impressed at all.
Some subjective observations:
1. Long Intro Movie in the demo ... who cares ? Takes up bandwidth and
download time but contains zero information about the game. Also the intro
movie shows one horrible crash after the other .... GP500s at least focused
on what makes the sport enjoyable (babes :)). I'd rather have a taste of the
so-called simulation mode in the demo or a higher screen resolution (it only
lets you choose 640x480).
2. Graphics are pretty much average, but one thing does stand out: great use
of shadows! This is something every serious developer should have a look
at... the racing seems much more realistic - I hope the coming F1 titles can
combine these realistic shadows with more lifelike colors and textures to
create a new level of visual realism.
3. The demo is way too easy - even in advanced mode you win the 3-lap race
by nearly one lap even if you go off every corner - stoooopid.
4. Controller configuration is very limited. (acc, brake, turn, shift, look
backwards - no leaning or anything)
5. Physics seem to be nonexistant. But the demo doesn't offer the simulation
mode (the why? might already be the answer to the question if the sim mode
is good or not) so maybe that's intended.
Judging from the demo, EA's effort looses in every aspect compared to the
underrated GP500. It looks to me that this will be a major disappointment
for the fans of true racing simulations. Unless they release a 2nd demo
which demonstrates the simulation aspect of the game, they won't see my
money.
---
Alexander Marx