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Leaves Much to be Desired

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: June 13, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Some of the physics make you feel as though you are driving a bubble - not a car. The computer opponents are insanely stupid - every time they bump you, you go flying off the road or fall back 5 or 6 positions; whereas if you bump them, they hardly veer off their perfect race line.

The bumper camera is set absurdly low, which makes it very difficult to see the road ahead. Bumps, hills, etc, will send you flying all over the place, computer opponents hardly notice them. The "realistic" wear of tires and what-not is a neat aspect, although computer opponents adjust perfectly when cold tires were put on mid race - which means they continue to hold a perfect race line at perfect speeds.

The game completely lacks a teaching system, if you thought the Gran Turismo system of teaching how to hold lines helped you out, you'll hate this game for the lack of one. The race lines are difficult to hold and see - the cars don't have any "feel" to them what-so-ever. The 900HP F1 cars will nearly drive perfect circles around the circumfrence of a dime at 190mph, but if you try turning those cars at less than 20mph you'll need the worlds biggest parking lot to make a 'U' turn. This can make hairpin turns excessively difficult.

The Career mode will have you driving dumpy crummy cars for one set of races, and the next set will be F1 cars. No practice inbetween races to get used to the difference, no warm ups.

The voice acting during the races gets.. annoying. If you don't set a race to include qualifying, you'll find yourself re-starting it 10 or 15 times before you get used to your car. Every time you restart the race, your pit chief always has a few words of encouragement to share...

The career mode is not about having skill - it's about dodging the idiot computer AI long enough to finish in the top 6. I absolutlely DREAD the thought of having to finish the career mode. Qualifying in the top 3 is difficult enough, starting out with 18 AI opponents behind you - each which

Nice blend of arcade and sim racing

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: November 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is a great purchase for a gamer who is looking for a more in-depth racing experience without the complexity or difficulty of a full-out simulator. The variety of racing genres (road, oval, rally, dirt, etc) is second to none, and the graphics are extremely good, even on a mid-quality gaming platform.

The game has an accessible learning curve, so gamers new to sim-style racing can ease into races without feeling overwhelmed. The AI competition is better than many games though not stellar. Hard-core sim fans might be turned off by the lack of realistic tuning, and the widely varying degree of realism between race types. Drivers looking for NASCAR-style racing may want to look elsewhere.

This game is best experienced with a racing wheel, though I was surprised to find that the game was actually pretty controllable with a keyboard. A clutch and sequential shifter are supported, but there does not appear to be support for an H shifter.

Pros:
-Terrific graphics
-Many racing styles
-Nice arcade/sim crossover feel to it

Cons:
-Quality of racing varies widely between race types
-Racing physics may not appeal to hard-core sim fans
-Limited vehicle setup customization compared to other sims

Bottom line:
The variety of racing styles alone makes this a worthwhile addition to a racing enthusiast's library.

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 31, 2006
Author: Amazon User

If you only buy one racing game get this one. It has everything; track racing, open wheel, off road, rally, trucks, dune buggys and even monster trucks - you really dont need any other game
The physics and handling are greatly improved over the previous game (where the cars had a tendency to 'float' when the going got rough) and the cars can and do suffer extensive damage if you start getting over enthusiastic
There are essentially 2 different games, a career mode and a simulation mode which breaks down the type of racing you participate in by type (off road, open wheel, etc). Both are pretty easily beaten in the early stages but get progressively harder as you go on.
One minor quibble I have is the system of penalizing you for dangerous driving, where it seems that you can get an extra time penalty even when the other cars hit you. However as this can be switched of it is of no huge importance

SERIOUSLY flawed

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: September 09, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game was a gift, but had I paid for it I would've been very upset. Why? It's promising but fatally flawed. It takes you right to the edge where you can see racing perfection, but it doesn't ever get there.

The problem has been mentioned before: your car can't handle any contact at all. If you are even kissed by an opponent, you'll struggle mightily to regain control. They go on their merry way. If another car so much as bumps you, say hello to the wall. And in some cars that means you won't be able to finish the race at all. After the first few times this happened, I got quite angry and decided to go in the reverse direction to strike the car that bumped me into the wall. What happened? I ran into him head on at 140 miles per hour. My car was totalled (the wheels flew off and everything), yet he just righted himself and drove off. That's wholly unrealistic!

Another problem with the game is that you have to "unlock" certain types of racers by winning with the car you want to unlock in the "world tour" mode. That means no practice until after you've won. And, get this...as soon as you get good at driving a certain car in the World Tour, well, it's time to switch to something completely different.

Plus, those off-road racing ones are a complete joke. It's total anarchy out there. If you're interested in road racing like I am, you'll have absolutely no desire to drive one of those big, dumb monster trucks. That should be in a totally different section of the game.

The penalties are also screwed up. Another car can bump you resulting in your car going off into the enfield, and you can actually get penalized for "gaining an advantage". Nevermind that you've lost six or seven places in the race and up to eight or ten seconds time. Ridiculous.

The good part? It looks wonderful. The damage is a good idea (if the AI cars suffered it too). The different types of race cars are very distinct in the way they drive. The game plays smoothly and never crashes, even though my computer's no longer that great (pentium 2.8, Gig of ram, 256mb graphics).

In summary, if they paid half as much attention to the actual racing as they did the aesthetics, this game would be completely awesome. If they wanted to make it difficult, they should've made the AI racers better, not indestructible.

Rocking family racing!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is fabulous! I thoroughly enjoy racing in this game! There are some small downsides to this game, such as week physics performance in the oval section of the game. The road and off-road/rally racing sections are very strong. I would say this game is second, for off-road/rally racing, only to Colin McRae rally 2005. NASCAR Racing 2003 Season is still the best NASCAR/Oval racing sim every made! My sons and I have been racing one another on this game for more than a year now and we still have a lot of fun bragging about who beat whom. Four stars overall from this household!

What happened to this series?

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: March 06, 2007
Author: Amazon User

As a fan of the TOCA Pro Race Driver series, I had to pick up this new installment. And, I'm terribly disappointed. The graphics have been improved over TOCA PRD 2---You can finally use anti-aliasing without any problems. The physics seem to be decent---they feel less arcarde-like than PRD 2. But, the driver AI is absolutely dire. It is impossible race a clean line...the AI will knock you off the road without a second thought. In fact, if the AI was better, I'd give this game a much higher rating.

Also, this game has limited support for the Logitech G25 racing wheel. It does support the clutch, but there is no support for the 6-speed shifter. I haven't seen a patch that adds support, either. If Codemasters patched in G25 support and fixed the driver AI, this could be a fun little game. Instead, it's just sitting on the shelf collecting dust.

If you like racing games, pass on this one. If you're a hardcore TOCA fan, you are not missing anything by not purchasing this game.

Same old physics.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: July 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

More arcade than simulation. AI oppenents make the races more of a demolition derby than a race. Graphics are great, but they are spoiled by a disappointing gaming experience.

hmmm

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: September 01, 2006
Author: Amazon User

The game was OK... the championship setups were not that good. SUre you can drive a bunch of everything... also black flags happened alot for driving a little too far over a rumble strip.

And AI cars were a bit too "heavy" and rarely ever crashed or had a break down... Also alot of cetain car type variations are not included.

If you are a big fan of a certain race series, buy a series specific game instead.

For instance for F1, they only had williams team cars, with modified paint variations, and the only drivers I ever recognized, were actually ex-F1 drivers in some of the touring series. (Last Names only) This game is most likely far more enjoyable, with a steering wheel, I was just using a game pad... WHich you can easily get by with, but feels alot more arcadish.

Widest range of race cars and trucks

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game has every kind of race car, antique car, race truck, or monster truck you could ever want to drive. I like the antique road races in the country and the dirt track races the best. You can do everything including single races (with or without qualifying or practice laps), career mode, and world tour mode. You can also go through training where an instructor gives you tips before, during, and after a series of races. You can watch race replays or skip them. Damage to the car gives a realistic result.

There may be some other simulations out there that are better at one type of race (NASCAR, monster truck, etc.), but this one gives you the widest range to choose from for the price of one game.

This is a good driving simulation that kids and adults can both play. Be sure you have a steering wheel or game controller - keyboard alone won't cut it.

I prefer Burnout for fun, but this wins for realism....

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have to admit that Burnout is more fun to me, but this is an incredible reacing simulator. The graphics are fantastic and it really captures the feel of driving a race car.

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