Asphalt 8: Airborne

Asphalt 8: Airborne is one of the most popular racing games on the mobile platform, with its main rivals being CSR2, Real Racing 3 and Need for Speed: No Limits. It used to be simply arcade racing fun, while it remains a decent game as of today, many features added to the game kinda spoils the fun...

Gameplay
The gameplay of Asphalt 8 is pretty simple to pick up, there are many schemes available, tilt controls, touch controls, virtual steering wheel etc. The control I use is the touch steering and its very easy to comprehend: tap a side of the screen to steer the car to the respective direction, tap the brake button and then the steering to drift the car, keep your hands of the steering and the car will stop drifting after a second.

To fire up the nitro (blue flames), simply tap the nitro button, tap the nitro button for the second time while its burning to engage level 2 nitro (yellow flames), which burns stronger but last shorter, tap it again while in lvl 2 nitro will launch lvl 3 nitro (purple flames) which is even more powerful but even less efficient. Tapping the nitro button again while the nitro bar is in the red zone will trigger the prefect nitro: as powerful as level 3 nitro but as efficient as the lvl 2 nitro.

Nitro can also be used to end drifting quickly, by pressing the nitro button while drifting. This will cause the car to head straight in the direction its currently facing.

Opponents' cars can be knocked down when you're travelling in a sufficiently higher speed than they do.

The controls may sound easy, but skills are still required to truly master the game.

Currently there're more than 200 cars and motorbikes in the game, they're divided into 5 classes, with D being the lowest and S being the highest. Some from well known brands like Ferrari, Lamborghini or Porsche. Others from more obscure brands like Sbarro, W Motors and Zenvo.

There're two in-game currencies: credits (basic) and tokens (premium).

In terms of race modes, there are in total 11: There's also an online multiplayer mode where up to 8 racers can complete in either Classic, Elimination or Infection. But most choose Classic anyway.
 * Classic: Just some good old arcade fun.
 * Unplugged: a classic race with no nitro pick-ups on the track.
 * Flawless: a classic race with the extra rule of no wrecks allowed. The most hated game mode as the extra rule doesn't apply to NPCs and finishing a race without wrecking on some tracks is easier said than done.
 * Grand Finale: the last race in a tour in a Championship special event. Just like a classic race, albeit requiring the player to launch the vehicle manually and always lasts for 2 laps.
 * Elimination: Whoever's placed last when the timer runs out will be eliminated.
 * Versus: A one-on-one race.
 * Ultimate AI Challenge: A version featured in R&D special events, this time the opponent is a blue ghost called the "Ultimate AI".
 * Ace Race: A version featured at the end of each tier in an Enduro Double Down event. This time the opponent is an orange ghost called the "Ace Racer".
 * Knockdown: Two racers compete to be the one that knocks down the most AI cars in a timed race.
 * Infected: Whoever's placed last when the timer runs out gets infected, gaining unlimited nitro and a boost in speed. An infected car has 30 seconds before experiencing an Infection Overload and explodes, collecting nitro pick ups and knocking down other racers can extend the timer. Hitting other infected cars can also get you infected.
 * Gate Drift: Drift through the gates positioned on the race tracks to earn points, the more consecutive gates you drift through the more points you'll earn. Earn the required amount of points before the timer runs out to win.

There are in total 18 locations in the game where you can race at:
 * Nevada
 * Tokyo
 * Iceland
 * French Guiana
 * London
 * Barcelona
 * Venice
 * Azure Coast
 * The Great Wall
 * Dubai
 * San Diego Harbour
 * Sector 8
 * Tenerife
 * Area 51
 * Rio de Janeiro
 * Patagonia
 * Munich Subway

Graphics
Arguably one of the best on mobile platforms, the 3D graphics are very detailed and colourful, and look especially well on high-end platforms. There're also some rather fancy special effects, for example, when engaging perfect nitro, the car's rear wheels leave behind a trail of brightly colored flames.

Music
Asphalt 8 is the first game in the series to feature a licensed soundtrack. There are in total three categories of music: Rock (8 piecess), Electronic (10 pieces) and Bass (8 pieces). Most are simply average and will get old rather quickly but there're several rather catchy pieces. There're an additional 8 songs for the menu screen.

During the Fall Out Boy update, three songs from the band were added. However, they're removed when the next update was introduced.

Effects
The sound effects are solid but best described as average. Especially the engine sounds, which are artificial and are rested frequently. Some sound pretty decent but others are mismatched and a bit awkward. For example, the Sbarro Sparta is a hybrid so why its using an electric engine sound? Also, why are the cars still upshifting even when they're running flat out? Also, when the motorcycles are first added... GOD they sound ear-bleedingly awful! Like a buzzsaw on wheels!

Reception
Asphalt 8: Airborne received critical acclaim from critics and became the leading game of its genre. The iOS version holds an aggregate score of 91 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on eighteen reviews. To this day, Asphalt 8 still has a considerably large and loyal fanbase. It is still being updated even when its sequel is on its way out. Fans' opinions on this game, however, is rather divided. Most have a love hate relationship with it as the game, while epic, still retains many flaws.
 * IGN: 7.8/10
 * 148 Apps: 4.5/5
 * AppSpy: 5/5
 * DigitalSpy: 4/5
 * ToucheArcade: 5/5
 * MacLife: 5/5
 * Pocket Gamer: 9/10
 * Gamezebo: 4.5/5

My Thoughts
Well, there's no denying that A8A is overall a fun game. What's really impressive about it is that it's not a complete Burnout rip-off and has managed to gain its own identity and is entertaining in its own way (this is a considerable feat for Gameloft as its known as the copycat of the gaming industry).

The cars in the game are also truly amazing, many of the are likely models you have never heard of before playing the game, like the HTT Pléthore LC 750, the Falcon F7 and the GTA Spano. Gameloft does a rather decent job in digging up small exotic manufacturers and adding their cars to A8A before anyone else does.

Another specialty of A8A is its low gravity world, allowing the cars to perform some impressive stunts. Sometimes the glitches may join in and you may find your car spinning around faster than the blades on a helicopter. The controls of the game are very easy to learn and you'll be able to pull off some very impressive drifts after just a couple of minutes of gameplay. the graphics only made things better and the game is pure joy to look at.

There're also many tracks set in beautiful environments with creative designs, this, combined with the multitude of cars (which will surely attract the interest of car collectors), should give the game great replay value, right?
 * First of all is the game's heavy focus on grinding. One of the reasons Steve Watts from IGN gave the game a below average score is because of the game's progression system which "required me to spend a large wad of cash on a car that might only be useful for one event". Indeed, the game wants you to have multiple cars to race instead of focusing on one car you prefer, and it didn't include the ability to rent cars from Asphalt 7. And one of the major issues of the game is how expensive everything is. A low-end car in one class may cost just a few hundred grands to max out whilst a high-end car may cost unto millions just to purchase. Even a high end D class car may cost nearly 2 million in-game credits to fully upgrade. All of this are made worse by the flowing problem:
 * How pitifully little you earn by racing. Usually, the final races of Car Mastery and the races of Season 9 are excellent chances in farming credits. After all, they last for only one lap and some races can be completed under one minute. But both circumstances demand you to max out your cars (and maybe install some PRO-kits) to participate. But the average amount you earn in these races are around 5,000-6,000. Even with the double-credits boost you can only earn around 11,000 to 12,000. Meaning that you'll still have to race for HOURS just to be able to afford a decent car. And believe me, racing the same car on the same track gets tiresome VERY QUICKLY.
 * Oh, and speaking of PRO-Kits... What's with racing game's obsession with card collecting anyway?! To upgrade an additional, tiny portion of the car's overall performance, we have to collect CARDS, goddamn parts cards, tech cards and god forbid ENGINE cards which you never seem to have enough of. And updates made things better by introducing newer rarer engine cards and motorcycle exclusive cards. How do you get those cards? Why, of course, LOOT BOXES! If things keep on going this way, the future racing games will have only cards with cars engraved on them and races happening in our imagination.
 * Additional issues: Unbalanced Cars. Multiplayer and Time-Limited-Events of the game are heavily car dependent; sure, you have to drive well and know the track inside-out to stand a chance, but if you don't have a decent car, well you can only gape the the rewards exclusive towards the Top 100. Even worse is that some cars like the Audi R8 e-tron Special Edition, when tuned to a specific performance rank, IS LITERALLY UNBEATABLE. So imagine someone just showed up with that car in an MP lobby and you're still in a car that's so last season, your chance of victory has just plummeted to naught. Another issue is, these "king" cars tend to become obsolete after just a couple of updates,
 * The ability to knockdown other racers in MP. Sure, knockdown is part of the game, but in MP it's nothing but frustrating. First there's the complete randomness of the knockdown system, and secondly, it's simply bad sportsmanship and only gives griefers an additional way to ruin your game.
 * Fake Speed: A minor issue, but some high-end cars (most notable S class cars), have inaccurate speedometers that displays a higher reading than the car's actual speed. What's the point of that? To give us players a false sense of confidence?
 * No Method to Down Tune: Certain cars are only useful in Multiplayer when they're upgraded in a specific pattern. But being unable to upgrade further means that you cannot complete the car's Mastery and Season 9 challenge. So why not add an ability to remove installed upgrades from a car for MP and reinstall them later?
 * Elite Cars: Having cars with fully adjustable performance is a decent concept. But there're tow nitpicks I have: 1) Why do they have to be "always on" to work? 2) Why they need to be maintained after every 2 or 3 races? Can't they last just a bit longer? Maybe 6 or 7 races?
 * Token Only Upgrades. Originally there're only 2 cars that have upgrades that can only be purchased with premium currencies. But a recent update added Token upgrades to more than A DOZEN cars, some of which are community favourites and cost tokens to buy to begin with! Thankfully, the playerbase's backlash was too much and Gameloft removed them. But now this be-cursed trend has returned and it seems that ever new update there's a least one car that has premium upgrades (at least the events that featured theses cars rewards you with free upgrades at times).
 * Special Events, Having hard special events is one thing (after all, challenge is good), but some of the features in theses events are clearly designed to target you wallet.
 * First, we have R&D events, these events require prototype-keys to participate. Problem? You can only have at MOST 3 keys at one time, they require 3 hours (in some events 6 hours) to be made and manufacturing won't start until ALL THREE OF THEM are used. This is made worse by the fact that some of the final challenges require multiple attempts to complete. Seriously, by what right does the key makers have to be so lazy when the test pilot is working his/her ass off? Even worst is the game's connection issue which may waste your precious keys.
 * Secondly, there's Enduro Double Down (EDD for short), the most gruelling special event ever created. As if having an expensive car to upgrade and race isn't bad enough. You have 7 other cars to use and upgrade as well! And god bless you if there're a couple of cars in the roaster that's as expensive as the main car! Even worst is how the even plays: To win the events you'll have to complete challenges earn Enduro points, you complete the challenge in tiers, completing a tier will earn you a chance to save your points: either play it safe and save, or play risky by doubling the points but not saving, or play it safe AND double by PAYING TOKENs. If you lose any of the challenges? Well, you'll loose all the points you didn't save and be thrown back to square one! Unless you pay tokens for a second chance. And the event encourages you to play dangerously because if you save enough points the game will throw in the expensive cars.
 * Finally, there's Championship. And what can I say? WE ALL LOVE CHAMPIONSHIP! Finally some manageable events with good rewards!


 * Price Changes: Asphalt 8 has became more and more unwelcoming for new players these days. The prices for basic and practical cars simply kept on growing. Recently Gameloft unveiled their most heartless move: they changed the car prices for new accounts so that some of the best cars for newbie players NOW COST TOKENS TO BUY. I suppose that Gameloft really don't care about expanding the game's playerbase anymore and only wanted to milk the game's popularity for all its worth.

Replay Value
Overall replay value is decent for this game, as there're still many special events featuring new cars, TLEs, and MP seasons to compete in.

Final Thoughts
An awesome game overall, but ridden with enough flaws to land it on a page on Crappy Games Wiki. For new players, I suggest be patient and wait for Asphalt 9.

Final Verdict

 * Gameplay: 7/10
 * (Overall a very fun and engaging game to play, but the heavy grinding and P2W nature may turn certain players off)
 * Graphics: 9/10
 * (One of the best in its genre, NO CONTEST!)
 * Music: 7.5/10
 * (Not exceptionally good but highly suiting for this game, and contains some rather catchy tunes)
 * Overall: