Off-road racing title have been few and far between in recent years, particular off-road racing titles that are actually worth playing. Pure looks to set that right for XBox 360, PS3 and PC gamers.

The last off-road racing series of any kind that you can probably think of is ATV, which was a decent effort at what must be a potential banana skin for developers given the environments required in such a title. However the ATV series had no real longevity, perhaps due to the lack of depth and originality.

Pure, at first glimpse is a far more advanced release than ATV could ever have been, largely down to the new power offered to it’s developers, Black Rock Studio, by today’s more powerful games consoles. Much like ATV though, there is a distinct lack of originality within Pure that may put gamers off playing it sooner than they would expect - but that depends purely on your perspective of off-road racing in general.

The environments in Pure are without doubt the best ever created in a game of this kind. Despite the tricky, dust-ridden environments that you are speeding around, everything runs as you would expect with life-like dusting kicking up in all directions as you race against the other, sometimes crazy driving, opponents. If you pay close attention, you will notice divots you made on previous laps time and time again as you continue through a race as your wheels truly effect the ground you race on - and those divots you made before can again be affected as you speed through them again, leaving each race a completely unique track in some aspects.

The control system is very easy to pick up, and will feel very familiar to fans of racing titles of any sort - not just off-road games. The control system comes into the spotlight with the game’s trick system which allows you to perform crazy stunts and tricks in mid air after launching yourself off a steep slope, and there are plenty of them on every track that you come across. Performing tricks may be fun in it’s own right but thankfully, unlike in some previous similar games, pulling off crazy tricks does not go unrewarded in Pure. The better your tricks are, the more ‘boost’ you are rewarded with. - which as the word ‘boost’ suggests, will aid you with your speed and overall power throughout the game.

Timing tricks to perfection can be a great experience, as you are rewarded more if you end the trick immediately before touching down on the ground - and with the ground fast approaching when you’re in mid air, trying to land it in time gives the game a little dangerous edge. Whilst playing, Pure can begin to feel more like a extreme skiing or snowboarding game rather than the full blown off-road racer it claims to be, and that does not damage the game in any way at all, and perhaps even adds to it’s appeal and gives the title more of a fun factor that it would not otherwise have.

Pure offers you three different racing events to choose from. Sprints are the shortest races available, pitting you against other off-roaders on a short, tight course forcing you to focus on your speed and the racing line you take rather than pulling off major tricks, as you will not get much chance for that within Sprints. The Standard Races mode is perhaps more enjoyable as winning means striking the perfect balance between your finishing time, and your ability to pull off tricks.

The main game mode in Pure though is World Tour, where you begin competing against low class opponents on D-class engine vehicles which you will soon brush aside as your progress, but of course the further you move up the ranks, the more intense the competition becomes. You will have to wait until the late stages of the game for the more thrilling action, as the early stages prove a little too easy if anything - but the thrilling races certainly make all the leg-work early on worthwhile. You will compete against 5 other racers in each of the standard race formats, which is just the right number for the track sizes.

Pure is a well polished off-road racing release which will bring fun to racing fans of any kind, and is a great game to play directly against friends or family members. Plenty of room for improvement has been left for a sequal.

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