Trackmania Nations: United

Developer: Nadeo
Publisher: Enlight
Release Date: April 16, 2008
System: PC
PEGI Rating: 3+
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Racing gets stripped down to its bare bones, revealing a svelte and sexy skeleton.

0:00 I've heard the buzz and seen the mind-boggling videos for this game, but I didn't actually take the plunge to try it out until I heard it was being offered for free. At that price, I'll try anything (hint hint, game publishers).

0:01 I'm not including the roughly 1/2 hour it took to download this 500 MB game, or the ten minutes it took to install. This might seem hypocritical when I routinely take PlayStation 3 games to task for downloads and install times, but I just have different expectations for PC games. It's my column, so I can do what I want!

0:02 I'm asked to create a new account. Look for me as KyleOrl. (So original, I know). The silently spinning green globe is freaking me out. Would a little background music have killed them?

0:03 My account is registered and the music kicks in: A gentle yet sweeping electronic thing with light sitar. I dive right into "Play Solo."

0:04 The difficulty levels are White, Green, Blue, Red and Black. I have no idea what this means, but I'm guessing White is easiest, so off I go. The controls looks super-simple: The arrows are used to accelerate, brake and turn. What else is there?

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer