I do not miss the days where I didn’t have my driver’s license. Carpools to Little League games and family events were fun for a time, but few things beat the thrill of the road while you’re the one behind the wheel.
So when I first loaded up Hill Climb Racing on my iPhone, I was pleased to see how much of the driving there mimics my own driving; there’s more of an emphasis on skill and finesse rather than simply relying speed and flashiness, so I got hooked.
I wasn’t the only one to feel that way, as GameSkinny ranked the original Hill Climb Racing as one of six free iPhone games you could enjoy without spending money and now, its sequel is ready to take over cell phones everywhere.
But with improved physics, how exactly will you defeat your opponents and conquer the highest hills? Today, let’s look at some tips that will help you dominate the opposition and make sure they crash, burn, and hope that their insurance plan is still valid.
Study The Features
Put simply, Hill Climb Racing 2 is a different mobile game than you’re most likely used to; there’s a heavy reliance on physics and skill, meaning those who go into a race expecting it to be easy are going to end up crashing… literally.
Before going into any game, whether on console or your phone, it’s important to go over the features that the game promises. The official Google Play page reads the features as:
– Many different vehicles with unique tuning options
– Tunable parts include engine, suspension, tires and 4WD (note for the uninformed and our younger readers, 4WD is four-wheel drive).
– Numerous environments with achievements
– Vastly improved graphics and smooth physics simulation
– Designed to look good on low and high resolution devices
For as obvious as saying ‘study the features’ may sound, it’s important to remember that too many people jump into a game like this and assume it’s like any normal racing game: you accelerate, you put on some grunge rock, and you pretend that you’re virtually flipping off the other drivers. Hill Climb Racing 2 is a bit different, however, which leads me to…
Experiment!
Between figuring out how to get rid of the zombie crowd or which wide receiver fits best in the slot position, experimenting is key in any game. In the same way that those learning to drive in real life will often experiment with everything from the mirror to how far back they want the seat to be — I like the seats to be somewhat close to the wheel… I’m weird like that.
While playing with mirrors and seats isn’t an option in Hill Climb Racing 2, there’s other things to experiment with. For your first race, you can afford to lose it while you learn the controls and how to achieve equilibrium. I took the time also to figure out my play style and if I was going to approach this differently than I did the first game, where I relied more on skills than speed.
And if things don’t go your way at first, keep trying! There have been much, much worse drivers out there.
Filler is an amazing thing.
Don’t Mess Up Customization
After you’ve finished experimenting and you finish your first race without crashing, you’ll be asked to customize your first car which for me was a Jeep (I’m unsure if this is the case with everyone). After making my character look even more white trash than he’s supposed to be, I got to my Jeep and saw four customizable options: the engine, the grip, the suspension, and all-wheel drive.
If this is your first time playing or you’re not much of a car guy, here’s the rundown on how things work:
- Other than being the other thing besides the battery that lets the car run, your engine gives you speed. Putting more power into the engine means you’ll get more of a turbo boost, which may or may not come in handy for reasons I’ll get to.
- For some reason, the tires are referred to as grip in this game, but that makes sense when you realize that putting money into your tires means ‘improved grip for better traction and power delivery.’ If you’ve ever experienced a New York winter before, you know that having traction and power delivery can be the difference between life and death…
- Suspension is a pretty simple thing, unless you think that only means the car will stop working. Suspension with cars refers to ‘lower weight point and better shock absorption’ which, in layman’s terms, means how stable the car will be the faster you go. Simple, right?
- Finally, there’s all-wheel drive – or AWD, as the game calls it to save space. All you need to know about AWD with this game is that it results in a more balanced power delivery.
So after you’ve experimented and figured out what kind of driver you are and what your play style will be, you should have about 1000 coins to decide what you want to upgrade. With much of the game relying on balance and traction, I played it safe and went with improving my grip; all the speed in the world doesn’t mean anything if you’re going to crash because you didn’t have a good enough grip.
Lo and behold, I won my next race. I told you, it’s all about finesse and skill!
Don’t Rule Out Bonuses
I’ll admit it: when it comes to everything from virtual currency in NBA 2K17 to games like Mobile Strike where you pretty much have to pay to play, I’m not a fan of spending my money that way. Of course, that means I have to deal with advertisements, but I can deal with that.
With Hill Climb Racing 2, though, some of the bonuses are actually pretty interesting. One special offer that was available when I was playing was ‘legendary Jeep paint, new Jeep wheels, no more ads, and 500 gems’ for only four dollars.
Pay-to-play games aren’t fun without the money, nor are the ads that come with them, but a game like Hill Climb Racing 2 that lets you have that fun without needing to spend a single dollar. But, the options are out there and some may pay off, especially with how addicting this game is.
Hill Climb Racing 2 is available on Android via the Google Play Store.
What are some tricks that you use while playing Hill Climb Racing 2? Make sure to share them in the comment section below! Also, send the developers at @fingersoft your thoughts on the game!
Published: Dec 8, 2016 03:39 pm