Set in the dark alleys and deserted streets of the City of Angels, Fast & Furious Adrenaline is an iPhone game that tests your abilities in wheel-to-wheel street racing and gang allegiances. No, the game doesn't in any way shape or form adhere to gang violence, but if you've seen the movie franchise, then you'll know that Fast & Furious is as much high-octane, NOS-fueled street racing as it is a study on the dynamics of turf warfare in Los Angeles.

In the game, you play as an upstart racer determined to ingrain your name into any of four rival racing teams all with the objective of usurping your rival crews' territories.

As a die-hard and loyal member of your crew, you race against your rivals not just to determine a race winner, but also to stake claim to your rival's territories. It's a nice game to play if you want to take a different route from all the straight-up racing games on the iPhone. If for nothing else, this game is all about bragging rights, both in race wins and crew supremacy.

Details after the jump.

Graphics

The graphics for the game are pretty decent. The cars are a little boxy and pixilated, but the redeeming value is that the background graphics are pretty good. It doesn’t try to overpopulate the senses, yet it’s detailed enough that it doesn’t look like your racing in a barren field or a poorly developed city block.

Controls

The controls for the game certainly leave a lot be desired. They aren’t as sensitive as they should be, especially when you consider that this game relies a lot on high-speeds and car collisions. Another thing that we found a little annoying is the singular race view of the game. Coming from people who enjoy in-car views more than any other view, we were kind of bummed out that the game doesn’t have a camera switch option.

Gameplay

While it’s not the most graphically pleasing game there is, Fast & Furious Adrenaline does make up for it by featuring a variety of races including regular road races, drag races, time trials, and police car chases, and of course, career mode.

In the beginning of single-player career mode, you’re given the option to choose any one of four available crews, all of which are characters that have appeared in the successful movie franchise. You can opt to join Johnny Trans’ team, Letty’s, Hector’s or even Brian O’Conner’s.

Unlike other racing games, Adrenaline isn’t all about being first to the finish line, but more so on establishing your gang’s territorial boundaries. Win more races and you extend your crew’s borders. But in winning these turfs, you’re also given the added responsibility of defending them to make sure that rival gangs can’t infiltrate your zones.

Cars are also a little disappointing considering that it could have been made a whole lot better than what the game presents. While there are plenty of choices as far as models go – you win a new car for every level up you make – customization was somehow left out of the whole game, making it virtually impossible to fine-tune your newly won vehicles. On the bright side, there’s still NOS. That’s always a great thing.

A few things that we didn’t particularly like about the game – and this is a growing concern among a lot of racing games in various platforms – is the seeming lack of realism when it comes to collisions. Last we checked, drag races use real cars and not bumper cars, which somehow is what the cars on the game look like. Hit a car at blazing speeds and they just bounce off of you looking as fresh as newly painted dragsters. Would’ve been a lot better if there was some car damage in the game, wouldn’t it?

Pricing

The game costs $1.99 - which is down from the entry price of $5.99 - and is currently available at the iTunes store. At $5.99, we would have given the green light to purchase, albeit with a little trepidation. But at $1.99, it’s cheap enough to give it a go without feeling bad about it.

Awesome Scale

Score: 6.5

We’ve played better games in this platform - that much is true. But there’s still something alluring about jumping over trains in a muscle car while being chased by cop cars. We’ll give them bonus points for that.

What do others think?

IGN's Take: "Fast & Furious Adrenaline is a completely playable racer, but doesn't possess the drama needed to push it to the front of the pack. "