Real Racing 3 is a perfect example of a game developed with iOS as the primary platform combined with the worst in microtransaction mechanics. Android gets a poorly ported version of the game that relies on the newest devices to look as good as iOS

Features

Gameplay in Real Racing 3 is very polished. It's a racing game with real life licensed tracks and cars that you purchase and upgrade to improve performance.

Each of the races are connected to other Real Racing 3 players and connecting to Facebook can import your friends who are playing the game. There are many different race types like head-to-head, cup, or elimination on the different tracks.

Controls are varied with a lot of options. By default you just tilt the device and the game will control accelerating and braking. You can also choose a very hands-on control scheme where you control everything or a touch-based steering system.

Usability

The game is easy to drop in to. From the start of Real Racing 3, you are in charge of purchasing a car and competing in the different racing modes. You earn points and money used to upgrade the car or service it to return it to optimal performance. It is designed with multiplayer in mind, even when your friends are not playing.

Quality

Visually, Real Racing 3 can be a beautiful game. On older supported hardware, the game looks horrible. The primary focus is on the car you are driving while the environment looks sparse and barren. Real Racing 3 was meant for the latest hardware and primarily an iOS development so the Android version is showing the poor port of the original assets.

Where the game fails also is the push towards microtransactions. While you will not hit the pay wall too soon, it becomes apparent that you have the choice to grind or purchase money and points to upgrade your car. Upgrades and repairs cost money while maintainence costs in-game points to bypass the timer countdown or you have to wait a specific amount of time. This does let you have shorter play sessions, but upgrades are offered before a race.

Like most microtrasaction games, the balance toward free and paid is uneasy. You can play for a good amount of time before paying is necessary, but once you are immersed in the game and need an upgrade fast, you will probably pay for it.

Conclusion

Real Racing 3 is a great racing game with below average graphics, good controls, and a lot of races to get through. The microtransaction mechanic is very forced and unbalances the game because it is easy to wait a couple minutes for an upgrade, but the longer you play, the longer you wait.

Installation

Real Racing 3 is a large install, but EA says you need to have at least 1.7GB free on the device.

On our test device, Real Racing 3 contains 1.57GB of data.

The install from Google Play is a small loader while the bulk of the game is downloaded during the first start.