08 Oct 08
Play Drift and Burn 2 for free
We were impressed by the original Drift and Burn. It offered a fast, slick racer with a cleverly dependant system of drift and turbo.
The sequel superficially improves on the original by offering crisper graphics and more stuff to do: you can now build your own tracks and customise your car, both of which are simplicity itself. But it's actually less fun to play.
In the original the car felt plonked firmly on the road and only your bad driving would send you off the edge. Drifting was a robust and satisfying sensation. Here, though, the road feels slippery and resistant to drifting, with your car skittering around the place like it's driving through lard.
The other immediate problem is that you now have to do laps around the track, which grows tiring when the tracks already don't offer that much in the way of variety. The various loops, corkscrews and jumps barely shake things up.
OK, it's not changed that much, and there's still plenty of rollercoaster fun to be had, but a line has been crossed. You no longer feel so involved: the rough and ready look and feel of the original has been made glossy and insubstantial, like a good old man's pub turned into a snooty gastropub. The body is there, but the soul has gone.
Play Drift and Burn 2 for free
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