Description Get ready to bury the world’s most renowned cars when you race against them with your own brand of sports car. Start off with a small garage, create the ultimate driving machine and go into business as the up and coming sports car manufacturer. Your goal is to build up a reputation for your brand by racing your cars against real sports cars. The more races you win, the more pedigree your brand will receive. If you consistently win the races, you are put to the challenge to start a production line, sell your cars, design new ones, and continue the cycle.
Summary: Apex is a mid-range title. While I can't recommend buying it at the release price of $50, now that the price has dropped to just $20 it might be something you'll want to pick up. There are a decent enough quantity of races (as well as the occasional one-on-one 'challenge' events) so you'll get a good value for your money. It has some nice graphics, a good selection of fun tracks and a nice selection of cars. But it also has a game-stopping bug that you must be prepared to work around, and, as the other reviewers have pointed out, a one-dimensional "rubber band" AI. Another problem is that better racing titles also share space in the discount bin with Apex: namely Mercedes Benz: World Racing and Rallisport Challenge (and Colin McRae 4 is due in March '04 for 19.99 as well). I guess my two cents are that the developers had something good in mind with Apex, but somewhere along the way too many compromises were made and the end result is was game with a lot of unfulfilled promise.
Rating Reviewed by: BoxJock Steve Frye(Unregistered User)
Review Date July 11, 2003
Overall Rating 5 of 5
Review NaN of 22
, from Phila.Pa
Price Paid:
$50.00
from EB games
Summary: At first when I bought this game I didn't like it at all. In fact I thought it sucked. The A.I. was way too aggressive and I would never be able to unlock the good cars and tracks. I resolved myself to keeping it and waiting to see if cheat codes would become available for Apex. Well, this happens to be a title that cheats were most needed and indeed they have arrived. Now I absolutely love this driving game! The cars are awsome and if you pick your color right, the cars look real, especially in the replay. (which has several camera options). I also like Apex because it allows you to use the D pad for steering. I hate using the left thumbstick to steer, it just doesn't feel right. (like that Need for Speed dud) Actually this Apex blows me away. The reflections on the cars actually matches the environment as you sail by. The handleing physics are spot on! Each car has it's own sound and they sound great. The cars have realistic body roll and are amazing. The people who put this together really deserve alot of credit. This took great effort to achieve. I just hate to see this game end up on the scrap game pile because of the games tough A.I. Crank down the difficulty level to easy and get the cheats and you will have a blast with this. Some of the tracks are tougher than others and you won't come in first every time, but you will experience bumper to bumper racing at it's best. I hesitate to call Apex the best racing game available because I haven't played them all, most but not all. If this isn't the best, somebody please tell me what is because I want to play it. I can't imagine better than this. Apex ROCKS!
There is no free roam, however one of the mountain courses is 7.5 miles long and others everywhere in between. The courses are also layed out wonderfully as well. There are tracks here to suit everyone. The tracks are fantastic in Apex.
This is a smooth running game also. No draw in, nor popups. The road surfaces are a sight to behold. The road looks like you could almost touch it, the textures are so detailed. Simply stunning. I guess you can tell I'm impressed. No need to BooHoo the Xbox not having a killer driving game.....this is it. As good as this looks, I can't wait to see the next gen. consoles. I cut my teeth on the Commodore 64 and Vic 20. I'm looking thru my collection right now to see if I have anything that looks as good as Apex and out of 30+ Xbox titles I can't think of one. I'm picky about GRAPHICS and how a car behaves. Does it look real? Does it handle real? Apex wins on both counts. My first console driving game was Driver and since then I've been hooked on driving games. Apex is the only driver I play anymore.
I almost traded this game away. Now that the cheats are available, boy am I glad I didn't. Don't get frustrated in the dream mode trying to unlock stuff. Get the codes get the cars and tracks and experience this very fine game!!!
Summary: This game has such great potential, but falls a little short in the realism catagory. Graphics are stunning, fun factor is very high. The game is not too easy, but not too hard, though I'll agree, the rubber banding needs work. Fun game, rent it first. If you like it than, buy it!
Summary: There is no designing your own car. You have a choice of 4 cars which are pre designed. Very misleading from the advertisement on the cover. Watch for the freeze glitches! I was so looking forward to purchasing this game! Great graphics and feel, but once I got it home, it really let me down.
Summary: Really cheesy rubber band AI......ruins the entire game. Nothing else matters, but taking the last two turns better than the other 5 cars.........all of the rest of the race, each lap, is a complete waste of time. You can ull away by a straightaway in length, but if you don't perfectly nail that last corner, you lose.
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