Reckless Getaway Review

By , on July 20, 2011


Reckless Getaway
Download on the AppStore
4 out of 5

PROS

  • Over-the-top physics and action; never quite the same game twice.
  • Choice of tilt or touch controls; puts you out of control or in control respectively.
  • Large levels with plenty of nooks and crannies to explore.

CONS

  • Sharp difficulty curve; tiny mistakes can snowball in to epic failures in the blink of an eye.
  • Tilt controls feel unresponsive; lag time between tilting and getting an actual response (regardless of sensitivity).

VERDICT

If you like crazy chase scenes in films and wish you could add a bit of Looney Tunes madness to the mix, Reckless Racing has the challenging gameplay you desire.


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While I can't speak for everyone, there's nothing quite like a great car chase scene in a film. Aside from the child-like glee that comes from watching the action and destruction inherent in these scenes, there's another exciting level of knowing you're watching man and machine working in a perfect ballet for the camera. Reckless Getaway by Polarbit and Pixelbite (the developers behind Reckless Racing) have put aside any sense of reality in an attempt to create a madcap, slapstick point-scoring racer.

As much as it's nice to have a choice between touch and tilt controls, Reckless Getaway doesn't really take off until you start to master the deceptively basic touch controls that only allow you to move left and right and activate any special abilities you may have picked up. It's deceptive because the game initially presents itself as a fairly standard racing title, but after weaving back and forth a few times you start to notice the extremely odd floaty physics that keep you airborne just a little too long or moving forward despite being completely sideways. However, this complete lack of reality feeds in to the game perfectly as everything else is subject to the same rules making it easy to shake off a conga line of cop cars chasing you.

If you haven't worked it out by now, the premise of Reckless Getaway is a simple one - make a getaway with the cash stuffed away in your vehicle. You'll travel up each stage in the surprisingly detailed 3D world the game inhabits while also collecting coins; blowing up other vehicles; and performing stunts (such as large jumps) to add to your overall score. Should you get enough points while jumping over bridges, invading farms or crushing vehicles in to trains you'll be rewarded with 'stars' (up to four), however there's a catch. Points can also be lost for blowing up or taking 'detours' and not keeping up with the camera. Stars are also made unavailable for each of your deaths on the level, though damage taken can be regenerated if you can manage not to smack in to something for more than a few seconds.

The real point of contention is just how difficult the game can be at times, with so many ways to potentially ruin a run, getting four-stars or even three can seem like a monumental task. Replays will eventually net you the progress you're after, mostly thanks to learning the ins-and-outs of each level, but it still feels like a steep hill to climb.

There's a real old-school feel of developer versus the player going on in Reckless Getaway, though instead of the challenge consisting of cheap tricks to catch out the player it's up to the player to rise up to the occasion by mastering the quirky physics and detailed levels. As such if you're looking for a casual or otherwise easy game to conquer, you might be out of luck, but if you want a challenge or something straight-up over the top, check out this title.

Screenshots

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