arcade trash, although possibly with some impressive graphics.
Hmmm . . . I was pleasantly surprised.
In sim mode, the car handles darned reaslistically. I'd have to go and drive a
Viper itself (any offers ;-) ) to find out if the sim is as accurate as it
feels. I think even seasoned GP2/GPL players would find themselves looking
rather ungraceful for moments during the lap. Lay down too much power and
you'll be squirming all over the place looking for grip. Brake insufficiently
before downshifting and you'll soon find the rear doing its best to beat you
to the line. The whole experience is about carefully balancing an overpowered
brute through the corners. Probably not as difficult as GPL, but the game
has its own challenges. Corrections and powerslides happen over a longer
timescale than in F1 simulators, but that doesn't necessarily make driving
easy.
OK, I didn't spend lap after lap just trying to stay on the track, but I
think the car dynamics will make a lot of people very happy.
The car setup is about as detailed as once could expect on a road-going vehicle.
Then on to the graphics: On my P200 (non-MMX) with an ageing STB Velocity 128,
I could get a beautiful, fluid 29 fps ! IMO this points to some pretty
impressive coding.
Maybe once the cars get beyond "Easy" AI, the frame rate will take
a dive,but I don't see it being significant.
And I *REALLY* liked the fact that the entire demo interface is well-thought-out
and FAST! No long waits between mouse clicks. No visible bugs. Slick ...
Great replay function.
It looks as if the designers were fully aware of the competition from other
simulators,and the simulator seems complete in every department. I was planning
on buying TOCA2 after I get GPL, but Viper may come between me and TOCA2 if
money is a problem.
Take my advice . . check out the demo !
(No, I don't work for Sierra or MGI. I'm just ludicrously happy at the moment)
Ryan