Asphalt 9: Legends is a 2018 racing game of the Asphalt series, developed by Gameloft Barcelona and published by Gameloft. An expansion update was released in 2024 which also changed the title to Asphalt Legends Unite.
In comparison to previous entries, there are several new and improved features, such as a prestigious car lineup, new control schemes, including the autopilot mode called "TouchDrive", allowing the player to select their route without actually steering the car, and race modes, and the "Adrenaline" nitro reimplemented as "nitro shockwave" (previously known as "nitro pulse") from Asphalt 6: Adrenaline (2010). The graphics have considerably improved compared to its predecessor, Asphalt 8: Airborne (2013).
On March 25, 2024, Gameloft announced an expansion update to Asphalt 9: Legends titled Asphalt Legends Unite for a release on July 17, 2024, with the game's title also renamed into the new one. A new Singapore track has been added upon an update, with a Chicago track being added in a later update.
Gameplay
Asphalt Legends Unite makes extensive use of simulated HDR rendering and pixel shaders, as seen on the sky and specular reflections on the road surface. Pictured is a gameplay still featuring the TouchDrive control scheme. This screenshot was taken when the game was still known as Asphalt 9: Legends.
The gameplay in Asphalt Legends Unite is similar to the other Asphalt games with noticeable differences in graphics and design. There were 48 cars featured in the game when soft-launched, but the worldwide release saw the introduction of four new cars, leading to 52 cars.[1]
There are currently 273 cars as of the Asphalt Legends Unite expansion update. Like its predecessor, each of the cars belongs to a class progressively featuring higher performance and rarity: D, C, B, A, and S. The player starts with the first car in the lowest class (Class D), the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X and ends with the strongest car in the highest class (Class S), the Devel Sixteen. All cars in the game now require blueprints to unlock and later "star up", with each of them having anywhere from 3 to 6 stars. For each new star, the car's top speed, acceleration, handling, and nitro efficiency are increased. Each car can also be customized with the new car editor feature. Each car now also uses fuel when used for a race event, limiting its use for any game mode. The fuel quantity for each individual car is based on the max number of possible stars for that car, e.g. 3-star cars have 6 fuel blocks, while 4-star cars have 5. The more stars a car has, the less fuel it will have.
Upon unlocking a car, the player is allowed to choose from a few official stock colors or designs. Once the car has been starred up at least once, the player can create custom paint job colors to the body, rims, and brake calipers for most models. Some models also allow for carbon parts on the hood, trunk, and wings. Several cars are also convertibles (they can be converted from closed roofs to open ones in-game), like the BMW Z4 LCI E89, the Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport, and the McLaren 570S Spider. Introduced in the 2019 Summer Update, several cars like the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 may also be customized with special tires, rims, and bodywork modifications, earned through rare 'customization packs'. Also new to the series are "clubs", where up to 20 players can collaboratively score "reputation points" to acquire exclusive rewards. The more reputation points the club scores, the better rewards, ranging from credits to blueprints for cars.
The game also features "nitro shockwave", showing descent from Asphalt 6: Adrenaline and Asphalt 7: Heat's Adrenaline mode. When the player has a full nitro bar and taps twice on the Nitro button in a quick succession, a purple pulse is released from the vehicle and represents a drastic increase in the car's acceleration. On mobile platforms, Asphalt Legends Unite has three control schemes: Tilt to Steer, Tap to Steer, and the brand new "TouchDrive" in which the player selects routes and stunts by swiping left and right. TouchDrive is intended for beginners and casual players. On Windows 10 and Mac devices, TouchDrive and manual controls can be used with the keyboard; or with a tilt to steer, if the device has a touchscreen and an accelerometer.
In the game, there are four race modes: Career, Multiplayer, Daily Events, and Seasonal Events (Grand Prix, Starway, Special Event, and Drive Syndicate). In career mode, the player participates in an extensive single-player campaign consisting of six chapters, each containing several series of races focusing on a certain car class or manufacturer, with more chapters set to be added. The player can gain a total of 827 blueprints for various cars from Career. In Multiplayer, the player competes against other players in real-time online multiplayer races, ranked by an Elo system. In Daily Events, the player participates in daily or weekly competitions to beat other players' times and earn other items. In Showcase (or Showroom), players focus on upgrading a car of their choice by using it repeatedly in racing in the Showroom. Like Daily and Seasonal Events, players use tickets to race. Unlike them, they are their own individual tickets, unlike Seasonal and Daily Events sharing them. Other events include Car Hunts, focused on dropping blueprints for a specific car, and Time-Limited Events, usually themed to the game season.
The Seasonal Events, previously referred to as "Special Events", launched with the Bugatti Chiron Special Event in December 2018, and have continued since with the introduction of "Drive Syndicate" events in July 2019, themed around escaping the police as a member of an underground 'drive syndicate'. The 2022 Winter Drive Syndicate was announced to be the last of its kind by Gameloft. Initially slated to release in the January 2023 "Lunar New Year" season, its replacement would be the Faraday Road Test, which was delayed until the next season. Since the older "Godly Beasts Update", the "Grand Prix" was launched, debuting with the Techrules AT96 Track Edition Grand Prix. Players compete against other players for rewards, including a "car key" that allows the player to immediately unlock the featured Grand Prix car, though the car itself can still be "starred up" with blueprints.
Drive Syndicate events have been subject to criticism due to their numerous paywalls and high requirements, having the player complete a series of missions to accumulate points towards the rewards track, which goes up to approximately one million points to unlock certain cars. However, the events run on a separate "energy" system, which only allows players to play a certain number of races irrespective of the car's fuel. Some cars are also required to race in the event, and the player may not be given them immediately (though they can acquire the cards for them through the event shop). Upon completing all missions, and thus acquiring enough points, players will earn the event's flagship cars, usually being acquired as a key rather than a set of cards (along with other cars as well).
There are 8 race types in Asphalt Legends Unite. The "Classic" race mode from previous games makes a reappearance alongside new career-exclusive races: "Time Attack" and "Hunted". Multiplayer-exclusive races include "Ghost" and "Ghost Slipstream". "Slipstream" appears in both Events and Multiplayer. A game mode titled "Takedown", restricted only to specific events, made its first appearance in Drive Syndicate 5. Finally, a new Multiplayer gamemode called "Team Pursuit" was released shortly after the name change to Asphalt Legends Unite. In Time Attack, the player has to cross the finish line within a time limit, collecting time bonuses along the track. In Hunted, the player must escape a police pursuit in a car chase without wrecking their car or running out of time. In Ghost, players cannot collide with other players' cars - all opponents are treated as 'ghosts', making the event similar to a live time trial. In Slipstream and Ghost Slipstream, players can perform a slipstream by driving behind opponents, allowing them to quickly build up their nitro. Slipstreaming can only be interrupted by holding the brake button or doing 360s, and the difference between the two is that there are no collisions in Ghost Slipstream. In Takedown, players drive police cars and are tasked with taking down racers from the Syndicate. These police cars use a unique boost system, rather than the game's regular nitro, charging up on a timer and being used up all at once for a quick burst of acceleration. The player can take down Syndicate cars by either using their boost or by hitting them with a 360 spin. Similarly, in Team Pursuit, players are split into two teams, the Security team with 3 players and the Syndicate team with 5. The players on the Security team drive police cars, and are required to chase the Syndicate players and take down enough of them to win. The Syndicate team needs to survive until the time runs out to win the match.
The game was developed by Gameloft's Barcelona Studio which also made Asphalt 8: Airborne, and co-developed Asphalt Xtreme with Gameloft Madrid. The game uses the Bullet physics engine and the Jet Engine game engine. Continuing the tradition from Asphalt 8, the game features licensed soundtracks.
The first rumors of Asphalt 9: Legends began back in 2016, with Gameloft posting pictures on Twitter, showing Gameloft Barcelona making a map that had not been seen in Asphalt 8: Airborne. The game was scheduled to be released in the summer of 2017 according to Gameloft's press release, and the name was going to be Asphalt 9: Shockwave. In February 2018, Gameloft was doing a live Q&A with one of their community managers at Gameloft London, where he responded to questions about Asphalt 9, and said that he was not allowed to comment on the future of the Asphalt series. Four days later, however, a trailer was revealed for Asphalt 9. On April 1, 2016, Gameloft posted an April Fools joke trailer on their Facebook page that the game was going to be called Asphalt 9: Foolspeed, a game that revealed outdated footage of Asphalt 4: Elite Racing.[3]
The game was first released for iOS as a soft launch on February 26, 2018, in the Philippines, then in Thailand on March 22, 2018. It was later released for Android as a soft launch, on May 17, 2018, in the Philippines.[4][5] Pre-registration for the worldwide launch began on June 29, 2018. Around the same time, people could pre-register the game on the Google Play Store. On July 24, 2018, Gameloft announced the game's release date, July 26, 2018, on a Facebook and YouTube Livestream. However, the game was released a day earlier than planned. When the game was released worldwide, it reached 4 million downloads across all platforms in less than a week.
On June 6, 2019, Gameloft announced that the game would be available on Nintendo Switch. It was released on October 8, 2019. There is a mode where players can play offline with friends and family with different controllers but it needs to have to earn a certain amount of career flags to unlock Offline Mode. There are Joy-Con and Touchscreen controls when using the Switch in Handheld Mode, allowing use of either the screen itself (akin to mobile devices) or use of the controllers.[6]
A version for macOS Catalina was released on January 17, 2020.[7] An Xbox One and Series X/S version was announced in April 2021 and it was released on August 31, 2021.[8] An arcade adaptation, developed by IGS and Wahlap Technology under a license from Gameloft, was released worldwide in 2021 under the name Asphalt 9 Legends: Arcade DX.[9]
A Steam version was announced in July 2022 and was released on August 2, 2022.[10]
Logo of Asphalt Legends Unite introduced in 2024
Gameloft announced that the game received an expansion update on July 17, 2024, featuring cross-play compatibility, dynamic lighting for the game's graphic engine, brand new UI and an all-new Singapore track.[11] The expansion also changes the title of the game to Asphalt Legends Unite, and the game also released for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, marking the series' return to the PlayStation consoles since Asphalt: Injection.[12] However, Gameloft announced on July 16, 2024, that the Nintendo Switch version of Asphalt Legends Unite initially delayed due to unforeseen circumstances,[13] and later released on August 19, 2024.[14]
Reception
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Asphalt 9 received positive reviews upon release, with the new graphics and visual design being almost unanimously praised as a major improvement over the series' predecessors, but there were mixed responses to the progression system, including its hostile monetization and “energy” systems.[citation needed]
Prasad of GSMArena.com wrote: "Visually, Asphalt 9 is stunning and quite possibly the best-looking game on the mobile platform today",[17] while TechCommuters' review stated, "Regardless of the platform you're playing on, the game delivers...With a wide variety of cars, accessories, tracks, and events, you can play this game for a long time without any dull moment."[18] Nick Tylwalk of Gamezebo also praised the graphics, but wrote that the "blueprint system can be a mixed bag and there are times when you feel stuck, progression-wise." Vishal Mathur of News18 mentioned "every time you run a wheel off the road, the dust that gets thrown up is finely detailed. The cars look very realistic too... However, it isn't exactly easy to get exotic cars. As with most racing games, you start from the bottom of the pyramid and then work your way up. In many races, the rewards that you get are blueprints of vehicles. You will need to collect the required number of blueprints for the car that you are eyeing before you can unlock it. This is slightly difficult, and we feel that element has been added to ensure that players remain active for longer on the game, in the pursuit of their favorite car."[19]
↑ Additional work by Gameloft Saigon, Gameloft Montreal, Gameloft Madrid, Gameloft Kharkiv, and Gameloft Bucharest
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