Stunt Multiplayer Arena

Stunt Multiplayer Arena opens as a free roam. There is no lap and no target, just open roads, grass fields and a stunt park of loops and stacked shipping containers to work out. Front flips, back flips and long jumps are all available immediately, and finding the run-up that makes each one land is the whole solo game.

The tracks alternate between ice and dirt, and the grip alternates with them. Ice takes away the grip you need to set up a jump and dirt gives it back, though it slows the approach. Sliding the tyres has a score of its own too: the moment the back end steps out, a drift counter appears in the middle of the screen and climbs for as long as you hold the slide.

Derby mode uses the same arena for something blunter. You pick a car, truck or van and stay in until everything else has stopped moving, and the vehicle you choose changes the whole approach: a van absorbs hits and cannot chase, while a car can pick its moment but loses a straight exchange.

Handbrake and nitro do more than they usually do here, because both are ways of turning an arena you cannot steer around into one you can. The controls take a minute to learn and a long time to run out of things to try.