Leadfoot Preview

The Concept

1000hp junk

Welcome to the wild world of ... er ... junk heap racing? Well, that was our initial impression of what the game was about - our experience with motorized sports isn't quite broad enough to cover Stadium Off Road Racing. Having snagged themselves such a highly prized license (*cough*) we weren't expecting much from this demo disc that Ratbag sent to us.

Hmmm what to do?

That looks like a decent ride

Wow, do big things ever come in small packages. Having made their names in the gaming industry with mostly second tier, niche-market games like Dirt Track Racing, Dirt Track Racing Sprint Cars and Powerslide, Ratbag is following the same formula with their latest title - Leadfoot.

The name of the sport (stadium off road racing) describes the game perfectly. Pick a car (anything from a 400hp dune buggy to a 1000hp gutted truck), your arena, the number of opponents, and race. To steal a line from Ratbag's webpage, it's basically "supercross on four wheels".

Various dirt tracks in stadiums are made full of short straights, tight corners and massive jumps - all ready to get torn up by you, the player. The demo came with three tracks, two that take about half a minute to lap, and one that's a bit longer at just shy of a minute.

Marks... get set... GO!

I turned too late

So uh... is that it?

Yup, that's it. You can race just a quick race, try career mode or play against your friends. Doesn't sound like much, does it? Then again neither do Diablo, Quake or (a more appropriate example) Motocross Madness when you describe them to your friends. Like those games, Leadfoot aims for simple but fun. You can get very hardcore while racing around the tracks - finding the perfect ways to jump, to turn, to brake and to throttle. Timing and skill are everything in the game, and its simplicity works in its favor.

That's not to say that Leadfoot is mindless reflexes and action. You have to be a couple of steps ahead while playing, that is, plan how to position yourself for your perfected jumps and turns. You also need to set up your car... er... vehicle properly.