Asphalt Legends Unite Review (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, GeForce Now, Switch, PC, Android, & iOS)

The Asphalt series has been the perfect means to wind down after a long day. For racing fans, it’s the perfect game to jump into for short bursts of fun. And thanks to smooth and seamless controls sharpened over the years, Asphalt Legends Unite gets to inherit the glory days of the series. The new game is effectively an expansion of the previous Asphalt 9: Legends. So, you will certainly stumble onto more or less the same gameplay; no complaints here. 

The series has perfected fluid cruising around corners while also incorporating physics-defying stunts for that extra burst of adrenaline. But the expansion also promises a ton of new updates in the way of new cars, events, a revamped game engine, and so much more. Old and new combined, is the new game worth your time? Cue our Asphalt Legends Unite review. 

What’s New?

For the most part, Asphalt Legends Unite retains the same gameplay as its predecessor, Asphalt 9: Legends. Well, technically, they are the same game, with Unite replacing the previous iteration with new updates and revamped features. The original never really needed much tweaking. It was already a heck of a blast, with fluid and responsive controls. All the new game has done is patch it up here and there to elevate the gameplay further. 

For one, the hype around an all-new track has probably reached you. That’s right: alongside the globe-trotting racing, you’ll go on across tracks worldwide, and you can now access an all-new Singapore-inspired race track. As you can imagine, the new track comes with contemporary aesthetics, complete with city lights, an amusement park, and water slides. They’ve chosen to go with nighttime, portraying vibrant city nightlife. Neon lights dot all across the tracks as you speed down long-winding asphalt roads and wind through sharp corners. 

It’s an evidently wider track that gives you more room to spin around, making a complete 360-degree turn. But also, the corners appear sharper and pop out of nowhere, adding more challenge to timing them correctly. Unfortunately, the darker tone of the tracks makes obstacles harder to see. You want tracks that are as clear as day for a game that punishes you for the slightest wrong turns, even approaching the low-barrel ramps a little to the side. 

Purple Rain

It all takes a while to grow on you, especially coming off of the UI visual overhaul. The graphics somehow look unpolished, and I can’t quite put a finger on where everything went wrong. You have vibrant purple colors splattered all across the menus, and their sharp contrast with the text just doesn’t blend well. The purple goes further into the races, with these brightly colored visual effects spamming the screen and distorting your vision. Apparently, the visual effects are meant to pair with nitro boosts, yet they just hinder clear vision.

As always, the other race tracks look stunning. From Cairo to Wyoming and the Caribbean, each location is incredibly detailed and oozes with charm. Much of this has been retained from Asphalt 9: Legends, and perhaps that was the best decision Gameloft could have made. Because the original’s UI was much more enticing, with smooth transitions and more appeal, the music score remains top-notch, with some definite bangers you can easily port over to your own personal playlist.

As for the game modes, well, they’re more or less the same. Single-player campaigns still challenge you to quick races across worldwide tracks. You get objectives to complete that unlock rewards upon successful completion. And with rewards, whether in-game currency or blueprint cards, you can level up your cars and rank higher. The content here is overwhelming, with hundreds of races in the way of daily tasks, seasonal races, special events, and more. Each one offers an incentive to keep reaching higher milestones. 

Bring a Friend

Not only that, you can challenge yourself to casual or competitive racing against online racers. It’s always fun to show off your best moves while ranking yourself against other better players. Races are snappy and can make for the perfect party game. Taking turns, you can compete against one another in split-screen mode, which is just a blast to play. If you’re looking for more competition, though, you can always head out into the online space. 

With cross-play and cross-save now accessible, you can cast a much wider net and sharpen your skills against the best of the best. Although, sometimes, it can take a while for the lobby to fill up with would-be challengers. Worth noting: The AI can play tricks on you sometimes. Perhaps in a feat to prevent you from leveling up too quickly, it can gain boosts at the very last second, speeding past you to the finish line. Sometimes, it feels unfair, but generally, AI functions responsively well. 

And lastly, you can check out career mode as well. Winning races will grant you blueprint cards (as well as multiplayer and events), which you use to unlock new cars. It’s unfortunate how the cards are rewarded to you at random. And so, it can take forever to get the cards you need to unlock the specific car you want. Something else to keep an eye out for is the gas tank.

Each car has a specific gas tank with different capacities, and they refill over time. So, you cannot play consistently with just one car, or you’ll risk the gas running out. Although you can pay with real money to refill gas tanks instantly, it is a shortcut, but still. 

But speaking of payments…

Free to Play

Asphalt Legends Unite is free-to-play, meaning anyone can download the game on the platform of their choice at no cost. But Gameloft has to make money, and so, like most free-to-play games before it, they have incorporated microtransactions into the game. Now, let’s set the record straight. You absolutely do not have to pay to enjoy and progress through the game. Microtransactions are entirely optional. 

The problem usually comes when the microtransactions are shoved in your face. And in Asphalt Legends Unite, they are. After every race, the UI just seems never to get enough of blasting you with all sorts of loot boxes, blueprint cards, microtransactions, and more. What happened to an online store? Simply highlighted on the main menu, you can click on the respective button to upgrade your cars with real money whenever you want. Constantly shoving microtransactions in your face will only make it frustrating rather than push you to give in.

Pay to Win

Alternatively, microtransactions can make it dangerously difficult to establish fair game. You’ll find gamers with better-ranking, more powerful cars, and as a result, performing much better, always. And no matter what you do, you seem never to be able to catch up unless you give up real money. It’s not always that much: Asphalt Legends Unite can offer a better car in exchange for $3, for instance. But you cannot anticipate how generous gamers will be. Some will be comfortable parting with $1,000 and as a result, always top the charts. 

On the flip side, you can work your way up the ladder, but you’ll need, say, $30,000 in-game currency to unlock a new car, a huge sum that doesn’t come cheap in the time put into grinding out as many races as possible and leveling up bit by bit. All of it can become frustrating. So, as much as you can progress through the game without paying a cent, it can take forever. Asphalt Legends Unite, at least, tries to balance out matchmaking in multiplayer races, only pitting you against racers on your rank. So, that’s nice.

Verdict

On the one hand, Asphalt Legends Unite retains the gameplay of the original Asphalt 9: Legends, and, as a result, is a spectacular experience already. The racing mechanics are just as fun and seamless as they were, with little tweaks here and there. Mostly, these tweaks have been made on the visuals, which, unfortunately, disappoint. The purple color palette just doesn’t blend well, and its contrast with the text results in a lack of polish. Furthermore, the purple visual effects and the darker Singapore track can sometimes obscure vision. At such high speeds, you need clear-cut visuals to spot obstacles, veer around sharp corners, and make the perfect drift and stunts. 

Some gamers may take issue with the pay-to-win system, which, at this point, feels like an unavoidable tradeoff for free access to games. Multiplayer, on the other hand, is a blast, especially split-screen, for some quick, friendly competition. It’s a little tricky to deem Asphalt Legends Unite a complete waste of time because it has both good and bad aspects. I think the overall consensus for fans of arcade racing would be that it’s definitely worth jumping into for a couple of runs. There is definitely plenty of content to keep you busy, even on a commute to work. Whether you stick around for months, though, is up for debate.