Ballistics, being a racing game, is set in the future where the races are faster than anything anyone has ever seen. The racers are bred from birth to be the best racers around, as no mere mortal could possibly handle the vehicles. The goal of the game, as is the goal of any racing game, is to come in first at the end of the race. Except here, you race around in a tube instead of on a track, clinging to the walls with your anti gravity pod, avoiding a few (few in both number and variety) obstacles on the way.
All of this is good in theory, but not in practice. There is hardly any variety amongst the game's seven tracks, as they all look like large, continuous, metallic gerbil tubes. Along the way are two different power-ups, including boost and an engine cooler. The boost will send you well on your way to mach speeds, if you can avoid the obstacles, which will increase your engine heat if you run into them. Avoiding them is more a matter of luck than skill, and you'll soon be cursing the damn things. The engine coolant is a quick way to cool down an overheating engine, but this can also be done manually, at the expense of a little speed.
A money system is incorporated into the game, and the premise is simple: win more races, get more money. Money can then be spent on upgrades for your pod. There is no shortage of parts or areas of your vehicles that can be upgraded, allowing for literally thousands of combinations. As you'll never explore all of the possible combinations, it is easy to find the right combo for you. This is about the only thing that works right in this game, and it is a shame that the other areas let this one down.
Apart from a single race option, there is a Championship mode that allows you to win loads of cash and also to unlock the other tracks. The only other item bringing replay value to the table is the Multiplayer mode, which lets up to eight people race against each other via LAN or the internet. As I've said before, too little too late.
