rec.autos.simulators

Playing the PC version. It's a lot of good clean arcade fun. Not a
simulator, but the engine sounds put many real sims to shame, as do the car
models....very nice.
Feels a bit like NFS-Porsche Unleashed.

Got the PS/2 version a week or so ago...
Using a Logitech Driving Force and RGB into a 21" TV.
Sound: optical digital to 5.1 amp with active sub.

Anyway... impressions.
Firstly I bought this because I had some spare cash after trading a load of
games to get the excellent Sony F1 2003 game for PS/2 but that's another
story. But...I thought that the Ford Driving 2 might be a bit pants because
a. it was 20 and b. the first one was dire to me.
But the gamble paid off...

Menu interface:
OK. Takes a while to load things and I'm now sick of the box shot splash
screen that pops up every time you're loading something, but it's not too
bad. Interface is definitely for the console market.

Graphics:
Good. We've come to expect GT3 style graphics in our games, and FD2 doesn't
disappoint.Cars look sharp, tracks look good, even if they've got the "I'm
an arcade look at this odd scenery" thing going on with cranes across roads
and jets flying by overhead. I do ask why, surely the processing power for
that could have been put to better use. Anyway, the graphics are sound on my
system. Nice touch that there's the occasional flameout on the faster cars.
One point though, there's no in-car***pit. That's fine for me, but for
others that's no good. Oh, and the only two views are in-car and behind-car
ala GT3 I suppose.

Sound:
Sounds OK to me really. Nice choice of music, but I have that turned right
down for racing.

Controls & handling:
Again, fine with a steering wheel. The cars aren't twitchy, but it's
possible to get the back out. There's definitely a feel that you're driving
a car for the road though as they tend to understeer a little if you're not
careful, but no more than your usual commute home type thing. I found that
setting the cars up for corners really helped, as did taking a smooth line.
Which is good. And as there's no slap on a turbo upgrade you're stuck with
the car at that speed so you'd better get good with the handling.

Game modes:
There's loads of modes, I've probably forgotten some but...
* Straight race : race against 6 other similar classed cars.
* Duel: race against one other car.
* Knockout (IIRC): Race severeral laps with each lap against another car.
* Time limit: hit the barrels to gain more time ~  this is excellent in a an
old Ford Mustang Mach III...
* Racing line: follow the racing line, time penalties if you go off it.
* Time attack: good old fashioned racing to set the best time.

Phew... anyway, they're all OK, but the racing line is a real sh*t to
complete with a car that's got roadie sloppy suspension. My biggest gripe is
that you have to unlock the various difficulty levels before you can custom
race at that track and/or style at that particular level, very arcade and
very annoying.
Which brings me on to the second gripe, or rather frustation...
I like to think that Im not too bad at completing racing games, I've had a
few, and I've got the gear... but anything other than the novice (lowest)
mode is damn hard to say the least. I reckon the top level racing line and
time limit modes are going to take some form of drug induced concentration
to complete...

But... the whole lot was made good when I got the Nascars.... heh. I don't
like Nascars (Que flame) but I enjoyed these puppies. After ragging it round
the race track in some old thing, getting one of these should be easy I
thought... but no. I think it can be summed up by saying "Don't touch the
gas in 3rd on a 3rd gear corner"... but it's not like it's completly
unrealistic, it just takes some learning, and then it's easy to be fast.
Must be excellent racing on the harder levels...

The cars the star...
So, there's 32 cars in the game, not an exhaustive list by any stretch, and
there's some glaring ommisions... The original Gt40 for one, and the BAJA
racer for another But the list isn't bad, with a good mix of on and off road
vehicles to choose from across a wide time span. Not all are available on
all tracks though, so
don't expect to Nascar it round a city....

The tracks aren't so good though.
They're too short. Good bends and nice scenery but way sub 2 minute lap
times
are the norm. Saying that they sound not too bad, but they seem really short
to drive, not like an open road circuit that it's meant to be at all...

Overall it's a good game, not quite complete as it doesn't cover all of
Ford's greats (alas) and the tracks are a little short, but I'm glad I
bought it, and it's an easy game to play... probably a good arcade game I'd
say.

Regards,
AndyC