For the sake of entertainment, this review shall be read in the voice of Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson.

Ignite.  The title of this game pretty much says it all.  Produced by Nemesys Games, Ignite brings back certain nostalgia for the uncontrolled speed and recklessness lost on the more popular racing franchises, namely Need for Speed and Forza.  It is truly a game you can just sit down and play, not having to worry about complex controls and car adjustments to maximize your racing ability.  It is a feast of speed, covered in generous helpings of NOS gravy and garnished with ample amounts of drifting and destruction.  (Ok, yes I made it analogous to a thanksgiving meal.  Turkey day is almost upon us, sue me!)

The graphics and sounds are pretty impressive taking into account that this game is meant to be an arcade-like racer to begin with.  The cars themselves, while not ‘actual’ cars, closely emulate existing models, bringing a touch of reality to this otherwise fanciful game.  Track variety isn’t bad either; they range from an urban setup to parks and mining areas (though always on a pavement surface).  Top it all off with customizable sky features and a detailed backdrop and you have got yourself a visually pleasing game as you drift, draft and drive through the tracks.

Vroom, Vroom sir.

On to the technical features.  Ignite has three game modes; campaign, free race and multiplayer.  Within campaign you race to unlock new tracks, cars and varieties of each model of car.  Each of these varieties then has unique capabilities that enhance certain aspects of racing style.  This is the extent to which you ‘tune’ your car, which is perfectly fine by me for this style of game.  The races themselves employ a mixture of raw racing skill and strategy that create a unique scoring system.  Finishing first, like all racing games, is one’s primary objective.  That being said, you can still ‘win’ even if you finish in a later place by having a high enough score to reduce your time and put you in the lead.  You acquire points during a race by doing one of three things; drifting, drafting and hitting objects.  Doing these things for long periods of time or in combination with each other increases the magnitude of points.  Once you reach a thousand points, you gain access to NOS which is unlimited until your points dip below a thousand again.  You lose points by hitting walls or using NOS for too long.  As mentioned above, the points you have left at the end of the race then go towards deducting time off your race.  Thus, drifting and hitting objects is not only fun but necessary, a bonus by my standard!

Just a little "love tap."

There are some drawbacks of this game though.  For starters, if you are a serious ‘Forza-esque’ style racer and realism is your thing, this game isn’t for you.  Very, very little is realistic about this game, which whether or not this is a negative entirely depends on you.  Second, this game in its style reminds me of something like the Burnout series.  However, it lacks the excitement and rush put out by that kind of game.  Yes I said Ignite is easy and fun to play and it is, but there is nothing that keeps you playing, no feeling of “Holy sh** this is awesome, I need to keep playing!”  In other words, it is just as easy to sit down and play as it is to get up and walk away.

They see me rollin', they hatin'

This then is a game that is perfect for the casual racing gamer who misses the arcade games of old.  It doesn’t require any time commitment to get used to the style yet still yields plenty of entertainment.  At the same time, when your significant other requires attention, you won’t feel like you have to blow them off in order to keep playing.  Better yet, have them join in!  It really is that simple of a game to pick up!  In my view, Ignite is a fun little game that draws upon the raw, chaotic speed of arcade racing to deliver a punch that is well above its weight class.

Final Rating: 8/10

CBR Break Down:
Console Played On: PC/Steam
Approximate Time to Completion: Whenever your heart is content
Gamer Achievements: 6 out of 30
Price Bought at: N/A – Review copy furnished by Nemesys
Current Price: $19.99 (Direct Download via Steam)
Recommend Purchase Price: $19.99

We are giving away three copies of Ignite!

Do you want to speed down the tracks, drifting and swerving your way to victory?  Well now you can, the good people at Nemesys games have given us three steam download codes to give away to you, our faithful readers!  Find out how you could gain up to three entries below!

First entry:  Tell us what vehicle you would like to race down the track in the comments below, and why!  It could be a Halo Warthog, the Speed Racer Mach 5 or maybe the Trolly from Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood, or maybe even something real.  Whatever your answer, just tell us the vehicle and why in the comments below and you have your first entry!

Second entry: Follow us on twitter and send the following tweet:

Another #contest! @ClearanceBinRev is giving away 3 copies of the arcade racer Ignite for #Steam! Enter now at http://bit.ly/t9DNg9

Remember that you have to follow us; any winner we attempt to DM via Twitter who isn’t, automatically forfeits their win. If you enter via Twitter include your twitter name in your post below, winners who have their twitter listed will receive their codes immediately after winning.

Third Entry: Like our Facebook page and then simply like the post on our wall for this article.  Simple as that. (Keep in mind the article may be lower on the Facebook page towards the end of the contest and it may take a minute or two to post on FB)

Contest will go until Monday at 8pm CST.  A pool of all eligible entries will then be randomly selected from and the winners will be notified. CBR reserves the right to disqualify any entry we feel either violated the rules or spirit of the contest, including attempts at duplicate entries. Winner selected with no twitter name provided will be notified by email and have 24 hours to respond.  We do not always announce the names of contest winners, but do encourage them to post about their win.