Sega Rally!

I shrieked with glee when I first read that the demo had been released on Live. I couldn't wait to get home. Anticipation turned to disappointment when I realized that this is not the rally game you're waiting for. But whatever, it's a racing game, and you can't go wrong with Sega, right?

Maybe.

Graphically, it's no Gears of War. But it's silky smooth. I'd go so far as to say about 60 fps. Handling and physics are solid, as we've come to expect from Sega (who likes to remind us they're not dead with banners placed strategically around the track). I was a bit worried about the lack of a "recover" button, but the reason why soon became painfully apparent. You can't leave the track.

Strike two.

Despite not being able to launch myself into a ravine, I was drawn to Sega Racing Syndicate's latest gimmick: tire tracks. I know you're thinking "STFU, that's been done to death," but this is different. Every passing car not only leaves a mark on the dirt, it's actually a lasting impression. Driving across these grooves seems to have a mild effect on handling, but a very distinct environmental effect via controller vibration. After a couple laps the track starts to resemble Paris Hilton's TempurPedic. It becomes painfully obvious which tracks belong to the AI cars (they follow identical, near-perfect paths), and which are yours (the zig-zagging ones that seem to repeat the same mistakes over and over). But is it worth buying?

Maybe.

It's a solid racer that's kind of got that Sega feel to it, but there's not a heck of a lot of eye candy. And the tire rut effect is kinda cool, but I soon found myself driving off the racing line to avoid killing my controller batteries prematurely. Unless there some Secret Super-Awesome Feature yet to be revealed (massively multiplayer racing?), I'm holding out for the return of the Rallisport franchise on 360.