Every great racing game is built around three things: fast-paced action, excellent controls and of course, fun.
“Nail’d,†Deep Silver’s newest racer, has all three, in abundance.
Thanks to a wild assortment of tracks, a decent amount of unlockables and an amazing soundtrack, “nail’d” leaves the competition in the dust.
The design of the tracks in this game is easily its biggest selling point. Like a Thomas’ English Muffin, each track has its own nooks and crannies. Unlike most racing games, which feature linear track design, there are simply too many possibilities to describe on each track in “nail’d.†Full of twists and turns, back-roads and tons of jumps, this title plays unlike any racing game out right now.
The game’s sense of speed also helps make it a winner. With every successful landing [over a quarter of the time you’re playing, you’re actually in the air], and attack [you’re actually encouraged to hit your opponents], you receive boost points, which speed up the game- big time. All it takes is a press of the X button and all of a sudden, an already quick racing game goes supernova. With all the obstacles and 11 other racers on the track, managing your boosts in the tournament and exhibition becomes necessary in order to place high in each contest. In other game modes, which require you to inflict damage on the other ATVs and bikes, the boosts become even more important.
The online multi-player options are a blast as well. If you thought the game was frenetic enough, wait until you have 11 other racers intent on making sure you slam into every wall and crevasse. As mentioned before, each track has plenty of roads to take and at the same time, is filled with traps and sharp turns that make navigation incredibly tough, but tons of fun. On the strength of its course design alone, “nail’d†is easily one of the best games Deep Silver has ever produced.
While the courses are the main attraction here, the game is a good-looking one as well. The graphics are colorful and there are no noticeable drops in the frame rate while the game is at its quickest. Nice little graphical touches, such as mud and water hitting the screen while your racing make an already good-looking game extra pretty.
The soundtrack includes Queens of the Stone Age, Static-X and Hatebreed and gives the game an added edge. Nothing makes jumping through the air cooler than hearing some rocking tunes and this game is full of them. All in all, it’s another cool addition that makes this game something special.
Regardless of all of this, the game is hurt by a lack of a story mode or something more tangible to bring everything all together. After winning tournaments, you unlock new paint jobs and parts to customize your ATV or bike. While this adds more gameplay options and gives the game a longer shelf life, this game is designed specifically for the arcade racing fan.
As a result, if you’re looking for the type of gameplay experiences such as Gran Turismo or Forza provide, this isn’t the title for you.
However, if you’re all about non-stop action, online fun and pure speed, then this is the game for you.
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