Nail'd PlayStation 3

Nail'd Product Details

Released on 02/02/2011

• Nail'd Preview

  Nail it

  There are two ways you can approach making a new racing game. You can build a simulation, putting all your effort into attention to detail and obsessing for years over whether a car's wheels look exactly right, or whether its engine sounds perfectly realistic. Alternatively, you can go crazy - sticking your tongue out at realism and instead aiming to make something fast, explosive, fun and ultimately very, very silly.

  Nail'd wears its heart on its sleeve in this regard - it's a silly name for a very silly game. That's not really a criticism, though. This is a racing game that sets out to do nothing but provide sheer fun from start to finish - and if that means regularly ignoring the laws of physics in favour of spectacular set-pieces and bone-shaking crashes, then so be it.

  Like the PS3 hit Motorstorm, to which it bears more than a passing resemblance, Nail'd allows you to pick from a selection of flimsy-looking ATVs - off-road vehicles which look about as safe as a dinner date with a black widow spider - and then sends you hurtling around a dirty, treacherous track at breakneck speeds.

  Going Off-Road

  The finished game will feature four different "zones", according to the developer - only two of which are available in the current version, a Mediterranean-style European zone and an American zone which looks like a cross between Yosemite National Park and the Grand Canyon. Each zone includes multiple tracks, so there'll be plenty of different circuits to get your teeth into.

  What's more, these aren't your ordinary racing circuits! Each one is absolutely huge, with a lap taking several minutes to complete despite the ridiculous speed of your ATV - and there are multiple routes and shortcuts to take through the track, so it'll take you a long time to learn the secrets of each one.

  The circuits also differ from normal race tracks in that they're absolutely stuffed with over-the-top features and set pieces. On one track, you'll find yourself being launched off the top of a cliff, and having to land on an airport runway - while veering out of the path of a jumbo jet that's taking off. A few minutes later, you might be dodging spinning blades in the middle of a busy sawmill, or hitching a brief lift on the top of an express train whose tracks meander across the racetrack.

  Speed Kills

  It's a pretty straightforward kind of game - althouine-tuning your ride. However, there's always something to see in Nail'd, and nothing outstays its welcome - it all whips by at such a speed that you'll wonder if you actually just saw that, or if you're finally going a bit mental. It all looks good, too, running on a new graphics engine which provides solid visuals and a nice, smooth framerate. Developer Techland was last seen working on Western themed first-person-shooter Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, but they have previous form with gh there are customisation options for your vehicles, it's really all about high-speed racing to a hard rock soundtrack, not frally titles, and that experience has clearly been brought to bear on Nail'd.

  Full details of the game's multiplayer modes have yet to be announced, but they'll undoubtedly be a big part of the experience, given that the game's name refers to "nailing" your opponents by slamming them into the scenery as you whizz past. Each track offers a host of different ways to cause problems for your foes, ranging from walls to push them into to burning rings in mid-air which refill your boost bar if you manage to hit them, so this is undoubtedly a game which will keep the competitive spirit alive on Xbox Live or PlayStation Network.

  Although the game has several months of development remaining, it's already looking pretty good, with solid gameplay backed up with good graphics and a smooth framerate. We're seriously looking forward to getting to see more zones and tracks as the game heads towards its release, not to mention trying out the multiplayer.

  Fire up your engines, ladies and gentlemen!

• Nail'd release date nail'd down

  Nail'd release date nail'd down

  
  Good news for fans of things with wheels: Deep Silver has announced that its forthcoming arcade racer Nail'd will be hitting the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on 4th February next year.

  Nail'd is a racer in the spirit of games like quad-biker Pure - it's over the top and pretty insane, in other words. "It's bigger, faster, higher, and longer than any game has ever gone before!" according to the press blurb, and you'll be spinning your way through tracks inspired by mountainous wonderlands like Yosemite and the Andes.

  Expect plenty of hazards along the way, including spinning saws, helicopters, boulders and crazily high jumps. "Nail'd delivers an arcade racing experience that brings back the fun and purity of going as fast as possible on tracks that couldn't be ridden on in real-life," says Deep Silver's Jon Schutts. "Based on the response we've had from gamers and journalists, we know that Nail'd has that indefinable magic that keeps people coming back for more. Even those who've described themselves as not being fans of the racing genre have told us they love this game."

  One to look out for next year, then.
  

• Nail'd Review

  Flight risk

  It’s around the time your MTX bike’s front wheel brushes past a hot-air balloon on its way down from a 200-foot drop that you realise Nail’d has no truck with reality. Yet the high silliness factor of this off-road racer is one of its biggest strengths, setting it apart from its muddy authenticity of its peers.

  
  

  Firstly, you’ll need to select either a bike or an ATV quad to compete. In truth, your choice makes little difference to the handling. Bikes can pull off wheelies more easily, but they’re more susceptible to being barged off the track. But whichever you pick you’ll soon be drifting around corners with the greatest of ease, skidding impossibly with perfect traction no matter the surface or your vehicle’s speed.

  
  

  You’ll be thankful of the ease of control, though, because the tracks in Nail’d are hazardous to the extreme. Some tracks have more trees than Endor, while every ramp sends you soaring into the sky, making your stomach turn somersaults as you plummet at high speed towards the ground. You’ll soon be racing past the whirling metal blades of a sawmill and holding onto your helmet as a Jumbo Jet comes in to land on the airstrip you’re haring across.

  
  

  Boost binge

  
  

  The pace never lets up, especially with your boost meter being so easy to refill. Injuring rivals, landing big jumps, and zipping between riskily positioned fire gates are just three of the many ways juice up. Trigger a turbo and the colourful backgrounds fade as the pace accelerates from ‘fast’ to ‘insane’.

  
  Even at breakneck speed, those ultra-responsive controls ensure that most crashes are still the player’s fault, but occasionally you’ll smash into something you couldn’t possibly have seen without a sixth sense. Sometimes you might make a perfect landing only for the game to tell you you’re out of bounds, the invisible walls occasionally a bit too close to the track for comfort. Resets are swift, though, and the game is generous to a fault when placing you back on track, sometimes even moving you forward a few places.

  
  

  This does mean that the game can feel easy, but then Easy is the default difficulty setting. Push it up to Normal or above and you’ll find Nail’d much more of a challenge. Or you can just enjoy the undeniable thrill of zipping through some exceptionally pretty and colourful environments.

  
  

  Skid off the edge of a mountain and you’ll see the track stretching off into the horizon below you; off-roading has never felt quite so epic.

  
  

  Instant zip

  
  

  There had to be a trade-off, though, and it’s the game’s depth that suffers. By making Nail’d so accessible, developer Techland (of Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood fame) has sacrificed long-term fun at the altar of immediate thrills. After the first few hours you might wish you had the ability to pull off mid-air stunts, or for the game to throw in a few unique challenges, but the lack of variety begins to bite.

  
  

  That said, it’s only really an issue if you’re riding solo. Take the game online, and you’ll find Nail’d’s knockabout racing translates incredibly well to multiplayer.

  
  

  Even for the lone player, there’s plenty to recommend here. The races are fun, the pace breathless and the views spectacular. You might never quite recapture that thrill of the first few events, and the exhilaration of racing into the path of a train dulls at the third or fourth time of asking, but Nail’d is worth experiencing for that initial giddying high. And if you’re the kind of player that loves the buzz of competition, then the online modes will keep you hooked for weeks to come. 

  
  

  Our Rating: 7

  
  

  NAIL’D

  + Stunning environments.
  + Blistering speed.
  + Fun arcade-style handling.

  
  

  FAIL’D

  - Repetitive tournaments
  - Lack of event types.
  - Erratic AI.

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