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Xbox | Action | XGRA

Boxart for XGRA
XGRA 30 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 4.0
  • SOUND: 3.5
  • CONTROL: 4.0
  • FUN FACTOR 3.5
  • AVG USER SCORE n/a
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 3.7

Review: XGRA

Review by PONGSIFU | 10/13/2003 | 13:31:51 PM PST

Coming in under the radar is XGRA, the newest installment in Acclaim's Extreme G series.

A high-voltage, weapons-based racer set in a dystopian hell on earth, XGRA?s futuristic prognosis is one in which nuclear calamity, global warming, and rampant industrial globalization have turned hospitable habitats into ecologically devastated wastelands. Held in barren jungles, nuclear factories, teeming spaceports and Martian mining colonies, these brutal races force you to pilot requisite twists, loops, freefalls, bifurcating lanes, and secret routes while struggling against acid blizzards and thermonuclear dust storms that obscure your vision and make surfaces hard to grip. Play well while scouts are watching and you?ll be recruited to join a team who reward you with better hardware for Kyboshing key rivals among genetic freaks, ex-cons, adrenaline junkies, and angry robots.

Mind-boggling quick, XGRA is quite possibly the fastest entry in the futuristic racing subgenre?so fast that a lot of time is spent playing knock-hockey against barriers despite tight controls. At least Acclaim revamped the cumbersome weapons system of the game?s prequel, Extreme G3, so that instead of fumbling with your inventory while trying to clear hairpin curves at 600 mph, you snatch weapon-bestowing orbs, freeing you up to concentrate on the race. Super-smooth frame rates and massive amounts of effects polish of killer visuals, although XGRA occasionally craps out, technically speaking?opponents materialize out of thin air in front of you and sound effects are prone to dropping out on certain courses. The only other drawback is the limp rock-techno hybrid score?can?t we get something with some more guts to go with our speed, please?