In the words of Kaz Hirai, RIIIIIIIDGE RACEEEEEEEER is back and once again with the release of a Sony console we see Namco's flagship racing title make an appearance. However all is not well with the Ridge franchise - it’s no longer a Sony exclusive and the PAL Xbox 360 launch title Ridge Racer 6 was only an ok title which had its share of problems. The biggest challenge for the developers was differentiating this game from the 360 title. RR7 may not be the best PS3 game around, but it’s not the worst either.

As expected, Ridge Racer 7 tasks you with building a fictional machine and becoming the most well known racer in Ridge State. There are a variety of game modes on offer including single race, online play and an arcade mode but the main mode is of course the career mode where you travel the globe gaining new cars and talking to manufacturers while competing in races.

For those of you who may have played the PSP game but none of the others, this game is actually quite different. First of all there are races where the aim is to simply race against eight cars instead of overtaking a set amount before the end of the race. Those overtaking races exist but they are not the main game mode as with the two PSP titles. Secondly, you don't just earn upgrades and cars from winning races, this time around you earn money and it has to be spent to build upgrades and get new cars.

The interesting twist is that to buy parts you need to have a relationship with that manufacturer and to do that you have to take place in trials with that team. This can be a little annoying. You get to a particular point in the game where the car needs upgrading and all of a sudden you need to go do a single race for a team to progress rather than move through the tournaments which make up most of the game.

The game itself looks and plays beautifully. It's typical Ridge Racer fare with high speed racing and drifting turns. Despite this it is a little disappointing on the PS3 that the developers have not gone out of the comfort zone and tried something new. The physics engine hasn't changed all that much and surprisingly, aside from graphics, we could be playing this game just as easily on the PSP as the PS3. To be honest, if you've played Ridge Racer before, you've played 7 and while the mantra is if it isn't broken don't fix it, this is a brand new high tech console where gamers will be expecting more and Ridge Racer 7 doesn't have it.

Where the game does differentiate itself from the competition however is the environments. Set in fictional areas, they take inspiration from places such as jungles, urban areas, and beach side villas. This leads to some fantastic visuals and the game is in high definition 720p resolution but when you move from other PS3 games to this it does disappoint. The sense of speed also feels a little lacklustre when compared to other titles such as Formula 1. The developers claim it is a sixty frame per second game, but it just doesn't feel like it to us.

There is also online multiplayer which is handled via the PSN network and offers racing against up to eight other players - the same number which is present in the main game races. You can also play on the same console split screen.

Ridge Racer 7 is a game that was expected with the PS3 system launch but Namco has disappointed us by not using the technology of the system beyond high definition graphics. The best way to sum up 7 is that it’s Ridge Racer, and from that you can decide whether it’s worth the cash or not. In our opinion, not this time around.