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Cool Graphics, Cool Idea, Poor Implementation

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: September 17, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I really wanted to love this game. I've loved the Wipeout series since the original. I love racing games, especially non-traditional ones. XG3 is deffinately a WipeOut knock-off. It has very cool graphics. It is a lot easier to drive than Wipeout so people who don't have much time to practice won't be frustrated. I like the idea of getting at least two cycles side by side and the weapons are easy to use. However, the league system they use is pretty lame. I just wasn't very motivated to want to go farther like I was in Wipeout or SSX. Also, while the controls are easy to understand, I had to re-program the pad to really play effectively. The default setup really stinks. Overall, the game just didn't captivate my attention. I suggest renting before buying on this one just to make sure it will yours.

Arcade racing doesn't get any better than this.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: August 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Extreme G-3 is perhaps the biggest surprise of the year, at least for me. After playing the first and second ones (both were only mediocre), I wasn't expecting anything spectacular from this installment on the PS2. But man, when I booted it up I was instantly hooked. It sports some truly amazing graphics, and the overall speed keeps you coming back for more. The framerate is excellent, even in two player mode, and there's plenty to unlock and discover. One of the best games of the year in my book, go buy it.

Good wipeout clone at bargain prices

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 15, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I've played Wipeout since PS1. I haven't tried Wipeout Fusion from PS2 yet but the reviews seemed to indicate that there has been little new so I decided to try this game instead- especially now that it has hit the bargain bins in most stores.

XG3 is very very similar to Wipeout.

Pros:

Good graphics compared to PS1 Wipeout. (no surprise here.)
Frame rates are very high so driving thru the more advanced tracks is quite exhilirating, once you've bought a new engine.

The tracks are quite nice but I don't think you get much of a chance to enjoy the art work otherwise you'll find yourself grinding against the side of the track.

You get to keep the weapons that you buy rather than use it for a short period of time.

Controls are responsive. Should probably reconfig the turbo and
gas controls right away to use the shoulder buttons.

Weapons are very very similar to wipeout. Machine gun, heat seeking missiles, rockets, shield enhancers, mines, ...

Cons:

You have to earn $ to be able to get different weapons. Wipeout lets you use them as you find them.

Not sure how choosing different bikers makes any difference. The manual does not say much and there is no obvious sense of it in the game.

It took me quite a bit of effort to win race 2. The hint comes at the back of the manual where it says you have to "feather" the turbo. What does that mean??? Some biker-techno-term? Turns out it means repeatedly pumping it and releasing it to get more out of your turbo. That was the only way I could catch up with the computer controlled drivers.

Music in Wipeout is much much better.

It's difficult to tell whether your weapons really helped. E.g. deploy the mines and expect to hear some kind of explosion like in Wipeout. Not in XG3. I think there is a sound but I'm not sure if it's an impact explosion.

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Overall, it is a solid Wipeout clone. If you always wanted a PS2 upgrade for your copy of Wipeout but don't want to blow 50 bucks for Wipeout Fusion, XG3 is pretty good. ...

The Unsung Hero of 2001

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 31, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Seeing as 2001 was such a huge year for gaming, it makes sense that some highly worthwhile titles would get passed over. Unfortunately, two outstanding PS2 racing games from the same company (Acclaim) suffered this fate, one being the superlative Burnout, and the other being Extreme-G 3.

I can't help but think that many gamers wrote this off as a Wipeout clone, or figured it was of the same quality as the two preceding N64 games, but that's really too bad. Yes, XG3 is in fact influenced by Wipeout, but it has enough differing elements to make it quite a worthy competitor for the title of Best Futuristic Racer. In XG3, you race some Akira-style jet-cycles around some spectacular tracks, in a mad supersonic dash to cross the finish line. What sets this game apart from other racers are the weapons/turbo/shield system, the unmatched sense of speed, and the vertigo-inducing, gorgeous circuits.

At the outset of Career Mode, your bike (which is a dead ringer for the Lightcycles from the film Tron) is outfitted with a standard cannon and shield. As you fly around the rollercoaster-like tracks, there are purple and green strips to drive over, which refill your ammunition and shields, respectively. What makes the races more strategical than most is that your shield and turbo both draw energy from the same source. Use all the energy for turbo, and you might find yourself without a shield, making you an easy target for the weapons of other bikes, and you better not hit the walls, or else. Save all the energy for your shield, and you'll find yourself in last place pretty quickly. This is a wonderful innovative touch that makes every race a constant chessmatch, albeit at 600+ miles per hour. Oh yes - use your ammo wisely, or you may find yourself on an opponent's tail with no way to take him (or her) out. I must also mention the amazing thing that happens when you break the sound barrier...but I'll leave that for you to discover yourself. The bikes handle great, but I highly recommend configuring the controls, which are completely customizable, thankfully. I remapped the turbo and fire buttons to R1 and L1 - it works perfectly and is much more comfortable.

The track designs are nothing less than beautiful, inspired, clever works that will leave your stomach in knots and your mind in awe. Whether it be the Blade Runner-esque Astradaitoshi (complete with rain effects, full moon, and neon billboards.....and at some points the skyscrapers go horizontal!), the sunset-drenched Nuon Harbor, or my personal favorite, Oceania (with a hair-raising vertical loop - we're talking straight up and straight down here - and transparent underwater tunnels), each one is a unique and detail-filled challenge. Yes, there are only ten tracks, but they're so diverse and magnificent it doesn't matter. I'd rather have ten highly polished and diverse tracks - with no slowdown, even at 1000 mph - than twice that many with repetitive or mirrored tracks.

As you progress through Career Mode, you earn credits which can then be spent to upgrade your bike, whether it be a more powerful engine, a high range of weapons (ranging from heat-seeking missiles to mines to an electro-magnetic pulse), or nifty items like an extra shield generator or an ammo or shield scoop, which enables you to gain an additional energy supply from the strips on the track. You also progress through several leagues, each with its own speed class. You end up racing the same tracks in each league, but since the speed class is upgraded each time, it's like racing them anew. There is also a time attack mode which nets you extra credits (hint: beat the lap record for each track and watch your required finishing place drop in league races). Another interesting twist is the Two-Player Career Mode, in which you and a friend work in tandem through the circuits. It's a very welcome cooperative feature. There is also a more typical two-player mode, which is just as sharp as single-player, and just as fun.

All told, there's a lot to like here. The increasing difficulty of Career Mode isn't conquered easily, and the multiplayer features add a lot of gameplay. XG3 doesn't seem to be getting quite the attention it deserves. Its sense of speed is intoxicating, its graphics unbelievable, and its fun factor immediate and sky-high. The sensation of traveling faster than the speed of sound never gets old. Next to Burnout, XG3 is the best arcade-style PS2 racer to date.

Very fun stuff.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 07, 2002
Author: Amazon User

If you trun all the lights off the in the room and stare at the screen hard while playing this game, you are sure to get head pains really quick thanks to lots of flashing lights and totally awsome graphics and game play. Is this a bad thing? I would not say so. The more races you win the higher levels up you go, but its the outside level that makes it worth playing and fun in my opinion. I am not a fan of racing games to much, but highly recommend you buy this or at least rent this. The reson this game gets 4 stars over 5 is because it is a little too short.

The Gamers Coner

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: January 07, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This is the game that you will want after you complete GT3. This game has it all fast paced racing, mind blowing weapons, and perfect graphics. I have loved the Extrene G's since they came out and this is a whole new level for them. I think that they could have put a few more levels in but hey that doesnt bother me much. There are many things that you can do during this game there is tournament and even coop tournament mode which is very cool. I would sugest this game to anyone that likes racing or even just wants to get into it. This game is not for people that have just started but hey its not going to hurt you to try. I'm out:)

motion blur.......

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: September 07, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game has te same motion blur from the bouncer. Not as intense, but it is noticable. I don't know why many PS2 games have this blur (maybe to hide its poor anti-aliasing) but it can be a little distracting. I personally liked part 2 myself. Maybe I expected to much from my PS2, or maybe the game just isn't as good as it should be and the same goes for the graphics. My advice, rent it (like I did ) and compare it to the one coming out on Gamecube in November>

Disapointment

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: March 31, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The game made me bored fast. I suggest you rent it if you want to see how it is.

Good graphic but very short game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 5
Date: March 17, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Good graphic but very short game. But what can you expect, its akklaim game.

Very extreme racing at super-high speeds

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 05, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Personally, the N64 didn't impress me at all. I bought one very late in the life of the sys - about the time the first Zelda came out. And to this day, I only own a few games for the system, and two of those are from the beloved Extreme-G series. The first installment boasted super-fast racing and colorful, smooth graphics.

The second game surprisingly was incredibly better with fast curving tracks and the implementation of an incredibly cool, if not graphically impressive, effect where if you go past the speed of sound in your speed bike, the game goes silent after a sonic boom. All music and sound effects are cut off, giving an incredibly cool effect. The only thing holding the series back was the fuzzy N64 graphics and terrible draw distance.

So, when the third came out without any hoopla or mass media advertising, I noticed it came just as the other two did for me. All of a sudden, it was there on the shelf. I immediatly picked it up and was dazzled from the minute I put the DVD in the drive.

Based around inredibly fast motorcycle-like racers with shields and armed with weapons, you race around a track at blazing speeds up to and passing 1000 mph!! The shield and weapon effects are perfect excuses for Acclaim to add tons of light and particle effects. When you hit a wall at 700 mph, your shield glows a luminescant green in the portion that it hit, slowing you down. And, at first, you will be hitting a lot of walls.

The trademark roller-coaster type tracks that go straight up, twist, and loop completely around are all included. Tight turns and drops are everywhere, and take a little getting used to, after playing a game like GT3. The draw distance is incredible; some loops you see miles away. It really has the effects of a fast rollercoaster ride through desert, city, and icy landscapes, as well as one set entirely above and below water. Acclaim really used the PS2's graphical power for this one, and it shows.

The power-up system is based on your placing in the races. Instead of the pick up in the race method of the previous installments, you have to earn money in races, just as in GT3. There are about 10 weapons and numerous upgrades to your basic engine. No refinement on your vehicle, though, it is just straightforward buying a faster engine. Weapons range from a shield absorber to a vulcan cannon, and all are quite impressivley visualized.

The music is perfect for this type of game. Fast techno beats drive you as you hit the insane speeds of the game. With big name groups and each track having it's own song, they are varied enough for even the non-techno fan.

This game is incredibly fast, with the regular amount of cheat codes as with most Acclaim games, so there is no reason not to pick this one up. The tracks are worth the price alone, and seem to whip you around like crazy. Put anyone with a queezy stomach in front of the TV for this one, and you'll regret it. This game is definitely worth the price.

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