Initial Impressions of Asphalt 7: Heat

    Hey, everyone. The number one selling game on the app store since it came out on Wednesday is Asphalt 7: Heat. It is a graphics intensive thrill ride which is a mere 99 cents. Of course, its predecessor was $6.99, so this one does more of an in-app purchase thing. This is both good and bad. Bad for those of us who want one buy, no B.S., and good for those who are playing on a budget. These folks can at least share in the fun of a game which everyone is talking about. Then, if it is just terrific, they can make the decision to shell out the necessary coin to progress. Unfortunately, many games of this type absolutely refuse to let you beat them unless you shell out mega money. The end of the road for developers is that promised land of $50 games for I-Pad like the ones for X-Box. But I digress.
   This is a terrific game for 99 cents. On the new I-Pad it looks better than Jessica Simpson, which is mighty fine. I make it a point to play every racing game and this is a good one. Asphalt 6 may still be my favorite, only time and in-apps will tell.
     The wonderful spotter in Asphalt 6 (lady's voice assistant) doesn't talk as much in Asphalt 7. I miss that. I loved that feature, like when she would laugh and say, "Rest in pieces", after I put someone into the rail. Pay her the money, Gameloft.
    It is really nice to have some new tracks to race on from the previous versions. For instance, you get to race in sunny Rio, unfortunately not during Carnival. That might get the game a rating change. Ha, ha! You also race in London, at night, very nice, although it is difficult to enjoy the scenery at 230 MPH. Another new track is in Shanghai. That is my next race, by the way.
      You have a series of new goals to achieve. My favorite of these, thus far, is the number of takedowns (wrecking opponents) in a single race. I did 7 of these in a race, which made me walk about with my chest pushed out. Macho heaven!
   Let me say, before I forget, that this game is a ponderous 1.1 Gig file. (I actually looked at my computer and it shows 1.40 for this file, so is this because I bought a Shelby mustang and did a few races? Time will tell.) It doesn't take many of these to crowd the limits of my puny allowance from Wild Blue, my internet provider. Don't want to go there.
    By the way, this game has all the social stuff, like sharing on Facebook, Twitter, multiplayer on-line racing etc. Not my thing, since I am a hermit, but many love it. You can buy an endless array of hot ...and not so hot, cars. Then you can paint them, apply decals, like a cool dragonfly, tune your engine for maximum speed and all the normal racing game stuff. You know the deal, I'm sure. Those of you who are new to I-Pad games, get this one or Asphalt 6. You won't need to go any further. For a war game, try Modern Combat 3. For action games, get Carnivores, Dinosaur Hunter or 9MM. For sports, get Real Golf 2011. For a news feeder, get Flipboard. But don't forget Kindle, I-Books, Razor Salvation, Mass Effect Infiltrator, Scrabble, Rage Hd, and numerous puzzlers. My wife has 2 new games she likes. One called Flow and another called Masuy. More on those later.
    These are my initial impressions of Asphalt 7: Heat. Do what everyone else in the States seems to be doing; run, don't walk, to your friendly neighborhood app store and shell out that last dollar on your I-Tunes card.
     From the smoking streets of Havana, I'm CE Wills.