Ah, yet another racing game for the PSP... While there's a been a lot of racing games in various flavors (sim, action, arcade), GripShift is just different enough to deserve at least an honorable mention. That's because this release from Sony Online Entertainment's Platform Publishing label offers some cool puzzling, short jaunts of action racing, vehicular combat, ad-hoc multiplayer, some unique mini-games and even a track editor. Sadly one of the biggest problems with the game is its questionable controls. Too bad, because that extra functionality would have made GripShift a real contender. While GripShift is entertaining the controls suck a lot of the win right out of this game's sails. Read on to learn why.

GripShift may have you racing on short tracks and collecting power-ups, but the gameplay revolves around puzzles packed into a hundred or so tracks. It's a unique concept that - because of the controls - requires a lot of trial and error. That's because the unresponsive steering and handling, coupled with tracks that don't have any safety rails, will see you spending a lot of time careening to your doom.

The puzzles we mentioned might include hitting a certain number of checkpoints, collecting stars (credits - more on this later), or completing a track in a certain amount of time. These tracks will star off as simple challenges and then get more complicated as players learn how to utilize the various platforms, shortcuts, jumps, teleporters, etc. You can complete a track by simply hitting the finishing line in the allotted time, but in order to unlock things you'll need to earn credits. And to earn credits you have to complete each maps objectives. So credits and finishing objectives are very important. If you can handle the stress of keeping your car on the track, then GripShift offers a ton of great tracks and extras worth playing through - but that's a really big IF.

Players can select a few different cars and drivers, but the only thing to consider during the selection process is the cars. The drivers don't really matter but the cars do because each offers different stats - and with the way the car handles, you'll want to choose the best one available. As you progress through the game you'll unlock more cars and drivers, which will in turn give you better options to take on the myriad of challenges the game offers. Sooner or later you'll find a car that offers accelerating, braking, and steering that you can "kind of" live with.

GripShift may have some control issues but it is nonetheless addictive once you get into it. The game offers a ton of extra content that rewards players for their hard work and possible hair loss. In the game's core game mode, challenge mode, players will unlock the meat and potatoes of the extras. These early levels are bite sized and take as little as 30 seconds to complete. As things progress you'll have to avoid sliding off the track into the emptiness, but persistence does pay off. Each of these challenge mode levels offers a few objectives. There's the simple speed challenges (pretty easy to complete), star collecting (easy but not advisable at breakneck speeds) and collecting the GripShift logo (which is almost impossible on some tracks).

Defeating these challenges unlocks more and more goodies in the game, which are just unique enough to warrant the extra effort. These new goodies include new skins and decals for your car, eight cool min-game tracks, and a whole lot more. The mostly significant things you'll unlock are the mini-game tracks. These include cool extras like Soccer Crazy (which lets you knock a ball into a goal with your car), the ultra cool Penguin Bowling (which lets you knock down a bunch of penguins with your car) and the Playground (which lets you drive inside a free roaming area collecting stars. The mini-game tracks are really cool - it's too bad that the developers didn't spend a little extra time making the driving as enjoyable.

While GripShift doesn't offer multiplayer via Infrastructure mode, it does offer ad-hoc multiplayer. The multiplayer portion of the game is sadly limited - single races and a few of unlocked mini-games are included as well as two multiplayer only games: Deathmatch and Reverse Tag. DM is just like it sounds, complete with lots of weapons and power-ups. while Reverse Tag is a smash 'em up mode where you try to stay alive while rival drivers try to squash you. The multiplayer is okay, but it would have been nice if the mini-game tracks were included in the mix. Sadly, you won't be playing soccer or bowling with your friends in this game..

Finally, there's a nice intuitive track editor for the game that lets you create and share tracks with friends. If you're a fan of creating your own content, then this track editor gets the job done nicely, and in the right hands, this track editor is capable of creating some beautiful and fun challenges in the game. Sadly you'll find no guard rails in the game, which would make the whole GripShift experience feel a lot smoother and save us all a lot of stress.

Graphically GripShift is a beautiful game that can hold its own against any other PSP game on the market these days. The game features a completely 3D world, nice models and an interesting and cartoony art style. Similarly the game offers crisp sound and a small but fun sampling of cool tracks to play along with..

In the end, GripShift is a great game concept that didn't get fleshed out the way it should have. There's a ton of cool content and some great puzzles but it's all weighed down by loose driving controls. If you're looking for some action racing and some interesting challenges the give GripShift a look. For fans looking for decent physics and a more refined driving expereince, you'd be better off checking out Burnout Legends or similar racers out for the PSP now.