Xbox 360 Critic Reviews

Ridge Racer Unbounded might not be the Ridge Racer game your dad played back in his day, but don't let the name fool you. It's dark and dirty visual style is second only to the dirty and explosive racing action that awaits when you strap in behind the wheel of this addictive arcade racer where the only limit to your fun is your imagination.

The action-racing genre has delivered numerous treats this generation, but not one of them has been as rewarding and relentlessly entertaining, nor as feature-packed, as this. This is Ridge Racer unbounded from the shackles of its heritage, rebuilt from the ground up into one of the most subversive, sublime street-racing games ever made.

A bold new direction for the series, one that slightly remembers the drifting fundamentals while throwing in all sorts of new rules and tricks to liven things up. It's a lot of fun to play online and off, and the presentation really guns it in all directions.

Ridge Racer Unbounbed departs from the series' classical style, offering us a grittier, urban and destructive world, with very satisfying gameplay and good variety even without introducing great innovations to the genre. If you love arcade racing games and maybe you look back with nostalgia at series like PGR, you won't be disappointed. A good new starting point that deserves to be expanded further.

Ridger Racer is back and manages to impress with some great gameplay and a brilliant soundtrack. The City Creator is bigger then ever, yet is only at its best when you've finished the game. The tons of new possibilities are great but they make the game a bit cluttered, giving you the feeling that you aren't accomplishing much. The multiplayer has also been expanded and will keep you entertained for many hours to come.

Unbounded may not have much to do with the things that defined Ridge Racer, but if you can get over that, you'll discover an energetic, entertaining racer, with gratifyingly destructive environments, challenging gameplay and interesting online. Ridge Racer was due for a reboot, and here it is.

The game's long-term entertainment value is tied up in multiplayer, and while I'm confident the user-generated tracks will always yield new and interesting experiences, playing with other players won't so much.

Overall, Ridge Racer Unbounded is a great game with some fairly annoying problems that drag it down. The good news is I think they're all issues that could be addressed with a patch - the bad news is I don't know of one coming out, which means that while this game is worth your time, I don't quite think it's worth full-price in its present state.

Stick with Ridge Racer Unbounded long after you want to throw your controller in frustration, because patience reveals a solid, intense and fun arcade racer.

From the explosive tankers to the destructible environments, Shatter Bay makes a great first impression. Franchise loyalists may be turned off by this brand new direction, but anybody who loves Burnout will have a blast playing through Ridge Racer Unbounded. It's not without a few problems, but Namco's newest racer packs enough content to make up for any imperfection!