I'm a sucker for offroad games and breakneck racing titles. Pure, Burnout 3, Trials HD. I love to imagine myself blowing past trees and kicking up mud in my opponents faces while I sit in my recliner. As such, I've been really excited to try the latest over-the-top offroad racing game, nail'd. The advertising campaign for the game has been weak at best. Apparently, it was released last November! Anyway, the demo just hit Xbox Live yesterday.
So, I sat down, started my race, and within literal seconds I was already blowing doors at top speed... right out of the starting lanes... 'ok guys, we get it... let's ease in a little...' were my first thoughts. Too much too soon. After a few races, I became accustomed to the speed. There is no 0-60. There is only 60. And by 60 I mean 160. You're ALWAYS moving at top speed. Only once did I land on a ramp wrong and it slowed me a little.
nail'd feels a bit like the PS2 game 'Downhill Domination'. Crazy stuff going on around you at all times, way over-the-top with a spoonful of charm and a knowing wink.... 'THIS is what you REALLY want from a racing game...' Not a sim in the least. It also feels just a little... off. It feels like a semi-polished budget title. A decent budget title. Not much depth, but gorgeous tracks that are constantly changing, and branching out into dozens of shortcuts. nail's has a total focus on FUN. It also reminded me of the 'Flatout' games. Yeah, they're far-fetched, but you have a great time with it in short bursts.
It turns out that nail'd was released as a budget title at $50. It's currently about $33 new on Amazon.
