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A Little Better than Le Mans 24 Hours

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 16 / 19
Date: November 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

It may at times be best to compare and contrast Total Immersion Racing with Le Mans 24 Hours. Both games feature multi-class racing action in ALMS-style (American Le Mans Series) racing - in numerous events in both games, all three car classes are on the race circuits at the same time. Both games also prominently feature real-world race venues, many of which must be unlocked. Both games also include series/season-based championships, although Total Immersion Racing certainly has far more of these series/season-based championships than Le Mans 24 Hours. Both games feature numerous licensed cars from many real-world racing teams.

However, of these two games, Total Immersion Racing would likely get the nod as a better choice for a racing game. First, based upon initial release in the United States, Total Immersion Racing is only about one-fifth the price of Le Mans 24 Hours. Despite this incredibly low cost, Total Immersion Racing actually has a true Career Mode, which itself is split into three difficulty levels. In terms of changing car set-ups for each race circuit, Le Mans 24 Hours has VERY few tuning options, whereas Total Immersion Racing allows changes to more than a dozen different aspects of a racecar (except in those gameplay modes using Amateur Difficulty - here, car tuning is not available); further, Total Immersion Racing allows the player to change car set-ups alone or in conjunction with the team engineer.

Le Mans 24 Hours has the edge in terms of overall competition with up to twenty-four cars total on the track; Total Immersion Racing has a "measly" eighteen cars total in competition at most races. However, the "extra" six cars in Le Mans 24 Hours necessitates lower-quality graphics and sounds to reduce CPU strain; with six fewer cars on the race circuits, Total Immersion Racing can instead focus its CPU power to graphics and sounds. Total Immersion Racing also has team radio communications from the team manager, an aspect lacking in Le Mans 24 Hours which makes its races seem even longer than they really are (especially its full-length endurance races).

On the other hand, car handling in Total Immersion Racing is awkward, and car tuning (which is not available in Amateur Difficulty) cannot fix the most annoying aspect of car handling. Cars tend to be extremely "squirrely" through and exiting corners, with cars in the higher classes even "squirrelier" than the cars in the lower classes. While this can generally be balanced by adjusting downforce to the front and/or rear of most cars in the game, the button sensitivity CANNOT be overcome with tuning. The PlayStation2 features 256 levels of button sensitivity in the X, Square, Circle, and Triangle buttons, and true hard acceleration and true hard braking are only available if the player presses VERY hard on the appropriate buttons; this requires pressing so hard so often and so long that the player's thumb (and perhaps the entire right hand) begins to ache after just a few laps, and the player really needs to stop and take a break for ten to fifteen minutes after approximately every ten laps of racing... which is neither good nor realistic for the longer races. In this respect, Le Mans 24 Hours is a much easier game when it comes to the drivability of its many cars.

In the end, Le Mans 24 Hours gets the nod as a better racing game, primarily because of the button sensitivity issue in Total Immersion Racing. However, Total Immersion Racing is still a VERY good racing game; for its incredibly low price, it needs to be in the collection of EVERY serious PlayStation2 racing gamer.

BRILLIANT NEW DRIVING GAME. A 'TOTAL BLAST'!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: December 13, 2002
Author: Amazon User

THIS IS A TREMENDOUS SURPRISE. FOR ONLY TWENTY BUCKS YOU GET WHAT MAY WELL BE THE BEST DRIVING GAME RELEASED THIS YEAR.
THE GAME FEATURES BEAUTIFUL VERSIONS OF SEBRING, SIVERSTONE AND A FEW OTHER LESSER KNOWN, BUT REALLY TRICKY EUROPEAN CIRCUITS.
GT, GTS AND LMP CARS ARE AVAILABLE. I WON'T GO INTO ALL THE NITTY GRITTY, BUT SUFFICE IT TO SAY A HUGE AMOUNT OF WORK WENT INTO CREATING A TERRIBLY ACCURATE SIMULATION MODEL. EACH CAR IS UNIQUE AND THE PROTOTYPES WHICH DEPEND MORE ON DOWNFORCE HANDLE
CHARACTERISTICALLY - WHICH FOR LESS EXPERIENCED DRIVERS MIGHT TAKE AWHILE TO GET THE KNACK FOR. THE GAME IS BEST PLAYED WITH THE LOGITECH WHEEL - ANYTHING LESS AND YOU'RE KIDDING YOURSELF IF YOU THINK YOU CAN GET A FEEL FOR WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON AS FAR AS HANDLING GOES. GRAPHICALLY THE GAME IS SOMWHERE IN BETWEEN THE OLD AND THE NEW - MEANING NOT QUITE AS SHARP AS GT3.
BUT IT IS VERY VISUALLY PLEASING NONETHELESS. THE CARS ARE WONDERFULLY REPRODUCED. THE AUDI R8, BENTLY EXP 8 , DOME PROTOTYPE, BMW V12 LMP AND PANOZ LMP ARE OUTSTANDING. THE ENGINE SOUNDS WILL TOTALLY KNOCK YOU OUT - ESPECAILLY THE SONIC
FORD V8 OF THE PANOZ WHICH IS LIKE AN AURAL HURRACAINE. THE REPLAY MODE IS SIMPLY SPECTACULAR AND RACES, PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING CAN BE RECORDED AND VIEWED - A GREAT FEATURE.
BOTTOM LINE IS THIS - IF YOU ARE INTO ARCADE TYPE HANDLING AND ABSOLUTE STATE OF THE ART GRAPHICS LOOK ELSEWHERE, BUT IF YOUR ARE A TRUE DRIVING AFFICIANADO WHO UNDERSTANDS A GOOD SIMULATION MODEL FROM A NOT SO GOOD ONE AND YOU ALSO DIG DRIVING ON WONDERFUL CIRCUITS THEN THIS MAY BE THE SLEEPER HIT OF THE YEAR.
CANNOT BE RECOMMENDED HIGHLY ENOUGH. HUGE PROPS TO ALL INVOLVED IN CREATING THIS GAME.

Great game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game, one of my favorites alongside GT3. I say this because the gameplay and driving simulation is very realistic. It's not really an arcade game, which is fine with me, but is a driving simulator. Even small adjustments to the cars are noticable on the track right away. Graphics not as good as GT3 (what is?), but you don't notice that when you're racing. Awesome tracks and cars (Audi R8 and Bentley Speed 8 included), and a great challenge ladder.

I wish: replays had more than 1 angle of view; and the opposing cars were a little better competition; it's really too easy to win, even on "Legend" difficulty.

But none of that takes away from the fun of the game, and the great realism (which is what I look for). By the way, please use a Logitech Fore Feedback wheel to get the full experience. Happy racing!!

Great value for $...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: May 24, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game isn't exactly the most popular, but it is a quality game you should buy if you like racing games.

Graphics are generally solid, although not spectacular. The selection of cars is good, and the tracks are well designed. The buttons are a bit too sensitive, but the controls are nice.

Overall, not a fablous racer, but a good budget game.

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