A Ride on the Wild Side- nail’d Review

Although Deep Silver’s recent release nail’d abandons both the futuristic setting and weaponry of the celebrated racer, there are a few unmistakable similarities. Beyond the aforementioned threat of losing control if players don’t absorb and respond to every environmental cue, nail’d‘s courses cleverly recall the wildly coiling, rollercoaster-like tracks of Wipeout. As players ascend improbable inclines, defy gravity across threatening embankments, and bound across mortal gorges, the title proves to be as much of a thrill-ride as a game. As long as players aren’t expecting the title’s craggy chasms to be filled with depth, nail’d presents a gratifying, controller-clinching experience.

Shrewdly forgoing any kind of narrative to drive the action, the presents a hearty career mode, as players pursue the nail’d championship. Riding either an ATV or a MX bike, players traverse fourteen tracks (with four additional DLC courses available for purchasers of a new game) spread across four distinct environments: Greece, Arizona, Yosemite and the Andes. Tracks come in two varieties- standard, circuit-based courses as well as point-to-point matches. Both types of competitions incorporate a generous quantity of branching pathways, each highlighted by a helpful amount of guide arrows.

Cleverly, nail’d habitually encourages reckless, risky behavior. Hurtling off of an incline typically places gamers on a trajectory to touch down onto a corresponding landing ramp. Yet, if players boost off the jump and utilize the title’s in-air controls, they can fly right over additional sections of the course, shaving milliseconds off their race time. Unfortunately, pushing the game too hard by going too high or too far off the race path initiates a sporadic race-reset. Considering the amount of in-air navigation that is required of gamers, it was wise of nail’d to abstain from the usual selection of Supermans and can-cans. Instead, tasks such as wheelies, textbook landings, as well as smashing opponents are rewarded with an increase to the player’s stock of speed-enhancing boost. With the game’s sporadic stunting challenges aren’t as gratifying as pure racing, they do offer a reprieve from the game’s turbo-charged contests.

Complementing the game’s main campaign is a moderate amount of supplemental modes. Players may compete with up to twelve riders via system link or via Xbox Live; these races were enjoyable, but lacked some of the interaction which could have catapulted nail’d into the competitory stratosphere. Personally, I was more enthralled by trying to overtake the developer’s flawless ‘ghost’ runs. Visually, nail’d offers a steady refresh rate with just a hint of skipped frames and screen tear when tracks get particularly curvy.

As a fledgling racing effort, Techland’s nail’d delivers a rousing amount of racing intensity. With a bit of determined coding to excise the auto-resetting glitch and offer a bit more opposition between riders, the title has the potential to develop into a successful franchise. Nail’d is the intermittent reminder which informs us that there’s more to gaming than tweaking camber and downforce setting. Occasionally, a turbo-charged, suicidal, leap off a soaring suspension bridge is the perfect remedy for racing fatigue.