I bought Big Red Racing this morning, and have just played it for four
hours non-stop. I thought I'd pen (key?) a few thoughts for the benefit
of those considering buying it.
It's not a simulator. It's no IndyCar II, nor even a Need for Speed.
What it is, though, is _fun_! In fact, it was so much fun that I had to
get straight back down into town to buy a joystick splitter cable so
that my flat-mate could play it with me on the split-screen two player
mode.
There are loads of tracks - twenty four in all, grouped into Dirt Track,
Quarry, Snow, Water, City and Sci-Fi categories. Contrary to what you
may read in PC Format, the tracks are quite varied. Yes, they are all
loops, but where's the surprise? It's a racing game isn't it? The tracks
are well designed with many nice features. There are some outrageous
jumps, tight corners, and long straights for letting rip down. Each
track has it's own particular style and it's own features. Many of them
are perhaps a little short, and a few of them could be a bit more
interesting. But, on the whole, the tracks are good, and there are
_lots_ of them.
In terms of vehicles, you have eigh*** different ones to play with. On
each track, you are given a choice of two similar vehicles. The handling
of the vehicles is simplistic, but varied. The jeep is totally different
to the half-track, the arachnopod is different to the ThrustBuster etc.
There are no gears, just accelerate, decelerate, left, right and nitro
boost. The control response on an analogue joystick is good, you can
really get a feel for how each of the vehicles is going to respond.
Graphically the game is reasonably basic, polygon based with a
smattering of texture mapping. The real winner is that the graphics back
up the game, but are not the game in itself. There is no flat land
anywhere - every track is up and down with banks, hills, ditches, the
works. It makes for a convincing landscape, with a good feeling of
speed. However, the graphics engine is not the quickest in the world. My
16Mb P133 will run the SVGA mode, but not quite quick enough for my
liking, so I use the VGA mode. But that is not a problem - the VGA mode
is perfectly acceptable.
The front end is hideous. Squiggly, jumping writing, inane drivel
blaring out of the speakers etc. Not impressed. I guess if you like that
sort of thing it would be okay, but I just found it annoying.
To sum up, Big Red Racing is a fun game (and I say 'game' deliberately)
that will provide light relief between bouts of more serious titles. It
really comes into it's own in a multiplayer mode, either using the
built-in and well executed split screen mode, serial link, or LAN
connection. It's better than Screamer, and is definitely worth a look.
Get the downloadable demo from Domark's home page and check it out. If
you like the demo, buy the game - it's better still.
***********************************************************************
* Paul L. Finnemore - Apprentice Veterinarian *
* "I haven't lost my mind. It's backed up on tape somewhere..." *
***********************************************************************
Big Red Racing is rather like Micro Machines in that it is superb in
multi-player mode but poor in single player mode. The AI on the
computer cars is appalling. Domark call the way the cars slow to a
crawl to let you catch up, then accelerate past you with ease even if
you are using the nitro a "feature". Forget this game if you are
planning on playing it alone. If you have access to an IPX network or
have friends with modems then this game is a laugh riot !
>Big Red Racing is rather like Micro Machines in that it is superb in
>multi-player mode planning on playing it alone. If you have access to
>an IPX network or have friends with modems then this game is a laugh riot !
It also plays excellent over the internet via Kali which can be found
at http://www.kali.net and since all races are only 3 laps long it can
easily be completely within the 15minute time limit of shareware Kali.
(although I personally have registered Kali because its a cool program).
Where is Domark located? Is this game release in Europe first?
I'm in Vancouver (Canada) and cannot find it at any stores here yet.
Joe
I think Domark deserves kudos for how they handled the release of this
game. First, they actually stuck to their projected release date, a
minor miracle in itself in this industry. Second, the way they were
able to do this was by no blabbing about the game until it was less
than a month from release. No long months of hype, no 47 missed
release dates. They just waited until they were sure, and promised
what they could deliver. Well done Domark!
Joe
>Big Red Racing is rather like Micro Machines in that it is superb in
>multi-player mode but poor in single player mode. The AI on the
>computer cars is appalling.
What AI? Notice that the cars' paths are 'canned'? They do the same mistake,
do the same turns, finish the same times. Every single race. You can't knock
them off course, guess why? This game sucks in single player. Multi is
awesome! Kali is awesome! Split screen is awesome! Leave the CD out, since it
still searches for the next music track even with music off. I hope there's a
way to use any car for any track. Some of the cool tracks have the slowest
vehicles...
Anyway, just my thoughts on BRR.
> I think Domark deserves kudos for how they handled the release of this<SNIP..>
> what they could deliver. Well done Domark!
I just have to put in a word here...
I made the mistake of purchasing "TANK COMMANDER" from Domark almost a
year ago (I think..) . Anyway, I was VERY UNHAPPY, I wanted to get a
Head to Head sim that I could run with my friends here in town and
to this day (many, many tries) we still cannot get this program to
connect.. ARGH! Poor frame rate (jumpy jumpy) on a dx2-66, now a dx120,
absolutely no connects with a pair of USR modems, crashing in single
play..
All I can say is, I will be looking closely at anything I purchase
from Domark as the Glitzy Cans they put on their products obviously
get more attention than their code..
--
CLARKUS Clark Freeman 1995 Canadian Gas Onroad Champion
ERECTUS Sim Pilot and Race Driver
I've now also got the full version - like Paul says, it's a lot of
fun. I love all the different vehicles - boats, snowmobiles,
helicoptors, etc. I'll be trying it out with Kali soon, I'll let you
know how that goes. I think BRR could be really wild as a multi-player
game.
