Ramp Up the Heat With Asphalt 7

Coincidentally being released soon after the Miami Heat won the NBA Playoffs, Asphalt 7: Heat is the latest addition to the Asphalt series. The previous instalment, Adrenaline, is a pretty hard act to follow, and with big names like Real Racing two on the rise, is this new release enough to make it in todays market?

The game involves fast-paced gameplay coupled with brilliant graphics that make this one hell of a ride. Whilst the core gameplay is much the same as it’s predecessor, Asphalt 7 has all the makings to be the top racing game for iOS. Let’s find out more after the jump. 

Getting Started

Upon opening the app, Heat immediately tries to show off it’s graphics through a pretty splash screen; I much prefer the orange Lamborghini and accompanying art to the one in Asphalt 6.

The main menu, once accessed, shows you three main selections: Career, Quick Play and Multiplayer. The top of the display shows you your current cash and stars. There is a shop link too where you can upgrade and recolour all your veichles, or purchase new ones.

You can race in the career mode to accumulate more stars, money and rep. Your rep is gauged in levels, and every level you get additional stars and money. The more stars you have, the more events and cars are available to purchase and enter, which will consequently earn you even more of the game’s currencies. This is the same core gameplay found in Adrenaline.

You can purchase more Asphalt dollars and stars with real cash; 400 stars come with a whopping price tag of £70! I’m not too sure why there’s an option to by so many stars, as you can perfectly well unlock everything through just playing through the game, and that’s probably more enjoyable, too.

Cars are classified into tiers based on performance ranging from one to seven. The tier usually corresponds to a cup or two, so the more you progress, the higher tier you will be able to access. A great new feature with Heat is that you have the option to pay a small fee to rent a car for a single event, meaning if you really can’t cut racing against a Ferrari Enzo with your Range Rover, you can simply rent out, let’s say, a Lamborghini Aventador. That should solve your problems.

Not everyone is a fan of the steering wheel-style controlling of the cars, however I came to grips with the controls within the first race I played. The AI are very kindly in the first few cups, and being a newcomer to the game, I was still able to attain three stars in every event.

Like in Adrenaline, certain cars will be available for certain events alone. This allows for a little sneak preview of each tier, giving a demonstration of the power to come; a tactful play to draw you back in for more action. You also have the option to be able to get a little bonus from a sponsor for varied prices before an event if you need that little extra push to get you to the top.

Something that has changed from Adrenaline is that instead of event specific goals, you have a set of three current goals that change every time you unlock one. I’m personally not the biggest fan of this, as let’s say during your first race, you manage to drift 1,500 metres. Annoyingly, the drift 1,000 metres in one race goal is about the 7th or 8th one you unlock over time, so you many never be able to drift like that again.

On the Quick Play mode, you can choose your type of event (Elimination, Beat ‘Em All, Etc.) then mix and match with any location and vehicle class. There’s even a spinner for those who really don’t have the decision making ability to decide what to do. Difficulty is also adjustable.

The Third and final playing option is to engage in multiplayer mode, online or offline, with up to four other players. This can be great fun if you have mates who also have the game (they really should at $0.99) and the online playability really extends the life of this game tremendously.

Controls

In terms of controls, the default accelerometer scheme is probably the best one to use, with tapping on the left activating the brakes and tapping on the right activating nitro, however players can opt for tap steering or manual control over brakes and gas if you’re that kind of racer.

The drifting is good but a little hypersensitive; I found myself intentionally avoiding drifting around tight corners in fear of throwing myself completely off balance. One more thing I din’t like was that while I was cruising at speeds well over 300 km/h, it didn’t really feel like I was doing the speeds I was. I guess that could make turning a little tricky, but I really think you should feel fast while driving fast.

Design

The gas includes 15 tracks spread across the entire world, and they all look breathtaking. I have found myself watching the introductions to races a bit more just to appreciate every little detail and afterthought, something I didn’t really do in adrenaline. The fireworks over the Big Ben look superb, by the way.

The whole game is just graphically superb, especially with the Retina display. The navigation is basic, minimalist and looks great too. The approach is more gameplay orientated, with very few touches getting you straight into the action.

Vs. Adrenaline?

Something that has changed from Adrenaline is that instead of event-specific goals, you have a set of three current goals that change every time you unlock one. I think they should take a more achievement-stly approach with goals being completed once reached in any case. Progressive goals could also be introduced, i.e. drift 1,000, 2,000 and 3,000 metres in a single race.

Little afterthoughts that looked all pixelated on Asphalt 6 look much better now in Heat. It’s great to appreciate every little detail; all the graphics in this game are solid.

One thing that may just be my opinion is that when you get as it’s called “Wrecked!” It seems to by a little too touchy, i.e. the cars wreck far more easily than they should. That might just be my personal taste, however it was a noticeable change for me.

Asphalt Tracker is another new addition that tracks your entire racing career and allows you to challenge your friends to beat your records. It’s not a new feature in the racing world (autolog in Need for Speed) however it’s a nice little addition.

One thing I don’t particularly like is the insistence on integrating social networking. More often than not you get the option to share every little detail of your Asphalt adventure, like every time you level up. This is not something I think people will use; it seems a little like a waste of time.

Conclusion

The price is one of the main things that pull you to this great game; at $0.99, you can’t really rip at it for the quality you get for the money you’ve paid. It’s probably the only real competitor to Real Racing graphically at the moment, and cheaper too. Expect to see this game rise in the top 200.