Gameloft announced Asphalt 9: Legends last week with a teaser trailer showing off what appears to be a return to form for the racing franchise. After Street Storm, we thought its best days were behind it but what we’ve seen of the sequel so far looks promising.
But without further ado, we’re going to answer any questions you may have right here. Read on to learn everything we know about Asphalt 9: Legends so far.
What is Asphalt 9: Legends?
It’s the latest entry in Gameloft’s racing franchise that aims to bring Burnout-style thrills to mobile. If you haven’t played one before, you race at ridiculous nitro-fuelled speeds through gorgeous recreations of some of the world’s finest cities.
Just like with Burnout, crashing and smashing your opponents off the road plays a big part. Gameloft is also well-known for pushing mobile processors to the limit, and you can always expect gorgeous visuals to come part and parcel.
This ninth instalment looks set to be no different, with boundary-breaking visuals, over 50 licensed cars, and a bunch of new tracks to race in.
What are the new features in Asphalt 9: Legends?
First off, there are a ton of new cars that are fully liscenced by the likes of Ferrari, Porsche, and Lamborghini. Each of them is an exact replica of their real life counterparts, so you can expect them to look, feel, and drive like the real thing.
It helps that the visuals have had a massive overhaul. This is the best that Asphalt has ever looked, which you’d expect after a five year gap. It features HDR and all other modern trimmings your phone supports.
You can also customise your ride using the new car editor function. Not only can you pick the colour scheme, but you can also apply a bunch of cosmetic upgrades. Want to cover it in neon lights? Go for it!
There are over 70 locations to ride your car in too, and they’re all digital versions of real world locations. You’ll travel across the middle of nowhere in America to the icy slopes of the Himalayas.
Finally, there’s a brand new control scheme known as “touch drive”. This appears to streamline the whole experience, making it easier to concentrate on racing rather than steer. That’s boring.
We’re not overly sold on that last feature – at least on paper. Time will tell whether it’s any good though, and at least you can choose the regular (manual) control scheme if it doesn’t work for you.
Does Asphalt 9: Legends have a career mode?
It does! It’s massive as well, with 60 seasons to conquer made up of a whopping 800 races. That’s just at launch as well, so you can expect it to grow to insane numbers relatively quickly.
What about multiplayer?
Not only is there multiplayer, but there’s a bunch of multiplayer leagues – similar to how the single player career mode functions. You can play against up to eight other players in real time, which is bound to be a ton of fun.
You can even create your own Club, which is a first for Asphalt. This serves as a clan, basically, and you can collaborate with your fellow members to unlock massive rewards and rise in the Club rankings.
When is Asphalt 9: Legends out?
That’s just about the only thing we don’t know right now. It’s available in soft launch on iOS in the Philippines right now though, so chances are that the full release isn’t very far behind. We’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime, you can learn a bit more on the App Store page for the soft launch version.
