Apex

by Apex by Atari, Inc. for Xbox

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005BYKH
• Item Weight: 5 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: February 25, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,886 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Product Description

Racing games are typically sorted into one of two categories: simulation racers (such as Gran Turismo) or arcade racers (such as Ridge Racer). Apex could easily fit into both categories. It breaks so many traditional driving game rules that it almost qualifies as its own genre.

Unlike most racing games Apex has elements of role playing game progression: your in-game persona improves as you achieve success on the track. At the start of the game players will find themselves in charge of a dinky garage manned by a generic stubbly-faced mechanic. Successful performance in a race will drive "sales" of whatever type of car you're racing; this has two big effects. First, you'll notice your garage gradually transform from a two-man shack to a large assembly facility staffed by a variety of new personalities. Second, sales points can be saved and spent on research and development of new, high-performance cars. The races themselves progress in a fairly standard manner, with a series of cups and circuits that unlock new cups and circuits as you complete them. Completion of races in the single player "Dream Mode" will unlock cars and tracks for use in the multi player "Arcade Mode."

Graphically Apex is everything you'd expect out of a modern Xbox game, with pixel shading and reflective surfaces to spare. One of the highlights of the game is the incredibly well done race environments. They're consistently life-like and just plain fun to drive. If the game suffers in any one area it's the controls, which manage to be neither as realistic as a racing sim nor as simple as an arcade racer. It's a strange mix between the two genres and takes some getting used to, and there are a few aspects of the physics of racing (like taking hairpin corners or making contact with other cars) that just feels wrong. While Apex has definitely earned descriptions like "great", "fun", and "unique", a few minor flaws keep it from words like "amazing" and "must have."--Jon "Safety Monkey" Grover

Pros:

• Excellent Graphics
• Racing environments are simply a lot of fun to drive through
• Interesting new RPG elements like sales and development

Cons:

• Controls feel a little awkward
• Very few cars and tracks initially available in multiplayer

Product Description

Racing games are typically sorted into one of two categories: simulation racers (such as <I>Gran Turismo</I>) or arcade racers (such as <I>Ridge Racer</I>). <I>Apex</I> could easily fit into both categories. It breaks so many traditional driving game rules that it almost qualifies as its own genre. <p> Unlike most racing games <I>Apex</I> has elements of role playing game progression: your in-game persona improves as you achieve success on the track. At the start of the game players will find themselves in charge of a dinky garage manned by a generic stubbly-faced mechanic. Successful performance in a race will drive "sales" of whatever type of car you're racing; this has two big effects. First, you'll notice your garage gradually transform from a two-man shack to a large assembly facility staffed by a variety of new personalities. Second, sales points can be saved and spent on research and development of new, high-performance cars. The races themselves progress in a fairly standard manner, with a series of cups and circuits that unlock new cups and circuits as you complete them. Completion of races in the single player "Dream Mode" will unlock cars and tracks for use in the multi player "Arcade Mode." <p> Graphically <I>Apex</I> is everything you'd expect out of a modern Xbox game, with pixel shading and reflective surfaces to spare. One of the highlights of the game is the incredibly well done race environments. They're consistently life-like and just plain fun to drive. If the game suffers in any one area it's the controls, which manage to be neither as realistic as a racing sim nor as simple as an arcade racer. It's a strange mix between the two genres and takes some getting used to, and there are a few aspects of the physics of racing (like taking hairpin corners or making contact with other cars) that just feels wrong. While

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars really bad in some ways, really good in others, February 25, 2003

By 

Sandy Park (Manhasset, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Apex (Video Game)

i got this game as soon as i could because ive been closely following its development since i first heard about it two months ago. seeing screenshots and reading the previews only brought images of grand turismo and my favorite of all racing games, tokyo extreme racer zero.

the game is beautiful. the courses are gorgeous. the cars are realistic. blah blah blah, youve heard it before and you will hear it again.

the gameplay? its very fun and challenging. Apex, however, is by no means a driving sim. true, the engine sounds are very close to their real world counterparts, and the licensed cars are meticulously cloned, but the driving is very biased, and elementary. but its very fun. imagine ridge racer with grand turismos looks. this is something that will split gamers opinions.

Apex, does have one big, and nearly fatal flaw. its AI. its the one AI in the playground that doesnt play well with others --that means you. ive played the game for 15+ hours now and i gotta say, getting started was extremely tough and the AI can become nausiatingly frustrating. if you show signs that youll ever have to attend anger management classes, consider Apex a rental first...youll save yourself a lot of money, because i was on the verge of throwing my xbox out the window. first of all, the CPU will never spin out. NO MATTER WHAT, THE CPU WILL NEVER EVER SPIN OUT. you may be able to get in front of a car and pin him against something else, but that almost never happens. second, if youre trailing, either the car in front of you will use his nitrous oxide tanks (which you dont get as far as i know) and will leave you in its rear view mirror, or get right in front of you to make passing very difficult. dont think of making the slightest mistake like a late breaking manuver, or the cars you thought were 4 seconds behind you will come out of nowhere (whoever was in charge of creating the AI should me smacked)

the music is boring and forgetable...some sort of generic, ambient, jazz techno...i dont know. but the sound effects are a lot better. their what youd expect, which is good engine noise.

despite Apex's AI with a god complex, you cant deny the unique gameplay, or its enthralling nature. from the start i was immersed and couldnt get enough. you get to name your company and choose a logo for it. the characters you hire for your production company are all charasmatic and quirky (as charasmatic and quirky as game characters get).

personally, i think rallisport challenge is the ultimate xbox driving game. the graphics are very detailed, and even ambiant at times (but you knew this). and the gameplay is a lot better. but what apex has that rallisport doesn't, is a very personal element that more than makes up for the things it falls short on.

oh yea, this game would have been rad with xbox live support.

** i recommend this game to anyone, even non racing fans, but if you are at all easily irritated, rent first**

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars So near greatness but gets lapped to average, March 20, 2003

By 

Aaron Newlands "Sithgod" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apex (Video Game)

When I first loaded this game it looked great. The graphics are extremly good. The feeling of speed is there and both the tracks and cars are very detail. it works alot to drag you into feeling like racing.

It has a really great feature. You get this run down metal shack. As you win races and do well this building changes. Constant upgrades and soon you can have a complex. That coupled with personalities within. The builder, the designer, the pretty secretary and sales all goes towards adding that something extra. The cars themselves have 3 levels with the end one fully decked out in racing colors. you get to chose which cars are built. This made the game immensly fun.

But where it really counts the game falls short. The racing. Yes the speed is there. But I found it very hard to win races and I am not a bad racer. The other cars do not spin out and anytime you connect with them they will get the better of it. You can hit thier front bumper with your rear and they will slide infront. It can be extremly hard to catch the leaders and you will always start in last place and have to race through the field.

I like to race clean. I like to race and not have to bang off other cars. But that is not possible in this game. I found more often than not that the only way to get in front was to wait till they were braking at a slow corner and ram them to brake.

For all the good of this game it just keeps falling short. A tragedy really as this game was so close to being the most fun I have had in a car game since Gran Turismo 1.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could have been GREAT, February 25, 2003

By 

DigitalMan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Apex (Video Game)

Apex definitely has a lot going for it: excellent racetracks, stunning graphics, great car control, custom soundtracks and cheesy-but-fun characters to "interact" with.

But--and this is a big one--even though the game *looks* very realistic, the gameplay is not. Not at all. Specifically, the game is constantly adjusting the other cars based on *your* performance. If you wreck badly and travel the wrong way, you can easily (very easily) turn around and catch right back up with the pack. As soon as you catch up to them, they start moving faster again.

That by itself might not be too bad, but the opposite thing happens, too. If you work your way into first place, the other cars will virtually always remain right on your tail--no matter what you do. The computer *adjusts* them to make sure they are right behind you. If you edge onto the shoulder for just a moment, expect to be passed by one car. If you get all 4 tires off the track, expect to be passed by at least a couple of cars.

So, the cars you are racing perform, not based on their stats or characteristics, but on *your* performance. Essentially, having a superb 3rd lap will guarantee that you will be passed lap 4, even if you are near perfect. The incentive--don't do *too* well until the last lap.

In most races, there ends up being less than one second difference in the top three spots. No doubt the designers thought this approach would make the game competive for all skill levels. And no doubt they thought it would make the game more exciting to always have the cars so close. But, really, it's more like being punished for doing well. (Lightly graze your bumper on the final turn... expect to fall into 3rd, 4th or 5th place.)

They have this disclaimer when the game starts: "Results of the game will only reflect the ability of the player." Why would they feel the need to say that?

The only time I was ever able to pull more than a few car lengths ahead was at the end of the Roadster level. On the track with the very long straight-ways, I was able to get significantly ahead. (My car's top speed was then apparently greater than the top speed of all others.)

For the record, I've played through Project Gotham *twice* and I've got over 260,000 Kudos. I breezed through Sega GT 2002 in a couple of days. I think I've got reasonable "ability". Sorry Apex, close but no cigar.

Ok, I'm done. :-)