At this point I've lost count of how many Road Rash games I've played. This has the same premise as every other Rash game before it, paper-thin 'Jailbreak' plot notwithstanding... although, on the first level a cop ran over two pedestrians to tase me, causing me to crash into a car (I wasn't fighting at the time so as far as he knew my only offence was speeding). So this game does have added realism going for it I guess?
Anyways, with every entry following the same formula, the experience lives and dies on how good the game feels. Road Rash: Jailbreak is... pretty good actually, especially after the disaster that was RR3D. The bikes handle pretty nicely, and the tracks are generally laid out quite fairly - although those with narrow winding roads still do stand out as really bad, especially since opponents don't seem to need to brake to make sharp turns! The draw distance still isn't the best, but the game does mitigate this with the clever trick of having cars honk at you from a distance if you're in their lane, which gives you an early audio cue to get out of the way. Combat has also been expanded with a rudimentary combo system and the ability to hold multiple weapons, and feels quite nice as well!
I suppose the main reason why I can't consider this the definitive Road Rash experience is that it isn't quite good enough to be the best in any meaningful category: those looking for a chaotically fun arcade-like experience are better off with RR64, while the best racing game-feel in the series undoubtedly still belongs to Road Rash ('94). And while it does have more game modes (like a cop mode, and some vs. modes sorely lacking from RR3D), the main campaign is strangely flat, with no way to earn money and almost zero choice in bikes. There were 3 one-off missions which were especially memorable (finish a track within a time limit, beat up one specific character, and the titular jailbreak), and if the game actually explored having more races with specific objectives it would have been something interesting and flavorful! Without that, this is what people expect from EA now: more of the same, but they've probably done it better before.
Anyways, with every entry following the same formula, the experience lives and dies on how good the game feels. Road Rash: Jailbreak is... pretty good actually, especially after the disaster that was RR3D. The bikes handle pretty nicely, and the tracks are generally laid out quite fairly - although those with narrow winding roads still do stand out as really bad, especially since opponents don't seem to need to brake to make sharp turns! The draw distance still isn't the best, but the game does mitigate this with the clever trick of having cars honk at you from a distance if you're in their lane, which gives you an early audio cue to get out of the way. Combat has also been expanded with a rudimentary combo system and the ability to hold multiple weapons, and feels quite nice as well!
I suppose the main reason why I can't consider this the definitive Road Rash experience is that it isn't quite good enough to be the best in any meaningful category: those looking for a chaotically fun arcade-like experience are better off with RR64, while the best racing game-feel in the series undoubtedly still belongs to Road Rash ('94). And while it does have more game modes (like a cop mode, and some vs. modes sorely lacking from RR3D), the main campaign is strangely flat, with no way to earn money and almost zero choice in bikes. There were 3 one-off missions which were especially memorable (finish a track within a time limit, beat up one specific character, and the titular jailbreak), and if the game actually explored having more races with specific objectives it would have been something interesting and flavorful! Without that, this is what people expect from EA now: more of the same, but they've probably done it better before.