Preview: Gripshift (PS3)

Gripshift, for the PS3, is an enhanced version of the game by the same title for the PSP. It is a racing/ puzzle game, with some strategy elements thrown in, too.

Not a lot of content is shown in the downloadable demo, but I'll tell you what I do know. It features a nice techno/rock soundtrack, with plenty of songs available. They fit in very well with the style of game that Gripshift is. The game also has some pretty interesting courses. Most of them are straight forward, but some of them have several different ways you can complete the objectives of that particular track. Every course has the same three objectives: get a fast time, collect all the stars, and find the Gripshift token. There is an online leader board for whoever complete the mission the fastest. If you have a competitive spirit, you will try your best to get the fastest time possible for yourself, and if you get pretty close to the top time, you may find yourself trying over and over again to get the top, or simply just a faster, time. This adds a certain level of challenge, until you realize you have stopped caring, and either give up, or keep trying anyway. None of the levels are really all that difficult, though, so after you complete it, you may have a "That was too easy" feeling.

That being said, the game gets repetitive. I am not sure how many courses there are (there were only ten in the demo), but I can't see them being very creative any more after the 50th one. Although the courses look nice (cartoony nice, not MotorStorm nice), the scenery in the ten tracks provided looks relatively the same, so if there are more than 100 levels, it will definitely get boringly repetitive. Also, like all driving games, there is some racing involved. However, I do not think this will be a big part of the game, as only one of the levels in the demo was racing. And it was really easy. So hopefully this is improved in the final version. Also, I know there will be some sort of multiplayer racing, most likely over the internet. Hopefully this will be good and actually worth playing. Overall, Gripshift is a fun game with a creative concept, but since it's very repetitive, it will be interesting to see how well the final version is done.

What's Good: Soundtrack, courses.
What Could Be Better: Racing, repetitive, difficulty.

Expected Overall- 7/10

Preview: Eric