Game Reviews

Fast & Furious: Legacy

Star onStar onStar onStar onStar off
Get
Fast & Furious: Legacy

Last week I reviewed an adaptation of a Shakespeare play famed for its difficult characterisations and subtle themes, this week I'm reviewing an adaptation of an action movie series that heavily features cars and Vin Diesel.

That's a pretty hard swing.

But I'm well up for a bit of racing action me, and from the screenshots I've seen of Fast & Furious: Legacy it looks to be a pretty beast too.

How will I get on with it over the course of a week? Join me every couple of days to find out.

First impressions

At the moment Fast & Furious: Legacy feels like CSR Plus, which is to say that it's not a traditional racing game like Real Racing 3 or 2K Drive, but more a collection of smaller gameplay styles put together to create a racing lifestyle experience.

There are drag racing elements, likes controlling the revs of your engine for the best possible starts to races, and there are endless runner-esque sequences where you need to change lanes (a la Subway Surfers) to avoid other vehicles or slam into rivals.

A drifting mode also sees you putting the back-end of your car out and weaving through a course, but the control you have is extremely limited.

As with other games in the genre, progression is meted out by how fast (and, presumably, how furious) your car is, so if you find yourself losing races it's more often than not due to not having spent enough on upgrading your vehicle.

Along with the usual improvements to engines, tyres, and chassis, you can add vinyls, paint, and so on to put your stamp on whatever officially licensed set of wheels you desire.

If you're already playing and fancy joining my crew, search for "Pocket Gamer". And do make sure to come back to this review in a few days time, when I'll let you know how Fast & Furious: Legacy fares upon closer inspection.

Day 3: By nature, men love newfangledness

Every day I've been coming back, checking in on my crew, picking up my daily rewards, taking part in races, getting even more rewards, and progressing through the Story, Challenge, and Ranked stages of Fast & Furious: Legacy.

The Story mode contains a narrative that's about as complex and subtle as you'd imagine, but then if you're coming to a free to play racer expecting Chaucer then you're, at best, a little misguided.

Challenge and Ranked are great ways to grind races for currency and the little collectibles that allow you to upgrade your car. And if you don't feel like racing the same courses repeatedly (which can get wearying) then you might want to choose to simulate these events instead (for a reduced prize).

I've been seeing a few different courses throughout my time with the game, and thanks to the exotic locations and excellent presentation values, they all look smashing.

Miami has a delightful urban seediness, Tokyo is positively drenched in neon, and Rio is all sun-scorched tarmac and palms. All of the cars are as shiny and solid and desirable as their real life counterparts too.

The film's “car porn” theme transfers well to the game too, with special parts to win, or buy, to push your vehicle even harder, You can trade in stock models of cars for more special versions to show off to your mates as well.

Half a week in, and I'm really quite impressed.

Day 7: As fresh as is the month of May

As I noted at the top of the review, Fast & Furious: Legacy shares a lot of its DNA with CSR, and after a full week I'm starting to think of Kabam's title as essentially the next big evolutionary step forward for this particular sub-genre of racer.

I've already touched upon the increased number of gameplay modes, but it's the high level of polish in everything that puts it into a league of its own. The constant sense of progression, and the game's desire to reward you at every opportunity make for a satisfying experience.

Sure the game slows you down with a bit of grind occasionally, and though you can get lots of play before the game's energy system boots you, it does still boot you.

Load times between menus and racing could be quicker too, but when the UI and in-game graphics look this good, it's difficult to get too prickly about it.

It's also all just very exciting to play. Firing off nitrous has roughly the same level of eye-opening oomph as the N2O found in Asphalt 8, interventions by crooked cops make for dramatic and nerve-racking escapes too.

And if you join a good Crew the game feels active and alive with a sense of camaraderie. Besides all this, collecting super-powered sports cars is as appealing as it always is.

Fast & Furious: Legacy is a great choice for those that want a bit more than your typical drag racer, and have an affinity for the culture and attitude portrayed in the movies that have inspired its creation. If that's you, don't hesitate to go get this right now.

How are you getting on with the game? You can tell us and the rest of the PG community about your experiences by leaving a comment in the box below. Click here to learn about our free-to-play review policy.

Fast & Furious: Legacy

If you're the sort that has even a passing interest in the Fast & Furious movies, and you own a smartphone, this game was made for you
Score
Peter Willington
Peter Willington
Die hard Suda 51 fan and professed Cherry Coke addict, freelancer Peter Willington was initially set for a career in showbiz, training for half a decade to walk the boards. Realising that there's no money in acting, he decided instead to make his fortune in writing about video games. Peter never learns from his mistakes.