[h2] Enjoyable low-poly rally game but your enjoyment will depend on whether you can get used to the camera angles or not. [/h2]
My first impressions of Joyride were a little disappointing. The car is slow and the camera angles are weird. I wasn't enjoying it. I stuck with it though and started to enjoy it more as I unlocked new tracks and upgraded my vehicle.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3260144341
The most contentious issue with Joyride is the camera angles. The camera sweeps around with the track and camera angles alternate between behind your car, then alongside your car, and finally in front of your car. When the camera is behind your car I felt much more confident and was able to put my foot down, being able to see what was coming,. and it felt natural. When the camera was in front of the car I could not see the track properly and it felt odd to control and was a struggle to stay on the road. Environmental objects like trees can often obscure your view because of this angle too. The camera should never be in front of the car, looking back, in my opinion, and this preference will make or break the game for you. If the camera was locked somewhere behind the car at all times this game would be very enjoyable, but because the camera is sometimes in front of the car, it can prove frustrating and disorientating, and it did cause a bit of motion sickness too. There is no option to change the cameras in the settings so you will be stuck with the default views. There's also no option to change keys, as I just found out that reverse is not left trigger, it is another button. I thought it didn't have a reverse.
There are currently six tracks which require money to unlock. You can earn money by completing the track; finding photo opportunities; collecting hidden items; beating a set time; finding off road trails; and performing dangerous jumps. You can play the track as many times as you want and the stats will be saved, so you could have one run just trying to find the items, and another run trying to find the trails, for example. Fastest times are recorded for each of the ten checkpoints and a final time is recorded on a leader board for each track. There are also five different vehicles to unlock with varying stats like handling and acceleration etc.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3260143874
The hidden trails are extremely narrow, and it is very easy to wipe out on a rock or tree as you are racing, but the time advantage for taking these hidden goat trails is so big that you must take them to get a decent time. They can sometimes be difficult to spot, especially if the camera is in front of you as you approach them, so often you have to reset back to the previous checkpoint and try again. It is a common occurrence resetting back to the previous checkpoint as the car is quite fragile and even a minor collision sends car parts flying off. These parts actually stay on the track so it is not unusual to wipe out on the parts you lost from the previous run, which I thought was unfair.
The jumps sections are mostly located at the end of the goat trails, but it is very hit and miss whether the jump is registered as a success or not and counted towards your total. After performing the majority of these jumps, my car would just lose parts because of the leap and it wouldn't register that I had made a jump.
The engine noises sound a little basic and I think they could be improved upon, and also handling around corners seems a bit stiff. There is no drifting, not on the two cars I tried anyway, and sometimes it can be difficult to keep your car in a straight line and not crash.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3260143657
The tracks are quite varied, with mostly forest or mountain aspects. The snow in the mountains, or going off road, doesn't effect grip and there are no weather conditions as you race which would be a welcomed addition. I would also like to see achievements added for an extra incentive to continue playing as currently there are only leader boards to compete on.
[h1]🍳Conclusion🍳[/h1]
[quote][h2][b] Joyride Lowpoly World is enjoyable once you get used to the camera angles, but I think it would be much improved if there were a selection of angles you could choose for yourself, as I would prefer the camera behind the car at all times, rather than alternating as you drive.
The game can be quite challenging, but because of the generous checkpoints on the track, it is possible to repeat sections over and over again, and this comes in useful when you crash trying to take one of the narrow trails to save some time. There's quite a lot of different things to do on each track, apart from just setting a good time, and it will take a while to earn enough money to unlock each track and car, so there's quite a lot of game time already, and everything is perfectly playable.
There are definitely things to improve in the game but as it stands it is an enjoyable experience.
[/b][/h2][/quote]
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