Apex
- January 08, 2003 14:06 PM PST
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If racing cool cars just isn?t enough anymore, Apex might turn your head by making you responsible for the design and promotion of your own brand of automobiles.
Innovative approaches don?t exactly appear at a fast and furious pace in the racing genre, but that?s exactly what Apex is brewing up. You'll play as a rookie driver/executive who just inherited a small car manufacturer. You'll pick from a set of pre-made car designs, select your company?s brand name and logo, and then hit the race track with your first prototype. Win and your record will gradually build up the prestige of your brand so that it someday might rival the likes of Mercedes, and along the way, you'll continually design new cars. The game backs this cool concept with an exhaustive lineup of cups and series copied from the Gran Turismo mold, as well as quick-race action, two-player split-screen competition, more than 50 tracks, and licensed cars from Toyota, Dodge, Lotus, and more.In the early preview version, the graphics looked impressive but not dazzling, and the handling definitely leaned toward the simulation side, though the wrecks and damage were certainly forgiving. With a lot of tinkering under the hood to tune the currently stiff feel to the cars and to make the A.I. more realistic and competitive, Apex could live up to its potential and become one of the leading racers on the Xbox circuit.
