Developer BigPark’s free-to-play 360 racer, Joy Ride, was among the games on display at Microsoft’s E3 booth. We got a few minutes with the title, guided by a developer.
The controls are solid, but not overly forgiving; skill will still be needed in Joy Ride. Tricks are interesting, but need a bit of fleshing out, and the customization wasn’t part of the demo.
The product is pre-alpha, so we encountered a few glitches along the way, but it’s already very playable. Shortcuts on the track are subtle and useful, and some require high speeds to make it across chasms to use.
The title uses Avatars, so the personal touch is pretty interesting. The variety of computer-controlled vehicles gave us a sense of the range of vehicles available.
It will be interesting to see what pricing structure Joy Ride will have for downloadable items, but as long as non-paying racers can still be competitive, Joy Ride might be big when it hits Live hopefully later this year.
