Publisher: Candella Systems Ltd.
Developer: Eipix
Requirements: Windows XP/Vista; 3.0 GHz single-core CPU; 1 GB of RAM; 4 GB of hard drive space; DirectX 9-compatible video card with 128 MB of video memory; DirectX 9.0
Genre: Futuristic Combat Racing
Release date: Available now

There are a lot of good racing games on the market, most recently Colin McRae’s DiRT 2 and Need for Speed: Shift. But one part of the racing genre that has been sorely neglected is the futuristic racer; the last one that I can recall is Kinetica for the PS2 in 2001. Now, thanks to Eipix, a small Serbian game development company, we have Pyroblazer Gold Edition.

Pyroblazer offers you a far-future racing game with more than 40 levels, 15 vehicles and 20 weapons. The story is relatively simple: Apeiron, the fourth planet in the binary star system of Xarthas, survived a cataclysm that broke its once-mighty civilization into three factions. You are an up-and-coming racer who has finally gotten his wish to participate in the Pyroblazer grand championship, which takes place in all three territories: the scorched valleys of Gnosis, the deserted cities of Haedra and the densely populated underdome of Evelads. The vehicle of choice is an anti-gravity craft known, not surprisingly, as the Blazer.

Each Blazer has two weapon systems, one of which is either an energy weapon or some kind of guided missile, with the other being a mine dropper. Blazers also have unique characteristics for speed, handling, turbo, and hit points. You choose one of five Blazers (others are unlocked as you advance through the campaign). You are stuck with this vehicle for the duration of the tournament. Each event (except for the qualifier) consists of three or more races. There are several tournaments, each one progressively more difficult, before you finally get to the finals, where the grand champion is determined. Each race runs from three to 15 laps, with three or more opponents in each race.

Ammunition for your weapons is limited. For example, the Falc 1-R only gets 140 shots for its plasma cannon, and three EMP mines. Your ammo is fully recharged at the end of each lap, and you can sometimes pick up other weapons or power-ups during the race, such as temporary invulnerability, temporary invisibility, or 10 guided missiles (these replace your primary weapon until you use them all). Anyone whose Blazer is destroyed respawns a few seconds later. You don’t have to place first in all the races to win the tournament; instead, you get a number of points for each race (10 points for first place, eight for second place, and so on). If you have the highest number of points at the end of the tournament, you are the winner and the next set of races is unlocked.

Pyroblazer boasts exceptional graphics, powered by Eipix’s proprietary Ultra Engine and Ageia’s PhysX middleware, and more than three hours of professional music. You also get the six-level minigame “Apocalypse of Apeiron.” Pyroblazer has a lot of promise, but the controls are clunky. You steer and shoot with the mouse, and use the keyboard to roll your Blazer and control its throttle and turbos. As a result, you’re too busy trying to figure out how to race and fight at the same time through the narrow race tunnels to pay attention to the graphics and music. The graphics are quite good, but nothing that will make you gasp with astonishment. And the music is often drowned out by the sound of weapons, engines, explosions, and the noise made by scraping the walls of the tunnel, which you will frequently be doing.

Still, this game is not a bad purchase. It’s less than $15, including the minigame, the full soundtrack in MP3 format and a PDF art book. The Gold edition also includes one additional Blazer, an Ultra Hard difficulty level, and access to the single and multiplayer online leaderboards. Despite the game’s clunky controls, I had fun playing this game, and considering that this is Eipix’s first entry into this genre, I’m willing to cut them a little slack. I’d like to see a sequel to this game, perhaps with a stronger storyline and a few extra features such as vehicle customization.

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