Drag Racing

 Now we've stumbled upon our first "free" racing game, Drag Racing. The premise is simple it's you and another car racing down a 1/4 mile or 1/2 mile strip. There is nothing too complex about and even the controls are simple with you controlling just the start and when the car shifts.

Despite the simplicity of the concept of game the first thing that strikes you is actually the way the game looks. It's actually very polished graphically for an

 Android based game with simple but solid and bright colours.

The game starts with you choosing a car to buy (see the screen on the right) and through the game you race and upgrade your car bit by bit in a bit of a Gran Tourismo (GT) lite type of game (or Forza lite if you'd rather). Although there is a lot of depth in terms of upgrading this is also where you find one of the games two major problems. The upgrading is done with money ($) and Respect Points (RP) with RP being limited and really limiting you in terms of upgrade unless you choose to pay real money to buy them...maybe this game isn't so free afterall.

As well as the RP "issue" the actual game is simply too simple. There is nothing but a straight race down a drag strip. Not a corner in the game and this feels somewhat limited and relatively boring as you find yourself grinding to earn the ingame money doing the same race over and over and over...Whilst this doesn't take away from the short term appeal of the game it leaves you with not really wanting to come back for long.

Whilst the game does feature an online mode it is quite a limited one and is more like racing a ghost than a true head-to-head online race.

Whilst it's a fun arcade thrill the game lacks the depth it feels it has due to the way you need to pay for the RP. Whilst I under-stand the developer putting in a monetary system we only review FREE games and asking us to pay isn't "FREE". Hence the game limits it's self to us.

Addictiveness-4/10 Playable and fun but limited by it's "freeness"
Controls-7/10 They do their job but they are awfully simple and somewhat uninteresting for a racing game
Graphics-9/10 Best part of the game by a mile. Looks brilliant for an Android game.
Sounds-3/10 Simple engine noises when your car is moving. Nothing to be amazed by here.
Originality-4/10 It's racing, it's taken a trick out of the GT book of tricks and yet it's racing isn't original at all

Total score 27/50

Overall it's fun but you can't help but feel the developer is asking for far too much if they feel like they will be paid for Respect Points. Had they put in a free way to get a reasonable amount quickly you'd likely be hooked but sadly they've only made it possible to get a limited amount and it's a real shame as it cuts the game into pieces. What is, if you pay, presumably a very good game is more like a fun but limited game for free.

Game mark C