Ridge Racer Unbounded is a terrific racing game, although it may be better suited to the fans of the Burnout series.
Some fans of the Ridge Racer series will most likely see Unbounded as a disappointment, or an unwelcomed new direction. Although I have never been a die hard fan of Ridge Racer, I have encountered them in the past and thoroughly enjoyed them. Unbounded takes a step away from the feel of the previous entries of the series.
You now play as part of a gang of street racers in a city in which most things are destructible and go boom. Smashing different objects will reward you with "Power", the games form of nitrous/boost/turbo. When you earn enough Power you will then be able to do something to alter the track, much like in one of Split/Second's Power Plays. For instance, you might create an alternate route through a donut shop or a city building. Although this can be exciting at first, each of the destructible shortcuts feels relatively the same. However, it is a nice option to have.
What is a racing game without cars? Unbounded has at least thirty cars or so, belonging to unique classes. There are drift classes, street classes, etc. Every car in the game has it's own styling and feel. What this game thankfully did NOT do was when you escalate a class they simply put a larger spoiler on your car, draw some decals on it again, give it a louder exhaust set up and call it an new vehicle. Again, Unbounded does NOT do this and that is onee thing that definately earns it some brownie points. There are also "Special" vehicles, namely a police car and semi, both of which seemed like they would deal some damage.
Aside from the playability of the forementioned features, where Unbounded excells is in its track editor. In the track editor, you will start with a basic layout. Each of the track pieces will belong to a certain "theme" of the city. In each of these "themes" are a number of pieces of which serve different purposes and have different looks. For example, I may choose to have my track race on train tracks, fall onto a bridge and then break through a parking garage. There are endless possibilities meaning that you could potentially never have the same race twice.
Aside from the basic editor there is an advanced editor. Once you have the basic layout of your track, you can place in items and also copying existing scenery items to create a track to your liking. Last night I created a track that was mostly a construction zone. I had lots of dirt ramps and road blocks (smashable of course) and lots of potential for destruction. Words simply cannot do the editor justice. Namco, kudos to you for your work on this. Unbounded's editor may revolutionalize the way users create content.
Speaking of users creating content, another one of Unbounded's features is to upload your city (consisting of five tracks/events) onto XBL or PSN. You also have the ability to play other cities created by players. This is quite an impressive feature, and it allows you to see the impressive abilities of the RRU community.
Unbounded is a great game that takes the Ridge Racer series in a completely new direction. Old fans may not be the ones to jump on board for this game. However, if you're looking for an outside-the-box racing game, Unbounded should be on your to-play list.