Another review of a great game.
RACE – The WTCC Game is SimBin’s 3rd race title. After the release of GTR², SimBin was working really hard on the next title. As you might notice when you played GTR², the game looks similar. But off-course there are some differences that make RACE a standalone game.
The first thing you notice when you play RACE, is the wonderful attention to detail. It’s clear that the game is developed by and for racing fans. If you follow the WTCC Tournament on television or in real life, you’ll find this game just awesome. The game obtained the official license of the FIA, so all driver and vehicle data is correct (at the end of the 2006 season).
This means that you can race in any of the real-life drivers in a range of car models. Alfa Romeo, BMW, Seat, Chevrolet, Peugeot and Honda, they are all included in the game. Every car is created starting from zero and look exactly like the real thing. If we were saying that not 2 types of car feel the same way, we are exactly right. Each car has his own (dis)advantages. Front wheel drive or rear wheel drive, 5 or 6 gears, the weight of the car, … When you jump into another car, you will experience these differences like real. Each car has also a fully detailed interior: seats, windows, dashboard, … Even the wipers are functioning.
The weather in the game can be set into 4 types: dry, rain, heavy rain or changeable. When you’re driving a longer race, it’s possible that the weather changes during race. Each weather type has impact on the track condition. When you’re racing in rainy weather, you’ll need to get your racing lines exactly right. But if you practice your racing lines excessively, you need to make sure your car is set-up good enough. As you’d expect of a game so realistic, every item of the car can be altered.
A thing that might scare some people is that there is no explanation of what these settings do.
When you find the game too difficult, you can adjust every setting in the game: reduce the number of cars, AI strength, … When you have the right settings, you’ll feel more at home. When you’re on the track, it’s pretty easy to forget that you’re only playing a PC game. All right, the WTCC-cars don’t drive as fast as the GTR ones, but they are much more fun to drive with. Just like in real life, this is close racing on the top.
The AI of the game is very good. Your opponents will be tough to beat (with the right settings) and if you let the door open in a corner, they won’t be afraid to pass you. In fact, they won’t hit you and spin you around or cause you damage. The damage in the game has a big impact on the car’s performance. The bodywork can be lost, tires can get punctured and even your suspension can be fatal. Also, when you hit other cars too hard or you cut grass, you will get a stop’n’go penalty.
The game’s visuals are really a piece of art. The care that is put into each car, is mirrored into the tracks as well. Each track has been recreated from real life, and they did a great job. If you played other racing games, you’ll find out that these tracks are more authentic.
As in the visuals, SimBin has put a lot of time in researching the sound of the cars. Each car features their real life sounds which are implemented well in the game. When you crash into another car, you’ll hear the sound of crumpling bodywork. The voice effects in the game are actually not so good. Only a few sentences are in the game, going from the position you finished to the state of your car. All with the same voice and intonation.
To add some variety to the game, SimBin implemented the modern Mini Cooper series and the 1987 Alfa Romeos and BMWs. Also in these series, each car handles differently. As the 87’s racecars have no traction control or anti-lock brakes, you will need precision driving skills to finish a race in one piece.
RACE is best played with a good set of racing gear to give you the full experience of racing. Even though you can play with a keyboard, that doesn’t give a good representation of the action during race. If you own a steering wheel and pedals for your PC, you are good to go. If you don’t, you will struggle to get everything out of this game. RACE is a serious driving simulator which requires a good race set.
The online multiplayer races are fully supported in the game. Up to 25 racers can join each other on the internet or LAN. The lobby looks fairly straight, and there will always be an event to jump in to. Some events are only accessible with a password, but when you join a public server, you’ll find out how much more fun it is to race against human people. Most of the drivers you’ll encounter are skilled and mature enough not to tolerate silly driving or bad language. So it’s better to obtain a decent level of competence before showing your skills online. The performance of the online races is quiet good. But everything depends on your and other’s connection.
Offline, you can participate in the whole WTCC season, single race weekends or just choose a quick race. If you’re more a time guy, you can practice and beat your lap times in the practice mode.
The game is currently distributed using Steam, which means you’ll need to have access to the internet before you can actually start racing. Once you’re registered, you’re able to play offline without having to reconnect each time. A bad thing about Steam is that there are some minor bugs in the program when you race online (you lose connection more than you like).
You probably know the screens ...
RACE – The WTCC Game is SimBin’s 3rd race title. After the release of GTR², SimBin was working really hard on the next title. As you might notice when you played GTR², the game looks similar. But off-course there are some differences that make RACE a standalone game.
The first thing you notice when you play RACE, is the wonderful attention to detail. It’s clear that the game is developed by and for racing fans. If you follow the WTCC Tournament on television or in real life, you’ll find this game just awesome. The game obtained the official license of the FIA, so all driver and vehicle data is correct (at the end of the 2006 season).
This means that you can race in any of the real-life drivers in a range of car models. Alfa Romeo, BMW, Seat, Chevrolet, Peugeot and Honda, they are all included in the game. Every car is created starting from zero and look exactly like the real thing. If we were saying that not 2 types of car feel the same way, we are exactly right. Each car has his own (dis)advantages. Front wheel drive or rear wheel drive, 5 or 6 gears, the weight of the car, … When you jump into another car, you will experience these differences like real. Each car has also a fully detailed interior: seats, windows, dashboard, … Even the wipers are functioning.
The weather in the game can be set into 4 types: dry, rain, heavy rain or changeable. When you’re driving a longer race, it’s possible that the weather changes during race. Each weather type has impact on the track condition. When you’re racing in rainy weather, you’ll need to get your racing lines exactly right. But if you practice your racing lines excessively, you need to make sure your car is set-up good enough. As you’d expect of a game so realistic, every item of the car can be altered.
A thing that might scare some people is that there is no explanation of what these settings do.
When you find the game too difficult, you can adjust every setting in the game: reduce the number of cars, AI strength, … When you have the right settings, you’ll feel more at home. When you’re on the track, it’s pretty easy to forget that you’re only playing a PC game. All right, the WTCC-cars don’t drive as fast as the GTR ones, but they are much more fun to drive with. Just like in real life, this is close racing on the top.
The AI of the game is very good. Your opponents will be tough to beat (with the right settings) and if you let the door open in a corner, they won’t be afraid to pass you. In fact, they won’t hit you and spin you around or cause you damage. The damage in the game has a big impact on the car’s performance. The bodywork can be lost, tires can get punctured and even your suspension can be fatal. Also, when you hit other cars too hard or you cut grass, you will get a stop’n’go penalty.
The game’s visuals are really a piece of art. The care that is put into each car, is mirrored into the tracks as well. Each track has been recreated from real life, and they did a great job. If you played other racing games, you’ll find out that these tracks are more authentic.
As in the visuals, SimBin has put a lot of time in researching the sound of the cars. Each car features their real life sounds which are implemented well in the game. When you crash into another car, you’ll hear the sound of crumpling bodywork. The voice effects in the game are actually not so good. Only a few sentences are in the game, going from the position you finished to the state of your car. All with the same voice and intonation.
To add some variety to the game, SimBin implemented the modern Mini Cooper series and the 1987 Alfa Romeos and BMWs. Also in these series, each car handles differently. As the 87’s racecars have no traction control or anti-lock brakes, you will need precision driving skills to finish a race in one piece.
RACE is best played with a good set of racing gear to give you the full experience of racing. Even though you can play with a keyboard, that doesn’t give a good representation of the action during race. If you own a steering wheel and pedals for your PC, you are good to go. If you don’t, you will struggle to get everything out of this game. RACE is a serious driving simulator which requires a good race set.
The online multiplayer races are fully supported in the game. Up to 25 racers can join each other on the internet or LAN. The lobby looks fairly straight, and there will always be an event to jump in to. Some events are only accessible with a password, but when you join a public server, you’ll find out how much more fun it is to race against human people. Most of the drivers you’ll encounter are skilled and mature enough not to tolerate silly driving or bad language. So it’s better to obtain a decent level of competence before showing your skills online. The performance of the online races is quiet good. But everything depends on your and other’s connection.
Offline, you can participate in the whole WTCC season, single race weekends or just choose a quick race. If you’re more a time guy, you can practice and beat your lap times in the practice mode.
The game is currently distributed using Steam, which means you’ll need to have access to the internet before you can actually start racing. Once you’re registered, you’re able to play offline without having to reconnect each time. A bad thing about Steam is that there are some minor bugs in the program when you race online (you lose connection more than you like).
You probably know the screens ...
But where did you get that left picture fromj the 3 from 
