Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

 Deep Silver was nice enough to give us a new look at their arcade-styled off-road racing title, nail’d.  When we first got a chance to break the announcement for this new title, there was no hands on time with the title, so it was hard to get a feel as to what the gameplay would be like without hands on time.  Fortunate for us that E3 is here, and that meant hands on time with the title.  So how does nail’d hold up?  Continue below for our latest impressions.

Before getting up to the console for a few laps in nail’d, I thought I would see if we could get any more details about the game that were a bit more vague in our preview a few months ago.  First off, the stats have been boosted up quite a bit, but again, we did not get specifics on any kind of stats.  I did see a few on the splash screens, like miles travelled, highest jump, and so forth.  It looks to collect similar stats to most racing games.

Also, we now know that there will be some licensed music in the game.  In April, we only had filler track featuring a lot of Godsmack.  While we do not have the bands, we do know that there will be licensed music mixed in with some original pieces.

We now also hae word that there are 14 tracks that you can work your way through in the single player circuit mode, and that there are a number of unlockables for your character that you will get as you progress through the single player mode.  Those visual unlocks will also be used in the multiplayer component so you can brag when you unlock a rare piece of clothing or hat and show it off online.

With those items in mind, I finally got to jump into a few different tracks in nail’d and I immediately felt a sense of vertigo after the first jump, which sent me barreling off a several hundred foot cliff to the forest bed below me.  It should also be noted that I had no damage after the jump, cementing the fact that nail’d is true to its arcade style racing roots.  However you can wreck, as I did several times, by running into items on or to the side of the track, or by having other drives ram you off the road.  You can also take jumps and land on other riders, wrecking them along the way.

The racing mechanics are easy enough, with a gas trigger, brake trigger a handbrake button and of course, a boost button. nail’d never takes itself too seriously, and the racing engine takes that into account.  It does not feel floaty, but fairly smooth and responsive, and you will find yourself power sliding tight turns in no time flat.  I did find that the computer AI seemed a little rubber bandish at times, but not to the point that you can never open up a lead.  This might have also been brought about by the sheer nature of the tracks, which have several paths that can be used to complete them.

The two environments that I was able to race through were a Yosemite type mountain park, full of tall, path impeding trees and overgrown forestry.  nail’d looked to be running at a full 60 fps in this environment and it really did look good.  Not overly amazing, but very solid for a racing title, which could keep up the long draw distances due to using Techland’s proprietary engine.  This engine was used for the Call of Juarez games, and really does a great job at drawing wide open expanses, which fit perfectly into the style of racer that nail’d uses.  We also got to see a desert canyon track that offered many inviting ways to finish our laps.  At one point, I found myself using the top of a passing train as a track path, showing off one of the more unique ways to use the traffic. 

With my time with nail’d coming to a completion, I felt that the racing engine is spot on for a simple, fun to play title.  The game keeps up a solid framerate, and sets it focus on speed and easy to pick up play.  I mean there are four buttons and the directional stick needed to play the game.  It also looks like the focus might be slanted more towards multiplayer rather than the single player campaign, which is not a bad thing, but might affect some players that do not go online with nail’d.  We will have more on nail’d as we get closer to a release window in quarter 4 of 2010.