I haven't had this much fun with a racing game since the original Need for
Speed. I may never take my steering wheel off my desk again!!!
The graphics are ultra-realistic and the opponent AI is incredible. The physics
are intense - even sitting in my desk chair I can almost sense when the backend
is going to break traction in a turn. The rain, storm and other weather effects
like fog are incredibel and seem to change at random throughout the various
laps.
There is a large variety of tracks and each can be raced with various weather
conditions and reversed. Many of the tracks are quite difficult and I find I'm
having trouble just getting to the checkpoints in the allotted time let alone
worry about placing at the finish line. Of course checkpoint mode can be turned
off which but if you can't beat the clock you certainly don't stand a chance
against the other drivers.
The weather effects are grea. Rain, fog, and thunderstorms complete with
lightning flashes, etc. You can see the rain falling at various levels of
intensity and the track gets appropriately slick and spray comes off the other
cars. I was a bit disappointed that the drops didn't hit the windshield -
especially since NFS2SE already proved this special-effect could be done - but
despite that small oversite the bad-weather racing is an incredible challenge.
There are 3 view - behind the car - on top of the car and in the car but there
is no dash but you do have a HUD display which can be turned off (or rather
minimized to the essential instruments). As with most of these games - it's
pretty much impossible to play from behind the car and maintain the realism
factor. The in-car view combined with a wheel+pedal kit is outrageous fun!
Oh - and let's not forget to mention NIGHT RACING with headlights that actually
work. You can only see as far as your lights - VERY FUN and to my knowledge the
first night driving game for the PC - at least one that actually required the
cars to have headlights.
Bottom line - this is a FUN FUN RACING GAME. It is NOT a sim - there is NO
damage and very little car setup. You can change GRIP and ACCEL and TOP SPEED
based on a fixed allocation of points (similar to POD - increase GRIP and your
SPEED goes down, etc.)
