Kinetica illustrates the point that you need more than speed and flashy graphics to make a good high-speed racing game. Sure the racing here is fast but design issues quickly turn it into a wreck of a title. Like the Wipeout and Extreme G games Kinetica features futuristic car designs a bumping techno soundtrack and racetracks that defy the laws of physics and logic. In the world of Kinetica you dont merely race in cars you become a car. You race wearing one of several special suits that feature souped-up wheels and engines and choose from a variety of drivers. Each combination of suit and driver performs differently and withstands varying amounts of damage. In order to finish in a decent place your racer must locate power-ups and perform stunts in the air and on the ground. Successfully completing a stunt will increase your speed boosts. Its just as important for you to learn the many alternate routes each track offers. Every other racer is out to get you and will try to smash or disable you in a variety of ways. Once racing begins Kinetica crashes and burns. The racing is blindingly fast which makes it very hard to concentrate on performing the trickier stunts. Often you cant see far into the distance which leads to frequent crashes into walls and other obstacles. You can easily fall completely off a track because of the overly frantic action. The awkward track design and the number of challenges you face each moment severely limits the fun factor for players. The game also experiences some occasionally drastic slowdowns when more than two racers are onscreen at once. Kineticas original gameplay ideas should have stayed in the shop for more fine tuning. --Mark Brooks Pros Blazingly fast driving action Stunts and wild tracks Cons A little too much action to concentrate on attaining objectives Poor v