Gotanypop
April 22nd, 2004, 12:41 pm
This game packs in so many different styles of racing into one package it is amazing. Classic cars, V8 super cars, Formula Ford, and on and on...you can read the box as well as I can.
"Ultimate Racing Simulation"? I don't know about that. I would class this game as "Sim-Lite". It is definitely not a hardcore sim like Sierra's Nascar 2003 or the F1 series from EA. It is also not an arcade racer like the NFS series. It is a happy medium which, as it turns out, makes for a great game.
The game does suffer from a poorly designed interface, with no mouse support at all. The game also lacks wheel support in that you can't use your controller to navigate the menus. You must use the arrow and enter keyboard keys. ANNOYING. The in-game control system is somewhat lacking as well in that the game does not recognize which controller you have plugged in. Even CMR4s (Made by the same company BTW) incomplete SP demo was able to recognize my wheel by name and required no controller settings tweaking. I had to manually increase the sensitivity of the steering to make TOCA: RD2 playable.
The sound immersed me in the game. The engine sounds from the other cars around you, the unmistakeable rattle of the loose gravel, the sounds of the accident behind you which you didn't see but knew it happenned, to name but a few.
Graphics are very nice with some cool glinting affects off the cars.
The Damage model is what impressed me most with the game. All hits are modelled very well on the car and damage does affect the performance of the vehicle. If a part is knocked off, it remains on the track to be a hazard to navigation. This game brings something which has been lacking from even the so-called hardcore sims as well: if you hit a wall or another car hard enough, your car can be totalled and knocked out of the race. You can use the old Gran-Tourismo trick of using the other cars as a barrier when passing too fast on the inside of a slow turn, but it isn't going to win you the race or get you very far in the long run.
The AI is "different". Though they tend to follow the optimal racing line, if you drive like a nut and bump a lot and force cars off the track, The other drivers are far more likely to hit you from behind and end your race. I have been guilty of being a bully on the track and I paid for it when I suddenly found myself in a spin whch put me to the back of the pack from first place. On replay I was the victim of what looked like a perfectly executed police-style pit.
The physics model reproduces the differences in the car styles very well. I was worried when I saw the volume of different racing styles the they would just be the same cars with different skins. The Classic Mustangs handle completely differently from the open-wheel Formula Fords for example. Though it is more forgiving than the hardcore simulations, try to shift on a turn or brake too late and you will meet the wall. They may not be real world physics, but they are damn satisying from where I sit.
Bottom line: I like this game alot and give it an 7.8 out of 10. This game was developed simultaneously for the PC and X-Box and should not have suffered the usual "port" interface annoyances. Codemasters could, and have, done a better job with that part of racing games.
"Ultimate Racing Simulation"? I don't know about that. I would class this game as "Sim-Lite". It is definitely not a hardcore sim like Sierra's Nascar 2003 or the F1 series from EA. It is also not an arcade racer like the NFS series. It is a happy medium which, as it turns out, makes for a great game.
The game does suffer from a poorly designed interface, with no mouse support at all. The game also lacks wheel support in that you can't use your controller to navigate the menus. You must use the arrow and enter keyboard keys. ANNOYING. The in-game control system is somewhat lacking as well in that the game does not recognize which controller you have plugged in. Even CMR4s (Made by the same company BTW) incomplete SP demo was able to recognize my wheel by name and required no controller settings tweaking. I had to manually increase the sensitivity of the steering to make TOCA: RD2 playable.
The sound immersed me in the game. The engine sounds from the other cars around you, the unmistakeable rattle of the loose gravel, the sounds of the accident behind you which you didn't see but knew it happenned, to name but a few.
Graphics are very nice with some cool glinting affects off the cars.
The Damage model is what impressed me most with the game. All hits are modelled very well on the car and damage does affect the performance of the vehicle. If a part is knocked off, it remains on the track to be a hazard to navigation. This game brings something which has been lacking from even the so-called hardcore sims as well: if you hit a wall or another car hard enough, your car can be totalled and knocked out of the race. You can use the old Gran-Tourismo trick of using the other cars as a barrier when passing too fast on the inside of a slow turn, but it isn't going to win you the race or get you very far in the long run.
The AI is "different". Though they tend to follow the optimal racing line, if you drive like a nut and bump a lot and force cars off the track, The other drivers are far more likely to hit you from behind and end your race. I have been guilty of being a bully on the track and I paid for it when I suddenly found myself in a spin whch put me to the back of the pack from first place. On replay I was the victim of what looked like a perfectly executed police-style pit.
The physics model reproduces the differences in the car styles very well. I was worried when I saw the volume of different racing styles the they would just be the same cars with different skins. The Classic Mustangs handle completely differently from the open-wheel Formula Fords for example. Though it is more forgiving than the hardcore simulations, try to shift on a turn or brake too late and you will meet the wall. They may not be real world physics, but they are damn satisying from where I sit.
Bottom line: I like this game alot and give it an 7.8 out of 10. This game was developed simultaneously for the PC and X-Box and should not have suffered the usual "port" interface annoyances. Codemasters could, and have, done a better job with that part of racing games.