Flux Challenge - Pocket PC

Flux Challenge
Reviewed By: Schoon
August 12th, 2004
Dell Axim X3i


PDAMill has become synonomous with quality Pocket PC entertainment. Previously they've blessed us with titles such as Gamebox Solitaire, Gamebox Gems and Snails. Each of these titles stands above and beyond the rest of the software community's offerings in many ways. They give the user great value for their money and above all else, great gameplay. Flux Challenge is no different in this regard.

Flux Challenge is set in the future where underground tunnels are used for racing. These tunnels were originally used for trains and transportation but then someone figured out how to use the tunnels for levitating racing vehicles and the sport was born. At some point in the sport's early history one of the heroic drivers was killed in an accident while racing. This prompted shutdowns of the tracks and they were made safer. The new tracks had a three level system, practice, time trials and career. In practice mode you can race any unlocked track with any unlocked vehicle so you can hone your skills for career or timed mode. In timed mode you can try and beat your best times to post to the record books. In career mode you are given the chance to rise to the ultimate racing title, Flux Champion!

Flux Challenge opens up with a driver login screen. Here you can choose one of four slots, or save games, to race with. You can tailor your name to whatever you would like and even rename or delete an existing save slot. Once you choose your racer, you're off to the main menu. Here you can choose to Practice, go into Time Trials, Career Mode, see the Records, read Help or view credits. There is also a settings menu that I'll go into shortly.

The settings menu is professionally laid out with just about everything you can think of to tweak the game to your machine's specifications. You can adjust the audio quality from low to medium and high. You can turn the music off and adjust it's volume. There is a sound selector for choosing sound effects on or off and their volume. Below the volume controls are the selectors for performance. This includes In-Game Music, Additional Sounds, *****pit View, Large Screen, Dithered Textures, High Poly Models and Engine Trails. Below the graphical settings are the controls, you can inverse up and down and finally set up which buttons you want, essentially your directional controls and your booster button. As a side note, on my Dell Axim X3i I have all the details on and the audio quality set to high and the game runs great, very smooth and very playable!

So let's talk about the playability. As a flux racer, you job is to navigate the tunnel systems and beat all your opponents to the finish line. To do this you use either your hardware buttons or the onscreen joystick. On the Axim, I found the hardware buttons to be very responsive. The onscreen joystick is also very good if you have no other option but if your PDA sports a hardware directional pad I'd try using that first for this game. One of the buttons is mapped to boost, if you pick up the boost packs from within the tunnels, you will gain a 3 second burst of speed by pressing the boost button, it can help when you need that extra power to get you across the finish line.

The tracks, of which there are twenty-four, range from a simple oval called Serpent, all the way to the ultra track named Grand Flux. Along the way, the tracks get more and more difficult with moving barriers, hills, split tunnels and shortcuts. To traverse these tracks you will choose one of six ships, these start at the lowly Mosquito which has low speed and acceleration, all the way to the Tornado GTX which sports Top Speed and Excellent handling. Trust me, you'll need the better ships to successfully navigate the tougher courses. For each race, you rent a ship for that race, if you have enough money, this make it essential that you win often enough to maintain the higher quality ships for the later, more difficult courses.

Once in a race, you're treated to some great music and amazing graphics. I really can't believe they managed to get this quality on the Pocket PC. The textures are smooth, the framerate is fluid and the A/I is good. The racing screen can be played from a third person or in-*****pit view. I prefer the in-*****pit view as it gives me a better sense of speed and control. You will be racing against four computer opponents and they are not forgiving at all. Their skill increases as you get on the fancier tracks and they will do everything from run you into the walls to hitting you from behind to try and push you into barriers. It really feels as if they are live opponents. Most of the races are 2 or 3 laps and finding the right tunnels to take on the more difficult courses can be a real learning experience. One tunnel may lead you through a clearing while another may have spinning red barriers that you have to carefully navigate around, the whole time, the opposition is right on your tail waiting for you to make a mistake. Once you complete a race, your time is posted as are your winnings and where you placed. If your time was a record you'll also hear about that. If you came in first, you'll receive your winnings, if you came in second, you at least get your rental fee back, third or worse, back to the drawing board.

Ok, so I've raved about the game for several paragraphs, what's wrong with it. Honestly, I've found few flaws. One of which is the fact that the music does get repetitive, but seriously, what game's music doesn't? The limited storage space on the Pocket PC does not lend itself to having megabytes of music so it's forgivable. The other thing I would have liked to have seen was some sort of multiplayer mode. Now, I know most of us don't have our Pocket PC's on the internet all the time but wouldn't it be cool to be sitting in a Starbucks, across from someone you don't know and starting up a game of Flux Challenge and running them through the paces? Probably not going to happen considering the small market share of Pocket PC titles, but hey, a boy can dream can't he?

As it stands, Flux Challenge is an amazing piece of software. It's incredible to think how far the games have come on this platform that I've come to know and love. Flux Challenge will keep me coming back to unlock new race tracks and new ships. It will keep me coming back to beat my previous best times. It will keep me coming back for the sheer excitement of having a quality arcade racer in my pocket next to my agenda. PDA Mill has done it again. This is a MUST HAVE title, go buy it now!

Added: August 13th 2004
Reviewer: Bill Schoonmaker
Score:
Related Link: Flux Challenge Homepage
Hits: 10490
Language: english