..Ly un-optimized

Bloody hell... This game has some of the most abyssmall loading times I've ever encountered on a pc-port..

Before I start the somewhat justified bashing, I think I need to disclose some.. Important information to consider.

My Desktop computer has the highest capacity I7 in it that I could get. (3770k 3,50ghz) And it had some problems loading the game.. To work with the I7 I have a GTX760. Now I'm not sure whether or not this is because of my setup, or does the game actually have some optimization problems.. Currently I'm leaning towards the latter option.

Just so I could get a good comparison, I dug up the old bundle-copy of PURE that came with my XBOX360 way back when. I put that into the console and played it and it ran great, short loading times, much clearer hud and promps, everything.

Here's a little list of comparisons regarding the major problem with the PC-Port, the loading times:

XBOX360

-Load to title screen: 5s
-Loading to a menu: 4-5s
-Loading to a level: 10-15s
[on average]

PC-Port

-Load to title screen: 2min- 3min
-Loading back to menu: 2.30min - 3min
-Loading to a level: 2.30min – 3.30min
[on average]

To further justify the optimization argument. After I put Youtube running on my second monitor, the loading times seemed to halve.

-Loading back to menu: 40s +
-Loading to a level: 1min +

And taking a look at my taskmanager, it looked like the cpu cores worked more evenly after I put something running in the backround.

EDIT: And that CPU problems only happens with PURE, forgot to mention that before.


More things to nag about with the pc-port, are the somewhat badly done controller options.
I thought that they would have the smarts to just put the xbox-pad promps onto the screen when a pad is detected, but no.. There are no promps of the 360-pad when you play the game with one, it took me a day to figure out how to do the special-tricks. The only way i figured that out, was when I took a look at the manual of the 360-version. Which at least explained everything well..
Furthermore, there seems to be no ”show manual” option on my library page for this game.
A petty quible yes, considering you can read the list of the controls from within the game (Which does not show how to do the specials). Oh, and I just noticed that there is no mouse support. So the game only works with a keyboard, if you don't have a gamepad.

But is the game good despite the somewhat hamfisted porting? Yes, yes it is.
For a racing game it's great, although they do recycle the locations to death. There are no problems with the co ntrols, framerate or anything else. Besides the loading times. If they would take the time to do some optimization on that part the game would be more enjoyable.

The graphical style seems to be the same as on 360, the only added thing seems to be a post-processing option. The graphical quality seems to be very similiar, the only noticeable differences are with the hud and the lack of 360pad promps on the PC-port.

Urgh.... Can I recommend this game?

Yes, it is the same as on 360.
Yes, it runs great. Disregarding the loading times.
Yes, it is enjoyable.

Let's say, that I can recommend this game. If you can stomach the horrid load-times. BUT, I would only recommend it when it goes on sale. 20€ is a bit too steep of a price, it would be cheaper to go and find a second-hand copy of the 360-version and play that..

For those who need a fast fix of racing for their day, I would not recommend it untill they optimize the loading times more...


Edit:

It looks like the studio that worked on this game, has stopped being a thing. And there will be no tech support for this game. I took a short foray into PCgamingWiki and there was no page for this game.. So, i think the loading time problem will not be solved anytime soon...

PS. It would be nice if STEAM would add a "Neutral" option into the review page.. Would make writing these a bit better.

PURE was released in 2008 on PC, but same today it's still my favorite quad game. If you like motocross games this game is for you!

the game running in 1080p at 60fps. unexpected

First positive review FTW!! Decent game, but nothing new. Pre-load jump, do trick, get boost, go faster. It controls well enough with a controller. Mild customizing options but nothing special, only affects stats a little. For the $17.99 it's ok, for $10 or less is a good deal.

UPDATE: Ok, so the more I play this game the more I'm enjoying it. Definately nothing that hasn't been done before BUT this games strikes a fine balance between many racing game conventions. Going fast and hitting jumps is a blast as is handling the ATV. I bought this game because ATV racing is awesome when done right. This game nails it. Original review still stands but this games polish is continuing to shine through the small annoyances.

I haven't played much on PC (though I have it on the PS3), I'll update the review later, I just wanted to say (since others have having issues) that it works fine on Windows 8.1 for me.
Well, except for the annoyingly long loading time.
Graphic card is an AMD 5770


I'd recommend it, but not for €20, it's a 6 years old game and it shows.

It doesn't launch on my notebook with Windows 8.1 64, I7 CPU and GTX850M.

I found no fix to run it.

Don't buy it until there is a known fix for that issue...

Edit: I've found a solution, see comments...;-)

Plays well on my laptop with an i7-2630QM, Geforce GT540M and using Windows 7. It does seem like it won't work on Windows 8, so I would avoid if that's your PC's OS. Otherwise, I can highly recommend it, it's basically SSX with ATVs and it's just a lot of fun.

Not a good game by all standards including horrible load times for top end system and lack of useful manual. This is purely a bad game and bad port for reasons others have already mentioned.

well, i had it saved in my memory as a fun game... it turned out to be average after a few years passed... casual racing with the illusion of individuality, unless it comes to customization of the quad, but well... not that necessary

i would reccomend not getting this until they fix the loading screen problem because i have a gtx 780 with a i7 processer i should not be waiting as long as a console to play this. even loading the menu takes like 3 min.

but other than that i suggest you use a controller because the keyboard useless in this.

EDIT:
i seem to be getting negative reviews for my bug comment. anyways i shouldnt have to go into my files to change settings. so its a bad pc port.

BUT the game itself is excellent and fast paced i have always loved it since i had it on the xbox 360. with many custimazation options and fun arcade like physics with amazing stunts the game is a action packed product, and it delivers a excellent experince of urgency and "badass-ness".

but i still dont reccomend it until they update it.

Loading takes forever. Controls are so complicated it's hard to use a USB controller. Makes you go through a stupid tutorial before letting you race. Also, what the heck is a "preload."

This game does not work for me on Windows 8.1. I couldn't find a fix for it. Don't buy it if you use 8.1.

Um, something wrong happened with loading time, it's much longer than I remember it was. Beside that, good ol' PURE.