Fast and Furious

Developed by FireMint, published by iPlay, and in association with Universal Pictures Entertainment, 'Fast & Furious The Game' is the second installment in the franchise series. Unlike Pink Slip, this time you'll find yourself blasting your way through the streets of LA, Mexico and finally the Dominican Republic. There's no doubting this is the 'step up' from Pink Slip we all needed, so lets dive straight into how the game plays out ..

For anyone not aware, Fast and Furious is a super-charged racing title based on the movie starring Vin Diesel of the same name. Using a ride of your choice you aim to complete missions and various types of races to gain respect in the underground (and mostly corrupt) racing league.

Racing Modes Entering the game, one thing which did hit me was the sheer amount of different racing modes this game offers up. Unlike Pink Slip, there are many types of race to choose from, and from the main menu you'll have access to four of them, including; Quick Race, Story Mode, Compete Online and Wi-Fi Multiplayer. The Quick Race option is an option you want to choose if you simply want to take a ride. There's no plan, it's a simple quick mode which throws you into a certain race. Tapping quick race from the main menu presents a further seven racing options, including; Road Race, Drift Race, Drag Race, GPS Race, Tunnel Run, Pursuit and Evade.

Here's a break down of what each of those race modes actually mean:

• Road Race In this mode you will complete a standard race. Your aim? Cross the finish line first. Most importantly? You can pick your track.

• Drift Race Drift races are a race in which you aim to skid (or drift) all over the place. In this mode you have a set 'target' to reach. If you don't reach the target, you fail to win.

• Drag Race Drag races are quite a bit different to drifts. In a drag race your thrown into a speeding ride. When the indicator needle turns green you have to switch gears. Fail to do so quickly, and you'll stall your ride and lose the race.

• GPS Race Dont get too excited .. This mode doesn't actually let you use iPhone 3G's built in GPS module to race your friends - (although that would be pretty trippy). Instead, this mode uses the built in GPS unit in your ride, to locate checkpoints throughout the track. Cross the line first, you win!

• Tunnel Run In this mode you enter various tunnels. Your aim? Escape the tunnel before the timer reaches zero. Change gear when the needle turns green and hit warning lights when they turn green to navigation each junction.

• Pursuit Pursuit is just as it sounds. Your thrown into a pursuit featuring you, and a bunch of other rides. Your aim is to take down the target vehicles by ramming them off the road. Simply right?

• Evade Evade is again as it sounds. You are being pursued. They're fast, but your smarter. Escape over the finish line before your pursuers completely destroy your ride.

Story Mode So that's quick mode out of the way, but what if your looking for a more 'intense' experience. You want to play the game for 3 hours compared to 10 minutes, right? Story mode introduces you into the world of Fast and Furious. With un-lockable achievements to be won, you complete missions in an effort to win status in the racing scene, and more rides for your lot. The missions you experience in this mode are just like quick race, only this time your actually playing to win something. The mode is split up into 9 stages with a major mission in each stage. Each 'Mission' you accept to take on will be given a set of 'objectives' you need to meet in order to unlock the next set.

UI Basics / Visual Indicators In-game the UI is basic. To the right of the screen you'll find a distance gauge. This indicates how far you are from the finish line compared to your competition. You are marked as the red arrow, while your opponent sits in green. Top right you'll find the amount of time you have already used, with the bottom right corner displaying the speed your racing at, plus offering camera view options.

Top left you'll find your lap counter. Below this is your NOS canister. When this flashes, give it a tap. NOS is designed to give you a major speed increase at times when you require it. Finally in the bottom left corner you'll find the pause button. The pause menu gives you a few different control options, including; Resume, Restart, Volume, Speed, Help and Main Menu.

Gameplay and Controls Although a complex game in many respects, it's control system is fairly simple. The game is controlled by steering and this is achieved using the device's accelerometer. Some of you will be pleased to know that you don't have to accelerate the ride yourself. Acceleration is automatic, which personally, I hate. It doesn't matter where you are in the game, your always moving.

Tilting your device left and right will steer your car. In the case of cars with Nitro, tapping the Nitro indicator on the left hand side of the screen will engage the NOS. Remember that your indicator must show full and be flashing before you can use the feature. NOS will automatically replenish over time, but some cars take longer to replenish than others. To brake, simply touch anywhere on the main game play screen. A red light will show under your touch to indicate the brake is engaged.

Extras As well as playing yourself, you can also let others in the world know how your doing. The game features two further playing modes; Compete Online, and Wi-Fi Multiplayer. In order to play online you'll need to register. Don't picture 27 fields. Registration to CloudCell's servers takes all of 10 seconds, if that. Once registered you have two options; Race or Sync. Race is pretty obvious, but tapping Sync will initiate the app to sync your game data you've earned so far with the online server. I'm ranked 8570 .. yeeahh, steady on - I only got the game late last week .. :P

- Option to turn auto acceleration OFF

Overall Fast and Furious is a very respectable racing title. With it's console-matching graphics, game play extendability features, story mode, career, quick races and online modes, this game is a must for racing fanatics. Can't wait for Need for Speed: Undercover? - This is sure to fill that gap for you until then.