“We searched the world for places like this – beautiful, rugged, epic …”

The best of the best are on hand to compete in the Pure World Tour, or so the opening sequences would have you believe. Disney Interactive and Black Rock Studios are behind Pure, an ATV racing game that incorporates some slick tracks, high-flying stunts and solid entertainment factors.

The game begins with five objectives that have to be accomplished in order to advance to the main game. They begin innocuously enough with a lap of a course, then moves into preloading for jumps (pull down on the left thumbstick), nailing the jumps for big air (flick the thumbstick up), adding a trick (the hot keys) and then end with a timed run through the course in which you have to use the preloads, the jumps and the boost. From there you advance to the main menu which has several options – world tour, single event, trial mode, online play, garage and leaderboards.

Where Pure distinguishes itself, though, is in the frenetic pacing of the races and the huge air players will grab as they fly over courses, performing aerial acrobatics and stunts. The latter really takes some time to get used to.

Yes, the game has rag-doll physics that will have you grimacing – not in the Tony Hawk kind of face-grinding-against-pavement way – but what is the most impressive are the vistas you see once you hit a huge jump. The words “total insanity” come to mind when you first see the height of the jump, spot the distant speck that is the landing zone and then start to perform stunts while, hopefully, lining up the landing. Hit the jumps right and you can soar to the front of the pack.

The course allows for multiple lines to the same objectives. You might decide to take the lower road through some tight turns, or opt to hit the boost, roar up an incline and grab air to soar over the pack. There is a lot of flexibility in this title.

You begin by selecting your game mode and then the racer that will represent you. The star of the modes package is the World Tour, which is a single-player event that spans 10 stages and several (up to seven) event styles that encompass sprint, race and freestyle racing. The racer, which can be either male or female, is just an aesthetic prop for the real star – the ATV. You can build your machine from the ground up or, if you don’t care for that aspect, let the game AI quick build one for you and then tweak it. Your ATV will be classified (four classes in this game – A, B, C, and D), and then put into your garage for use. When you select a race, you can choose the right ATV for the course. Some may require speed while others will require handling. It’s simple, but it is a little deeper than that.

Then comes the actual racing. The game does feature online multiplayer, like the Freeride mode that challenges players to race against a clock to score the most points in different areas. 

The trick system is one of the stars of this title and is a tiered system. You begin with Level 1 tricks and if you land enough of them, you open up Level 2 tricks, and eventually can get to Level 3 tricks. To pull off the tricks, you get air, hit a face button and then move the left thumbstick in a direction to perform the way you wish the trick to look. Pulling out of the trick and moving the left thumbstick back into position to land the ATV is very important. A crash and you can drop from fourth to ninth in a heartbeat. And each trick is graded. Pull off the same one too many times and you might get a “stale” rejoinder.

Black Rock Studios comes by its racing credentials honestly. The company was formerly known as Climax and developed such titles as ATV Off-road Fury 3 and the MotoGP series. Disney bought the company and the name was changed. So the credentials are there and they shine in this game.

When it comes to the graphics, Pure is solid. There are 12 locations, from around the world, and the environmental elements are very well done. The sound is much like you would imagine – lots of revving engine noises.

The control scheme is truly terrific. Pure is a simple game to control … well, from the controller standpoint. The tracks present challenges and you will find yourself sliding around corners or needing to line up your path through muck and puddles to maintain your line without sliding out of control.

It could be said that Pure is an arcade racer, and in some regards, that would be accurate. Single-player is the focus but you will find the game does have legs in that you will re-race to notch those wins, even as the difficulty ramps up, in order to win parts and rider accessories and truly trick out your ATV.

This game is really a lot of fun to play.

Gameplay: 8.8
The controls are easy to pick up and use. The tracks may take a few spins around to get familiar with them, but once you learn the nuances of the different lines, you will be flying to the front in no time.  

Graphics: 8.7
The vistas are terrific when you hit the apex of a huge jump. The environments are very well done.

Sound: 8.4
Decent musical score, and lots of revving engines – it was all expected.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 8.9
ATV meets insanity in great world locations. This game is big on fun, small on multiplayer, but still very entertaining.

Multiplayer: 8.2
Not as robust as it could have been, but the online mode is a nice touch.   

Overall: 8.8
Pure fun, Pure entertainment, Pure eye candy – that’s what you get with this title. The game does have some small failings, but nothing totally worth mentioning. What is compelling about this title are the tracks, the air and the way the terrain will affect your ATV. This is great fun.