Asphalt 5 hands-on by TouchGen

qasim · Sep 3, 2009

We get behind the wheel of the highly anticipated follow up to the hit 2008 racer.

Gameloft showed us a preview build of Asphalt 5 at their London offices today. The game is still in the early stages, with only the Mini Cooper available to try out on the tracks (There will be 33 licensed cars in total, including the likes of Audio, Lamborghini, Ferrari and Lotus). The Gameloft rep was eager to challenge me to a head to head race, to which I happily agreed, always the competitive type.

Unfortunatley I got off to bad start, with the controls not set up to my liking. Of course, I was mocked by the rep for making excuses! However, with the controls set to tilt and with auto acceleration turned off, I was ready to go alas, again I started poorly and the rep took an early lead. A few nitrous induced boosts later and I was on his tail. The game looks significantly better than its forebearer, with more detail in the tracks, and an overall polish. I was playing it on a 2G iPhone, and although it had same framey moments at the start of the race (not an excuse, honest!), further in the race the game ran pretty smoothly. Its not quite Real Racing smooth, but this is more of an arcade style racer with take-downs and more exuberant environments to race in. Speaking of the tracks, there are a few alternative routes, or short-cuts, that you can take, which can shave precious seconds and can give you a good lead. This I did on my second lap and was out in front. for a while. I was eventually beaten after I took a wrong turn and launched myself onto a mountain lodge. Glory was not to be mine, but I think the rep has been practising day and night well thats my excuse!

Online multi-player will not be available at launch, with only bluetooth and Wi-fi match-ups supported at the start. However, in an update the game will be Gameloft live enabled allowing you to post your scores to leaderboards, upload youtube replays and most importantly match-up online and race in tournaments as well as engage in chat with your fellow racers.

Custom playlists are available mid game, should you tire of the supplied soundtrack. A simple tap of the music icon during a race and you can skip your iPod tunes, or pause the game and pick new ones.

We came away impressed with the game, it gives you more thrills than Real racing, at the cost of a realistic experience. If, when the final game ships, it can better or even equal Asphalt 4 then Gameloft will be onto another winner.

The game still has some ways to go, with a release slot of sometime in Q4. Stay tuned!
Click to expand...

Screenies:

The graphics are impressive. Will this be the arcade racer that defeats Need For Speed? It'll have to have top notch controls, gameplay, graphics, and a lot of replay value. Let's see what Gameloft brings to the table!

Brazilian Rider · Sep 3, 2009

Still dunno how the first picture is so much better than the other ones...

arta · Sep 3, 2009

If they get head to head multiplayer before NFS and Real Racing do that'll be a HUGE advantage to Asphalt 5!

Hope they take the swipe up to boost mechanic from NFS and up to 6 car multiplayer from Real Racing.

wootbean · Sep 3, 2009

hope the feeling of speed and control will be as good as that of real racing.

ShadowsFall · Sep 3, 2009

If Gameloft is reading this... Where's our Ferrari GT online multiplayer update ... And I hope you're not letting us down with the Modern Combat online multiplayer update too D:, and now Asphalt 5 multiplayer...

Gameloft really needs to keep things straight instead of saying HEY! There's going to be multiplayer for THIS... THIS... and what about THIS?!!?

Asphalt 5 hands-on by TouchGen

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Asphalt 5 hands-on by TouchGen

qasim Well-Known Member

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