Much like the rare treat of being in a foreign country with white sands and clear oceans, Jet Skiing games have been somewhat of a rarity over the years. Some people may have different memories of the classic Nintendo 64 launch title Wave Race 64, which some chose over the classic Super Mario 64. Others may have played Splashdown for the PS2 or Jet Moto for the PS One. Many tides have turned since we last had a Jet Skiing game for consoles or PC, but that changed on the 7th of March as Vector Unit released the sequel to their hit title Riptide GP for PC and Mac.
When you first enter the menus of Riptide GP2, you’d expect to see bright sunny skies with vibrant colours to get you excited to race these adrenaline-filled machines. While there is none of this in the main menu, the lack of excitement does reflect upon how the game looks once you start racing. Riptide GP2 mainly takes place on dull water-based circuits which makes each stage look exactly the same. It’s hard to tell if you have played through one before as there is a distinct lack of variety.
In Jet Ski games of the past, you would have some interesting and colourful aesthetics to look at and this would demand your attention constantly. Within 10 seconds of starting a race, you are looking around the course to see if there is anything exciting to look at and this hope ends in despair. On the plus side the effects when you are fully pressing the accelerator down look wonderful as water momentarily splashes onto the screen. The looks of the Jet Skis appear average and although you can customise the colour of your racer and their Jet Ski, the game still manages to look unimaginative.
For a fast-paced and intense Jet Skiing game you would normally expect the music to be exciting, yet not distracting. Unfortunately Riptide GP2 doesn’t do any of these things and instead goes for a loud and distracting techno soundtrack which drowns out the sounds of the roaring engines and spoils the races by making your ears bleed. Of course you can alter the volume settings on your PC, but I ended up switching it off altogether. It really is unbearable.
The power of acceleration from the Jet Skis is instantaneous and has you travelling at extravagant speeds in no time. This also helps those who have fell off their vehicle when trying to perform one trick too many during the ramp jumps. When I first read some of the gameplay mechanics in Riptide GP2, I had a positive reaction after I found out that you were able to perform tricks. When I performed them in-game however this wasn’t the case.
Performing tricks are required in order to gain boost for your Jet Ski and this feature sounds better than what it actually is. The first few times you perform a backflip, superman or 180 it seems exciting, but these soon wear thin and becomes something which you only do to gain a boost rather than trying difficult tricks. As you progress through experience levels you gain the ability to unlock more intricate skill moves which look exciting on the preview screen, but are relatively low-key when used in the game. For something which is supposed to thrill and excite the player, the skill moves are bland and makes the player feel as though they aren’t in control of the racer. Rather than being immersed in performing tricks to gain moves, it feels scripted and uneventful as you constantly look for the huge yellow ramps which provide the jumps to perform these tricks. It seems as though no matter how good you are at performing tricks, there is always someone who is better than you.
In regards to my experiences with racing games, I’m not a ‘hardcore’ racing fan but I do enjoy playing through the likes of Forza, Gran Turismo and Dirt. I would say that I am good when it comes to racing games, but not excellent. In Riptide GP2 you HAVE to be excellent and by excellent I mean perfect at racing games. After playing for around 4 hours, I’ve only managed to win 3 races and finished the majority of races in second place. Most of the time, it feels as though you’re racing against only one other racer instead of the other 6 in each race. As you begin to upgrade your Jet Ski, the game doesn’t get any easier as the situation I found myself in was that 2 fellow racers were phenomenal and I was now finishing in third place. In addition to these players having super human skills, you cannot change the difficulty. Having looked through the menus and settings, there is not one thing to make the experience any easier. For those who are looking for a casual or even slightly challenging racer, this game will not appeal to you.
In order to progress through various stages, you have to reach a certain number of stars and because the game is so difficult it makes progressing in the game almost impossible. If you win a race you gain three, if you finish second you’ll get two and if you finish third you’ll receive one star. When it requires upwards of 30 stars to progress to the forth level, the game becomes painstakingly difficult and instead of constantly retrying, Riptide GP2 doesn’t have the “one more go” appeal which is well used these days. Instead it has you wondering how it made it past the testing stage as it’s so difficult.
When you do have the chance to play the game, the Jet Skis are fun to drive from time to time, but this fun does turn to frustration as the small tricks and huge difficulty slope make Riptide GP2 almost impossible to complete. Bouncing around the water is unpredictable as you’re never quite sure what can happen and if you’re content with just travelling at speed around the water rather than winning and progressing, then you may enjoy this.
The game does feature both online multiplayer and split-screen co-op gameplay ,but both of these game modes faced their own problems. I was left unable to see how Riptide GP2 performed online due to no one playing the game online. I did play a few games of split-screen co-op and it seemed rather uneventful due to it only being you against the other human racers. While I complain that the game is too difficult, the co-op mode is mind-numbingly boring.
After playing Riptide GP2 for around five hours I think that the developers should go back to the drawing board when converting a mobile based game to the PC. Hydro Thunder Hurricane was a good title for the Xbox 360, but this doesn’t evoke the same feelings as the unique Xbox Live Arcade title. For those who specialise in racing games this game may appeal to you, but with a rather pointless campaign and extremely difficult races, Riptide GP2 will remains lost at sea.
Riptide GP2 is available now via Steam for £6.99.
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