I’m purchasing an Xbox Live Indie Game every day, seeking out the quality titles that got lost in the shuffle and no longer appear in the top 50 downloads. Today is day #107, and today’s game is “Halfbrick Rocket Racing”.
Halfbrick Rocket Racing was the third XBL Indie Game released by Halfbrick. Of the two previous games, I liked “Halfbrick Blast Off” and I really liked the innovative “Halfbrick Echoes”. Halfbrick Rocket Racing (sometimes abbreviated to “HRR”) is utterly different than the previous two, and I like it when a developer proves their versatility like this.
First, from the developer:
“Experience intense speed and intuitive control with Halfbrick Rocket Racing! Use the two triggers to fire up rockets on either side of your craft, and simply alternate power to drift, slide and grind your way around over 40 tracks! With four-player racing and global leaderboards, Halfbrick Rocket Racing is packed with action.”
As the description suggests, the game has you using the two analogue triggers to control rockets on each side of your racer. Slam them both down and you’ll shoot straight forward, but press one a little more than the other and you’ll lean towards the side you’re pulling less. Those of us lucky enough to have haunted arcades in the late ’70s and early ’80s may recall classic tank combat arcade games where you had to control each tread independently, so the control scheme came fairly naturally to me. I think some people are going to find it takes some getting used to, but with practice I think people will find this gives them more deft control than an analogue stick will.
With over 40 tracks, local multiplayer for when you have friends over, global leaderboards, and unique control that (when you’re used to them) offer the promise of powerfully accurate controls, this game offers a lot for 240 Microsoft Points.
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