Not really. I did give it a four, or something. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t infuriate me, however. The game basically has the most infuriating A.I. ever slapped into a racer, turning the 360 controller into a very throwable projectile.

Where should I begin? First off, it’s bullshit that the A.I. has seemingly infinite nitrous in every single race. Yes, even in the no nitrous races. I was once told on GAF that this was a sort of preparation for online mode, in which everyone constantly uses NOS from high-speed drifting. That, my friends, is a total copout. The rubber-band difficulty doesn’t help. Perhaps with the upcoming PlayStation 3 Ridge Racer 7, Namco can bring out a game that actually requires skill over luck.

It also must be of note that during the later sections of the World Xplorer mode, the racing strategy comes down to little more than holding your maxed-out nitrous until the end of the race, at which point you unleash it and smoke your remaining [3 or so] opponents during the last few seconds. Sometimes this strategy simply won’t work. Random glitchiness occurs and the A.I. magically pulls some NOS of its own out of its ass, or maybe it’ll impossibly swerve in front of you.

We all know how that works in a Ridge Racer game. The bump automatically decreases your speed by about 10%, giving the other racer a speed increase of equal or greater value. Honestly, it seems as if some of the races have an opponent specifically designed to be an asshole. Usually strategically placed in the middle of the pack (read: 6th or 7th place), this opponent will do everything it can to be a jackass with NOS, or simply block you. Wide drifts are the name of the game with this racer.

Needless to say, I’m at 80% completion in the World Xplorer mode, and I am furious.

As a side note, The Clipse’s long-awaited first single in a long time, “Mr. Me Too,” is officially out on iTunes. Get it now. It’s awesome.

Now Listening: “Mr. Me Too” The Clipse