Asphalt 8: Airborne review

Asphalt 8: Airborne is the successor to Gameloft's incredibly popular racing game, Asphalt 7: Heat. It carries on the tradition of providing an exciting racing experience on your mobile device with an added twist.

The title of the game is a pointer to the biggest change compared to its predecessor. Asphalt 8: Airborne rewards for tricks you perform while you are in the air, like doing Barrel Rolls or Flat Spin jumps. You can do Barrel Rolls by driving onto one of the many angled ramps present on the track, letting a mix of gravity and momentum do the rest. In most cases you can trust that you'll land safely, unless you really messed up the approach. Flat Spin jumps are a bit tricker to perfect, as they require you go off a ramp while drifting (braking the car at high speed while steering it), and the success or failure depends on the angle of your approach.

In Career mode, you start with a car and a pretty minimal budget, and try to earn more money by winning races and performing tricks. As you go along, you also have the opportunity to pick up stars that unlock the next racing events within the season. You can pick up to five stars at each event, with 3 based on where you finish (1 star for finishing third, 3 stars for winning the race) and two additional stars for achieving event-specific objectives like doing the specified number of Barrel Rolls, Knockdowns, Perfect Nitro Triggers etc.

Each event in a season is associated with a city. So you can be driving across the desert in Nevada in one event, and find yourself speeding through the streets of Tokyo in another. You'll go through tunnels, avoid oncoming traffic, and even discover a shortcut or two along the way. We personally liked the ability to take a different route compared to the other racers, though it does come with mixed results - sometimes you gain an edge, and at other times you end up going around in circles without getting anywhere.

source:ndtv