System Rush
Stop us if you've heard this one before: there are these hovering rocket cars, right, and they're flying around inside a computer...
It’s easiest to explain System Rush as being a cross between Wipeout Pure on the Sony PSP and the movie Tron. The 3D racer that’s arriving on the N-Gage has several distinctively recognisable traits of each. For example, the rocket-powered vehicles you pilot, called Co-Vecs (Code Vehicles) hover a foot or so off the ground and zip along futuristic highways that are, in fact, the electrical pathways of a computer network. Any of this sound familiar?
Set in the future, you must clear your name of a global cyber crime by locating a code embedded deep within the corrupt GlobeNet networks. With a choice of 15 different Co-Vec vehicles, you’ll need to drift, grip and glide past enemies over 15 levels. "System Rush is not your typical racing game," explains Gregg Sauter, director of games publishing at Nokia. "We took care to create a tangible, futuristic world with remarkable rivals that gamers would yearn to race. With killer house music to set the scene, this title invokes the thrill of competing against elite hackers as the player dashes along the G-force inducing twists and turns."
Each Co-Vec has three different handling modes that you must take advantage of if you hope to show the world that you’re not a criminal. Called Grip, Drift and Air, each has its own particular strengths and weaknesses. Grip, for instance, makes your Co-Vec behave like a car and it’s the only mode in which you can accelerate. Lift your foot off the gas and your Co-Vec will switch to drift mode and handle like a hovercraft, enabling you to slide around fast corners. Air mode is triggered when you launch yourself from a ramp and turns your Co-Vec into a glider, enabling you to fly over intervening obstacles.
As well as the single-player story mode, gamers can also experience the adrenaline of competing through head-to-head battles via Bluetooth connection or delve into the racing community of the N-Gage Arena. With options to unlock limited edition cars, the N-Gage Arena offers additional multiplayer features, including four-player shadow racing, player profiles, online league tables that celebrate outstanding players, and downloadable race clips.