There’s been a streak of battle racers lately. There’s Blur and Split/Second coming from the large studios and there’s Anarchy: Rush Hour from Gaijin Entertainment. It’s available as a download from the Playstation Network for about $7.99

The game is a confused mix of things. The cut scenes jump between motion comic style and poorly rendered CGI. The actual game environment is far less detailed and defined than any PS3 title should be. Yet the game still manages to be fun from time to time.

Anarchy: Rush Hour provides you with a back-story where you travel to Moscow to see your girlfriend (and they stress this point like a 14-year-old who is dating a super model). She’s far too cool and hot for our main character, so of course she gets kidnapped by some thugs in ’plain black cars of an unknown make and model’. Yes, all very mysterious, and cliche. How does our hero decide to find her? Call the police? No, of  course not! He jumps in his ride and dives into the underground street racing scene. I mean, that makes sense right?

Story loopholes aside, Anarchy: Rush Hour is a poor man’s Burnout Paradise with a grittier feel to it. By gritty I mean less defined as well as incorporating the seedy side of life in Moscow. The first thing you have to do is begin to impress the local racers, which are gathered into particular gangs. However, there’s no real advantage to doing so aside from gaining cash that you can update your ride or purchase new ones. It would have been far more interesting if, upon deciding which gang and then doing their missions, you unlocked specific gear to pimp and boost  your ride. But you don’t.