Ignite is a five year old racing game that would barely pass muster on the PS2 a decade ago. In fact, despite releasing in 2011, almost every element of this game feels ripped from the Burnout and Need For Speed titles EA released two console generations ago. The logo, font, and overall UI are all based heavily on visuals used in tuning culture, and the heavy metal soundtrack would fit right in with EA's Underground titles. Meanwhile the visuals themselves certainly don't hold a candle to EA's 360 and PS3 era games, nor Codemaster's more simulation based Dirt and GRID games. Despite looking like an Underground knock off, Ignite somehow performs worse than any of Codemasters or EA's games on my computer. I can run all of Codemasters games (haven't tried the new Dirt in Early Access) maxed out at 1080p/60 just with advanced lighting turned off, while EA's titles that allow 60 fps playback also run at that refresh rate.

Moving beyond the embarassing presentation, the question is if the actual racing here is worth putting up with the shoddy performance. The answer is largely no. The handling here feels most similar to Burnout among other PC releases, but I would say probably handles most similarly to Ubisoft's mobile Asphalt series in that the game never requires you to break and seems to correct your steering at times as well. I wouldn't be surprised if Ignite began life on iOS or Android phones, simply because of how damn easy the game is. You'll note that my playtime sits at 3 hours. In those 3 hours I completed the entire single player campaign on its sole difficulty, and went back and completed many of the earlier races with late-game vehicles to beat all the time trials. If you wanted to do that for every race, and complete all the offline achievements, you could maybe eek 5 hours of content out of this game.

While spending $10 for 5 hours of content isn't terrible as far as entertainment goes, these aren't 5 great hours, nor five challenging hours. The game claims that players can use various tactics to achieve success, and that statement is true. The problem is that simply holding down the gas and turning when needed with the fastest car unlocked will get you victory in every race on your first attempt.

The ease with which you can beat the game is a shame, as early on when you don't have any fast cars you can see the beginnings of what could be a great set of mechanics. Boost in Ignite is earned through all your standard means. Drift, draft, smash things, and so on. If you've played Burnout or Need for Speed in the past decade you know the drill. Unlike in those games, though, there is no limit on the amount of boost you can hold in reserve, and any boost not spent by the end of a race is converted into bonus time that subtracts from your total. It's a system with potential but both the ease of the game and a lack of nuance hold it back. As far as I could tell you receive the same amount of bonus time for your remaining boost regardless of the car you are driving. This means that early on, saving boost is more valuable as a car's max speed is low enough that the couple seconds shaved off at the end might be more than would be shaved by using nitros in the race. Balancing it all makes the first quarter of the game fun and occassionally nail biting. But once you get past the first half an hour or so, you'll find that it really doesn't matter one way or the other, as the cars you are driving easily smoke the competition by 10 or more seconds even on the very final race.

There is an online option in Ignite that I didn't bother trying, and every car can unlock additional liveries that provide various bonuses to the rate that certain tricks give you boost. One even offers a nice double or nothing bonus where you get 200% boost per trick, but lose all of your boost if you hit into a wall. This type of give and take upgrade could have allowed players to focus on getting through races in a particular style, but as it is, most races can be beaten with the default cars. no upgrades required.

Being easy isn't always bad, but in the case of Ignite it renders the tension of racing innert, leaving you with a driving game that mostly drives for you, filled with a bunch of options that are entirely meaningless when faced with such abysmal competition.

Ignite is a five year old racing game that would barely pass muster on the PS2 a decade ago. In fact, despite releasing in 2011, almost every element of this game feels ripped from the Burnout and Need For Speed titles EA released two console generations ago. The logo, font, and overall UI are all based heavily on visuals used in tuning culture, and the heavy metal soundtrack would fit right in with EA's Underground titles. Meanwhile the visuals themselves certainly don't hold a candle to EA's 360 and PS3 era games, nor Codemaster's more simulation based Dirt and GRID games. Despite looking like an Underground knock off, Ignite somehow performs worse than any of Codemasters or EA's games on my computer. I can run all of Codemasters games (haven't tried the new Dirt in Early Access) maxed out at 1080p/60 just with advanced lighting turned off, while EA's titles that allow 60 fps playback also run at that refresh rate. Moving beyond the embarassing presentation, the question is if the actual racing here is worth putting up with the shoddy performance. The answer is largely no. The handling here feels most similar to Burnout among other PC releases, but I would say probably handles most similarly to Ubisoft's mobile Asphalt series in that the game never requires you to break and seems to correct your steering at times as well. I wouldn't be surprised if Ignite began life on iOS or Android phones, simply because of how damn easy the game is. You'll note that my playtime sits at 3 hours. In those 3 hours I completed the entire single player campaign on its sole difficulty, and went back and completed many of the earlier races with late-game vehicles to beat all the time trials. If you wanted to do that for every race, and complete all the offline achievements, you could maybe eek 5 hours of content out of this game. While spending $10 for 5 hours of content isn't terrible as far as entertainment goes, these aren't 5 great hours, nor five challenging hours. The game claims that players can use various tactics to achieve success, and that statement is true. The problem is that simply holding down the gas and turning when needed with the fastest car unlocked will get you victory in every race on your first attempt. The ease with which you can beat the game is a shame, as early on when you don't have any fast cars you can see the beginnings of what could be a great set of mechanics. Boost in Ignite is earned through all your standard means. Drift, draft, smash things, and so on. If you've played Burnout or Need for Speed in the past decade you know the drill. Unlike in those games, though, there is no limit on the amount of boost you can hold in reserve, and any boost not spent by the end of a race is converted into bonus time that subtracts from your total. It's a system with potential but both the ease of the game and a lack of nuance hold it back. As far as I could tell you receive the same amount of bonus time for your remaining boost regardless of the car you are driving. This means that early on, saving boost is more valuable as a car's max speed is low enough that the couple seconds shaved off at the end might be more than would be shaved by using nitros in the race. Balancing it all makes the first quarter of the game fun and occassionally nail biting. But once you get past the first half an hour or so, you'll find that it really doesn't matter one way or the other, as the cars you are driving easily smoke the competition by 10 or more seconds even on the very final race. There is an online option in Ignite that I didn't bother trying, and every car can unlock additional liveries that provide various bonuses to the rate that certain tricks give you boost. One even offers a nice double or nothing bonus where you get 200% boost per trick, but lose all of your boost if you hit into a wall. This type of give and take upgrade could have allowed players to focus on getting through races in a particular style, but as it is, most races can be beaten with the default cars. no upgrades required. Being easy isn't always bad, but in the case of Ignite it renders the tension of racing innert, leaving you with a driving game that mostly drives for you, filled with a bunch of options that are entirely meaningless when faced with such abysmal competition.