool. Please, stop smashing those drums so hard; whatever happened to Bach eh? I wasn’t going to even start on the commentator, but I will, purely for the humour of it. We are the lucky people to experience a ‘dude’ (who really wouldn’t be out of place in Wayne’s World) telling you how shit, rad, sick (whenever did a word meaning illness turn into a word meaning ‘good’?) or any other compliment/insult/’tip’ he wishes to throw at you. Oh yes, I forgot to say, he gives you tips – but really, who doesn’t know that you’ve got to jump through the flaming hoops?! Also voicing the game is your character who says many cocky comments such a “you’re easier to pass than algebra” – words hard to believe coming from a self-obsessed woman dressed in lycra. Ah yes, the lycra woman. The best reason to play this game - If you’re a guy that got turned on by the 10 polygon Lara Croft in the first ever Tomb Raider that is… and that’s not me, but still, it’s a nice bonus and certainly keeps the mind awake. <br /> <br /> Sadly when the nice game menu graphics fade away and the game begins, we are not met with such a spectacle. Sure the courses have scale, but sadly lack detail. Textures are blurry and the detail on the characters is awful – animation is shaky and your character often gets stuck into the wall for a few seconds – a heavy price the developers paid for such open levels.