Extreme Road Trip 2 review

Extreme Road Trip 2 is a new Facebook game from Roofdog Games. It's currently highlighted in the "New Games" section of Facebook's App Center, and is also available for iOS and Android-based devices via the App Store and Google Play respectively. This review is based on the Facebook incarnation of the game. Extreme Road Trip 2 is a combination of two popular casual game genres: the endless runner and the physics-based stunt racer. Players take control of an out-of-control vehicle and must try and survive for as long as possible over an increasingly-unduluating course littered with various obstacles, coins to collect and landmines that fling their vehicle into the air. Controlling the vehicle is a simple matter of using the left and right arrow keys on the keyboard to spin it when it is in the air, and ensuring the car lands the right way up when it hits the ground. The speed at which the car hits the ground is not important -- so long as it is still wheels-down when it lands, it will continue driving. Particularly accurate landings will reward the player with a speed boost. Progression through the game is measured in several ways. Firstly, there is an experience level system, whereby the player earns experience points after each run. Leveling up rewards the player with some crates to break, which will contain two rewards including soft currency, hard currency and/or powerups. There is also a Jetpack Joyride-style "mission" system in place, whereby players earn stars for completing specific objectives. Earning five stars also rewards the player with two crates, just like leveling up. Each of the vehicles in the game -- of which there are 36 to choose from, though 24 of these may only be unlocked with hard currency -- has its own set of missions to complete, so there is a considerable amount of longevity in the overall metagame if players find themselves enjoying the base mechanics. Soft and hard currency can be spent either on unlocking new vehicles or purchasing powerups. Packs of specific powerups may be purchased using hard currency, while crates that contain mystery powerups may be purchased using soft currency. For some inexplicable reason, it is not currently possible to purchase additional currency when playing on the Facebook platform, which means a significant amount of the game's content is completely inaccessible if the user does not also have a smartphone on which to play it and make in-app purchases. While a significant proportion of the game's audience is almost certainly from smartphone players, it's neither fair nor wise to exclude Facebook players from the option to monetize -- particularly when the only way to access some of the game's content is through hard currency. This issue aside, Extreme Road Trip 2 is a good, simple, fun game. Its Unity-powered graphics look good and include some impressive special effects, while its background music, composed by prolific video game composer Jimmy Hinson, is both catchy and fitting for the on-screen action. It's a solid game -- particularly on smartphone -- and looks set to enjoy some success, at least in the short term. The developer should prioritize getting Facebook monetization implemented before initial interest fades. Extreme Road Trip 2 is currently ranked in the 100,000+ MAU tier with a rank of 660, and the 50,000+ DAU tier with a rank of 738. Follow its progress with AppData, our tracking service for social games and developers. Play A fun endless runner/stunts game that needs to implement monetization in its Facebook incarnation as a priority.

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Extreme Road Trip 2 review

Pete Davison

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Pete Davison