Gameloft's Asphalt 5 is a pure arcade racer. It combines the smash 'em elements of Burnout and the hardcore racing thrills of Ridge Racer into a sometimes silly but always manic speeder. If you go into this expecting a precision driving sim along the lines of Real Racing, you will be severely disappointed. But if you download Asphalt 5 with the expectation of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride with Ferraris, you will be suitably satisfied.
You are hard-hearted if you are not immediately impressed with Asphalt 5's zillion-dollar looks. As always, Gameloft delivers standout production values. The game stretches across several continents, delivering racing scenes in some of the world's most recognizable metros, like Rio de Janiero and Las Vegas, as well as lovely outdoor scenes such as Aspen. Every location is bright and loaded with detail. The car models are excellent, too. From the starting Mini Cooper S to the Ferrari 599 XX, Gameloft has done a stellar job recreating these vehicles. It's amazing that an iPhone game can easily outpace many PlayStation 2 racers in this department.
But Asphalt 5 is more than the prettiest girl at the dance – although the game has plenty of those, too. (Gameloft loves the ladies. You unlock female companions as you race through the career mode.) The tilt steering is very well done. I have few complaints about the level of responsiveness, although you can be too severe with your tilting, though. It is easy to overcorrect a turn or veer too wildly to avoid oncoming traffic, but a little practice cures this. There are multiple control options, but I recommend the default tilt steering above all of them as you only need to worry about tapping a brake and nitro button. As mentioned, Asphalt 5 is an arcade racer, so do not expect real-world physics. Occasionally, Asphalt 5 feels like a pinball game – but it never sells itself as a serious racer, so this is hardly a fault. In fact, since I usually prefer games like Burnout and Daytona USA over Gran Turismo, I found this endearing in Asphalt 5.
Asphalt 5's career mode offers a host of different events, from straight races and time trials to drift contests. You collect dollars in many events, too, to boost your bottom line and buy new rides. The only event I had trouble with was cop chase where you need to eliminate a set number of rivals, Burnout-style. Now, I'm not expecting a game to roll over and take it, but the computer-controlled cars are way too psychic when it comes to avoiding your incoming swipes. Perhaps if Gameloft dialed back the number of eliminations required or at least made the rival racers a little less clairvoyant, these events wouldn't be so dreaded by the second hour of play. Now, you can choose the events you want to play to get through a lot of career mode, but eventually you are forced into one of these events and it just brings the fun to a screeching halt.
Asphalt 5 includes a solid multiplayer mode, although you cannot play over the network. However, up to six players can jump into a Bluetooth race or a Wi-Fi race and mix it up. Gameloft is also rolling out weekly circuit races via the new Asphalt Academy. This is a great addition to Asphalt and a smart borrow from Real Racing.
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