Playing Around with Gear.Club Unlimited 3’s Free Play Modes
Gear.Club Unlimited 3 is a new racing game for the Nintendo Switch 2. Even if you haven’t played the other games in the Gear.Club Unlimited series, Gear.Club Unlimited 3 is easy to jump into. The game has a Story Mode where you can race in both France and Japan, but it also has a bunch of different modes in Free Play. Let’s take a look at the Gear.Club Unlimited 3 Free Play modes.
The Different Free Play Modes in Gear.Club Unlimited 3
Gear.Club Unlimited 3 was developed by Eden Games, and is the third game in the Gear.Club Unlimited series. While I haven’t played the other games in the series, you can easily jump into the third game without knowing anything about the series. When I first started playing the game, I tried the Story Mode, where you compete to represent the Gear Club in Japan. After I played the Story Mode for a while, I played around with the different modes in Free Play.
Race Mode
Race mode is exactly what it sounds like. You pick your car out of either a small selection of stock cars or cars that you’ve purchased in Story Mode, and set off on a race. You can choose from a large selection of tracks in both France and Japan, and you can even select the time of day. Racing feels smooth, and although it can be hard to turn corners at times, the controls make it feel like crashing is your fault instead of the game’s.
Duel Mode
In this mode, you go 1 v. 1 against another car. You each have a health bar, and the goal is simple: stay ahead of your opponent. Every time you complete a lap ahead of your opponent, your opponent loses health. Of course, if your opponent crosses the finish line ahead of you, then you lose health instead. This mode is a lot of fun.
Time Trial Mode
This is similar to time trial modes in other racing games. You set a best time by driving a lap, then you see if you can beat your best time. This mode is okay, but it can take a long time to make a lap, depending on which track you choose, and with no other racers, meaning that first lap to set your best time can be a bit dull.
Highway Mode
Highway Mode is new to the Gear.Club Unlimited series. In this mode, you have a limited amount of time to weave your way through a road packed with cars. Reach the end before the time runs out, and you win. You get more time for driving safely, but making contact with anything will cost you time. You can also choose the traffic density to adjust the difficulty. I liked this mode a lot. I still haven’t beaten it, but I had a lot of fun trying over and over again.
Free Roam Mode
You pick a car, pick a track, and just . . . drive. Yeah, you drive around the track over and over with no goal and no other racers. Unlike in Mario Kart World’s free roam mode, you can’t go off-road, and there are no tasks to complete. Sure, the graphics are pretty, and you can use the radio to switch between different catchy tunes, but this mode becomes boring quickly. Free Roam Mode might be useful to practice your skills on the tracks, but otherwise, it’s not really worth your time.
I’ll Keep Playing Gear.Club Unlimited 3
While I enjoyed some of the Free Play modes more than others, there is definitely some solid variety here. You can also play with two players, but I didn’t have anyone to play with, so I didn’t get to try the two-player mode. I’m sure it’s a lot of fun to play this game with a friend, though. Gear.Club Unlimited 3 can be purchased for the Nintendo Switch 2 for $49.99.
