Pure's a blast from start to finish

Pure isn't just expansive...it's beautiful, too. The lighting's exquisite throughout, especially when diffused or shredded by a canopy of trees, and the game's chock-full of impressive visual details such as swaying grass, functioning suspension systems, steaming exhaust pipes, and photo-realistic, fully deformable track surfaces. Cameras flash as you whiz by, birds fly, puddles and ponds splash, and the air often darkens with dust clouds and loose pebbles. But what distinguishes the game from its competition isn't just the pretty graphics -- it's the concept. In Pure, you need to be first to the finish line. And to do so, you'll need to apply a few turbo boosts as you ride. Yet the only way to accumulate said turbo is by successfully completing tricks and stunts while you race. Thusly, the game forces you to be both a great rider and an accomplished aerialist. You're limited at the outset of each event to "easy" tricks (A button, left stick). However, once you pull a few of those, your turbo builds enough that you're permitted intermediate tricks (B button, left stick), and finally advanced (Y button, left stick) and special tricks. The fancier the trick, the more turbo you get. More turbo equals better tricks; better tricks equals more turbo. One feeds the other, and the whole idea works quite nicely.

9/10