Fast & Furious: Adrenaline Review for iPhone

Written by: Bill Fulks • Edited by: Simon Hill
Published May 27, 2010 • Related Guides: iPod Touch | iPhone | Racing Games

A review of the new street racing game for iPhone called Fast & Furious: Adrenaline.

Fast & Furious: Adrenaline

Fast & Furious: Adrenaline is a very fun and challenging street car racing game for the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad devices. This racing game is based loosely on the Fast & Furious movies that star Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, though the game itself isn’t based on any one particular film. I thought this was a very well-done racing game.

Gameplay
Rating

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Fast & Furious: Adrenaline is a racing game, which means you drive a variety of cars along a variety of tracks. The gameplay doesn’t really offer much new material as far as racing games go, but it’s very well done for the iPhone. What’s cool about this game is that you pick various locations around Los Angeles where there are territorial wars going on between racing factions, and your job is to win and dominate the whole city. You have your basic time trials and drag racing, but there’s also a cop chase kind of race that is interesting. With 35 different cars and 8 different tracks upon which to have 5 different types of races, this is a pretty diverse game.

Another really cool feature of Fast & Furious: Adrenaline is that you can post your progress on Facebook. After each race, when you gain a level or a new car, and other achievements can be bragged about via your Facebook account.

Controls
Rating

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The control system in Fast & Furious: Adrenaline does take some time to learn, but it works pretty well. You can tilt your iPhone in order to steer, or you can use on-screen controls like a steering wheel. Using the tilt method it is more difficult to keep the car straight, but it works better for turning. The touch controls are easier to go straight because the steering wheel snaps back into place, but turning is a bit more difficult. I tend to alternate between both control methods depending on the track.

My only complaint about the control system is an annoying autoreverse feature that kicks in whenever you hit a wall and lose forward momentum. I would rather have a button or something to let me control the reverse gear, because I end up having to do a full 360 degree turn in the middle of the road after an autoreverse because the steering catches me off guard. Yeah, I know that I should not have run into a wall in the first place, but it does happen.

Graphics and Sound
Rating

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I was really impressed by the graphics in this game and how smoothly it played. I think it looks better than the original Fast & Furious iPhone game, and the cars are pretty well detailed. The tracks are laid out like your typical racing game tracks with sharp curves, ninety degree turns, minor obstacles, and so on. Like most racing games, it helps to play through the races a few times to learn the layout in order to be a better driver. You will also get to see quick cutscenes during the race when you perform a stunt like a big jump or go flying out of control. It doesn’t interfere with the gameplay at all, which is nice.

The sound effects in this game are good, though I tend to play it more often with the sound turned low so as not to disturb anyone around me. I like that it gives you the option to play music from playlists on your iPhone as race music. Being able to provide your own soundtrack is very cool, but the music keeps playing after you quit the game.

Overall
Rating

Fast & Furious: Adrenaline is a complete package when it comes to racing games on the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. It has a good range of features, great graphics, and decent controls. If you’re looking for a good racing game on iTunes, check this one out.

Fast & Furious: Adrenaline Review for iPhone

Fast & Furious: Adrenaline

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