XGRA: Extreme G Racing Association

If Acclaim is to be believed, then in the future Extreme Gravity Racing is to become the most popular pastime of sports fans all over the world. An organisation by the name of Sports Interactive News Network (SiNN) is where the main story element of XGRA stems from, with the entire game being set in the fashion of a live TV broadcast. It is certainly pleasing to see Acclaim sticking to its word and introducing a new idea such as this into the series; however it is not exactly implemented to the best possible degree. In fact, the storyline is quite muddled in most instances, often leaving the gamer with a little reason to race other than the usual 'Play to Win' attitude you have with any other game. Although many will not have too many qualms with this, as it is the main game racing that matters most...

But what about the graphics? Sleek, stylish and deliciously sexy! Yes, I am talking about a computer game here and no, I have not yet gone crazy...You see, Extreme G Racing Association has heaps of style oozing out of every gaming pore. Admittedly you will have seen the majority of the inclusions in other games of this genre

 

The glamour does not stop there, either, as just like in XGIII there are special effects strewn across the game. Rather than simply moving the track and vehicles around at a huge rate of knots, Acclaim Cheltenham have incorporated a very funky blurring effect that is evident in one of the screenshots dotted around this review. Just as Burnout has its heartbeat sound effect to get the adrenaline rushing through your veins, XGRA distorts the surroundings as you hit top speeds in a race. Viewing this in a plain screen may not be impressive, but wait until you experience first hand and you will certainly get a funny feeling inside of you! Also in one of this review's screenshots, whilst racing up a steep slope on one of the tracks, you come face-to-face with a large blimp flying through the sky

 

As soon as you boot up your XGRA disc the differences implemented will jump out at you, with one of the main additions being a career mode, or the 'Season 2080' mode as the game calls it, that features many varying options

 

Again, after finding a complaint with the title, it will subsequently be followed by a positive factor...and this time it is in the area that has never really been too strong in the XG series