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Uber Racer 3D - Sandstorm

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Uber Racer 3D - Sandstorm

It's hard to imagine that if the kind of worldwide apocalypse depicted in Uber Racer 3D - Sandstorm should ever come to pass, the first thing on survivors' minds would be to jump in cars and take to the now barren wasteland for a race.

On that evidence alone, it's fair to say Mad Processor's futuristic racer isn't the most realistic around. Imagination is fun, but when you actually get behind the wheel it's a tepid affair.

Out of control

It's all down to the controls: rather than offering an option between a touch based set up and a the default accelerometer configuration, you're forced into using the latter.

This is only an issue because the handling is sensitive throughout, with only the slightest tilt required to get your car turning. Uber Racer 3D - Sandstorm is a game of narrow margins, with the tiniest mistake ruining a race before you've even had a chance to get going.

Success relies on your ability to stick to the straight and narrow and keep out of trouble. It's anything but the no-holds-barred thrill ride depicted in the screenshots.

Indeed, the only part of Uber Racer 3D - Sandstorm that lives up to such a billing are the courses. Decorated with obstacles aplenty, the tracks encourage you to put the pedal to the floor and speed ahead with wild abandon.

Collision course

While collisions are inevitable - your fellow racers often nudging you into harm's way should you manage to avoid it on your own - Uber Racer 3D - Sandstorm is unforgiving when it comes to controlling the mayhem.

The smallest clip sends your car spinning or, worse, causes you to smash straight into a wall and explode on impact. There's no reprieve, either. Should your car meet its maker, the race is brought to a close.

Catching up with your fellow racers, even though they're just as capable of making mistakes, is frustratingly difficult because the smallest of mistakes is a game-breaker.

Most frustrating of all are the cases where you've kept your race in order and taken to the front of the pack only to have the pack right on your tail, all too willing to instigate a collision that sends you flying.

This would be fine if Uber Racer 3D - Sandstorm employed a rubber band system to aid comebacks when things go awry: however, no such setup exists and races are all too often ruined without due cause.

Bad to be good

On the flip side, first place finishes feel like true triumphs, even if they rely on pulling off clinically perfect runs devoid of the thrills and spills that occur when you hang out at the back of the pack.

Uber Racer 3D - Sandstorm tenders an odd ultimatum: either fall flat on your face and enjoy the few short seconds of carnage that results before you're wiped from play, or you pull off a win, pick up the points needed to upgrade your car for the next race, but ultimately get bored before you even start it.

Despite its smooth graphics and genuinely interesting courses, Uber Racer 3D - Sandstorm plays like a game that's not exactly comfortable in it own skin. It doesn't help that multiplayer is lacking and Game Center or OpenFeint integration is nowhere to be found.

Wild, yet also weak, fast with a touch frustration, this awkward little racer makes sense in only one respect – its gameplay is actually just as peculiar as the dystopian world in which it's set.

Uber Racer 3D - Sandstorm

Promising much but ultimately never finding its rhythm, Uber Race 3D - Sandstorm lacks the cohesion to really pull off a thrill fest
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Keith Andrew
Keith Andrew
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font. He's also Pocket Gamer's resident football gaming expert and, thanks to his work on PG.biz, monitors the market share of all mobile OSes on a daily basis.