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Drift City

Drift City is a 3D Racing MMORPG that seamlessly combines the elements of racing games and MMORPG's in a large persistent game world.

Publisher: GamesCampus
Playerbase: Low
Type: F2P MMORPG
Release Date: September 05, 2007
Shut Down Date: March 21, 2017
PvP: Real-time Races /Lap Time Battles / Crew Battles
Pros: +Huge persistent game world. +Great anime-style cell-shaded graphics. +Tons of missions and side quests. +Lots of car types and parts.
Cons: -Pay to win elements. -Repetitive missions. -Unskippable tutorial.

Overview

Drift City Overview

Drift City rolls together elements of driving, racing, and RPG’s into a fun, unique, and addictive game. Hop into one of dozens of car types and drive through a large persistent world made up four uniquely-themed cities. Explore an open world with tons of missions and side quests that you can do at your leisure. Test your driving skills against other players in real-time races that will get your adrenaline-pumping, or just drive around and admire the scenery. Drive like a maniac by speeding, drifting, and driving in the opposite lane of traffic to build up your Booster Gauge for a burst of speed. By pulling off reckless combos players can earn items. Drive with up to three other players and take on boss-dungeons before the timer runs out for a chance at rare parts. Compete in various PvP racing modes or join a Crew and claim dominance of the streets, it’s all up to you!

Drift City Key Features

  • RPG & Racing Game In One - experience a unique blend of MMO Racing and RPG’s in one game.
  • Large Open World - explore a massive world made up of four unique cities where you can follow the story line, take on side missions, race against other players, or just drive around.
  • Combo System - fill up your Booster Gauge by racking up combos by drifting and driving recklessly. Gain random items by getting high combo scores.
  • Real-time Races - compete against other players in real-time races where everyone is on equal footing regardless of their level.
  • Party Dungeons - work with up to three other players in timed dungeons to beat bosses and earn rare items.

Drift City Screenshots

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Drift City Featured Video

Drift City - Intro Cinematic Trailer

Full Review

Drift City Review

By, Marc Marasigan

Drift City is a 3D anime-themed MMO driving game that combines elements of racing and MMORPG’s into one. The game was officially launched on September 5, 2007 and is available for download through GamesCampus’ official website. The game was developed by NPluto and was initially published by Ijji before being taken over by GamesCampus in 2010 for both the North American and European versions.

Drift City is set in the near future, on an island in the Pacific where a new and cleaner form of fuel, called Mittron, is discovered. The island came to be known as Mittron Island and eventually grew into a highly-developed and bustling metropolis. However, HUV’s, or High-Tech Unmanned Vehicles, began to wreak havoc on the population, forcing the government, named OMD (Organization for Mittron Development), to recruit the greatest drivers from around the world to put an end to the HUV menace. Players are thrust into the role of one of these drivers, seeking fame and fortune, while working with the OMD to eliminate the threat.

Your Very First Car

Like typical MMORPG’s, players start off by creating their characters. Players can choose from a handful of pre-made avatars, which, from my experience seems to have no effect on the actual game. Players then go through a quick tutorial teaching them the basics of driving, drifting, and using the Booster for a quick speed burst. You do have to complete the entire race to finish the tutorial, which unfortunately can’t be skipped and is required for each newly-made character. After the tutorial, players are given a choice of four beginner cars, each with different stats for speed, acceleration, durability, and booster power.

Driver Dome

After choosing their first car, players are taken to the Driver Dome where all drivers start-off when they log on to the game. The Driver Dome houses essential areas such as the player’s Garage, Parts Shop, Auction House, Dealership, Crew Center, and Battle Zone, all in one convenient location. Except for the Crew Center and the Battle Zone, the other areas are pretty self-explanatory. The Battle Zone is a Player-versus-Player Arena where players can compete with other players in a variety of race modes while the Crew Center is the place where crews, the game’s version of guilds, can battle other crews to claim channels and earn additional Mito, the in-game currency.

Mittron Island

Drift City features a huge persistent world made up of four cities, namely: Moon Palace, Koinonia, Cras, and Oros. Each city has a different look and feel to it. Moon Palace, for example, is a seaside metropolis with wide open roads, while Oros is a desert city where the space center and a secret military compound called Area 71 are located. The game features cell-shaded graphics and a fun and upbeat soundtrack that works really well with its anime theme. The interface is clean and simple, and the controls are easy enough to learn. The WASD keys are used to control the car, the Shift key is used to drift, and the Ctrl key is used to engage the car’s Boosters for a quick burst of speed once the Booster Gauge is filled. There are other shortcuts that can be used such as the brackets ([]) for the signal lights, but who uses those anyway?

Earning Your Keep

As I mentioned earlier, Drift City is part racing game and part MMORPG. Entering the city itself is where the RPG element kicks in. While in the city, players can complete a variety of missions and side quests that reward them with Mito, the in-game currency, and various items like car parts, coupons for new cars, and temporary boosts. Players start-off in Moon Palace city and progress to the other cities as they complete missions, much like Grand Theft Auto, minus the guns, killing, gangs, and hookers. Unlike other racing games though, players consume fuel, or in this case Mittron, by driving around and will need to fill up at Mittron Charging Stations in exchange for Mito before their tank runs empty.

The game also features party dungeons, called Undercity, and raids called Rush Time. In Undercity, up to four players work together to complete certain objectives before taking on a Boss HUV at the end. Players are awarded items for completing the dungeon. Rush Time is also limited to four players but in Rush Time, however, players immediately take on a much tougher HUV boss. Players who successfully hit the boss have a chance to earn great items. Taking out the boss within the specified time limit awards even better ones. The player who delivers the killing blow also receives a rare item.

Bad Driving Is Good

Like the Need for Speed games, Drift City rewards players for drifting, speeding, driving against traffic, near misses, and basically anything that counts as driving like a maniac. Surprisingly, hitting other cars and obstacles isn’t one of these. Driving recklessly fills the player's Booster Gauge faster which they can use for a quick speed burst once the gauge fills up. Players also rack up combos and are awarded random items when they achieve high combos. The items can range from instant speed boosts to high quality car parts.

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

Drift City’s racing aspect is confined to the game’s PVP system which can be accessed through the Battle Zone and the Crew Center. Upon entering the Battle Zone, players are taken to a game lobby where they can join matches created by other players. They can compete in a variety of race modes such as regular races, lap time battles, and real match battles where players race in the same car to even out the playing field. In the Crew Center, crews can challenge other crews for ownership of Channels. Every member of the crew participating in the battle is required to purchase challenge coupons from the Parts Shop. Only a maximum of 8 players per crew per channel are allowed to participate. The goal is to defeat the channel owner twice in a row. The winning crew then become the new defending crew and receives a set percentage of Mito fees from charging stations as well as randomly selected parts from the losing crew.

Wheels of Fortune

Nothing ruins a perfectly good game than a pay-to-win cash shop and Drift City is a perfect example. Players with a little extra cash can easily buy parts and upgrades, not to mention better cars, from the in-game item shop. While it’s entirely possible to play the game without spending a dime, it’ll take a whole lot of time and patience to earn the resources needed to keep up with cash players. It’s not really that bad but balancing out the cash shop would have made the whole game experience a whole lot better.

The Final Verdict - Great

Drift City is one of the few free-to-play games that successfully combines elements of racing games and RPG’s. Great graphics, good music, and simple controls make it a fun and addictive game that’s easy to learn and play. The only real gripe I have about it is its pay to win model. Other than that, Drift City is an excellent game all around.

Screenshots

Drift City Screenshots

Videos

Drift City Videos

Playlist: Drift City

System Requirements

Drift City System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:

Operating System: Windows XP/ Vista / 7 / 8 / 8.1 / 10 (64 bit)
CPU: Pentium 4 1.8 GHz
RAM: 256 MB RAM
Video Card: 64 MB graphics card
Hard Disk Space: 1 GB available space

Recommended Requirements:

Operating System: Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8 / 8.1 / 10 (64 bit)
CPU: Pentium 4 2.4 GHz or better
RAM: 1 GB RAM or more
Video Card: 256 MB graphics card or better
Hard Disk Space: 1 GB or more available space

Music

Drift City Music & Soundtrack

Additional Info

Drift City Additional Information

Developer: NPluto
Publisher: GamesCampus
Game Engine: GameBryo

Original Release Date: September 05, 2007

Shut Down Date: March 21, 2017 (GamesCampus)

Development History / Background:

Drift City was developed by the South Korean studio NPluto and was originally released in 2007 by Ijji before publishing rights for the North American and European versions were acquired by GamesCampus in 2010. The game is set in the near future, on Mittron Island, when a cleaner and more efficient form of fuel, called Mittron, is discovered. Drift City combines elements of racing games with MMORPG's and was sponsored by several automotive companies such as Dodge, Jeep, and Chrysler.