Superleague Formula 2009 - The Game

[Trebor901]

they could have just brought it out as an addon for rFactor that we had to pay for

 

[Trebor901]

Also on the SF website it says 15 euro's launch offer.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Rhys Gardiner wrote an official review about the SLF Game and you can read it here:
http://forum.racedepartment.com/latest-news/26666-superleague-formula-2009-game-official-review.html

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Not really as it has some different rules for a typical SLF qualification.

 

[Trebor901]

has anyone else noticed that it doesnt keep your championship file? i did the first race closed the game, came back and it says i had no saved championship

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

No, still haven't purchased the full license. Rhys would be the man to answer that question i think!

 

[Rhys Gardiner]

Sorry, but I didn't really test that... I was too busy drooling over the car and throwing up over the tracks. :tongue:

Still, that's an interesting find. Another arrow in the game's side, I'd think...

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Football, Soccer, Football, Soccer... Guh. This is doing my head in. Countless mate-debates and pub brawls over the naming of a sport in which a bunch of guys in shorts try to kick a black and white ball into the other team's goal on a rainy day. One of the world's most famous ball games, Football... or Soccer, plays a large part in this article.



Not that I want to imply that I like that sport: I don't mind it, and it's fun to play, but I would much rather watch big, loud, metal/Carbonfibre things whirl around a racetrack than watch a game of Football. Or Soccer.So when I saw on VirtualR.net that Image Space Incorporated was creating a game based on the SuperLeague Formula, I raised my eyebrows. "What is this SuperLeague Formula?" I asked myself. A quick trip to my best friend, Wikipedia, and it was revealed to me: The SLF is a spec open-wheeler racing series, that runs cars sponsored by prestigious Football (or Soccer) teams. Basically, it's teams like Liverpool FC and PSV Eindhoven duking it out on racetracks as opposed to playing fields.

Many others would have said that too, I believe. When a series seems to have no other premise than to slap Football (or Soccer) team names onto race cars in an attempt to make money, and doesn't fit in to the overall motorsport ladder, one really has to question the relevance of it. It's probably the reason why the SLF is relatively unknown, and why the runners of the series approached ISI to translate the series into a game. It would use the time-honoured Gmotor2 engine, the core for all of our favourite sims, basically being a specialised copy of rFactor.

So I looked upon this new development with limited interest, and continued on my merry way. Then there came news from Bram himself that he was contacting ISI to see if he could get a review copy of Superleague Formula 2009: The Game. Following the usual process of review production, I volunteered, and soon enough a key arrived for me. And so, here I am, having driven the Liverpool car on all the tracks included and typing up what I think of the game for your reading enjoyment.

And what do I think of it? Well I don't want to spoil it for you now, so keep reading.

When starting up the game for the first time, I found that the interface needed a little getting used to. rFactor's Customise, Control, Connect menu system has been replaced with slightly obscure symbols that you need to think about before you accidentally click on the wrong one. When I found my way to the car selection menu, I saw the familiar upgrades and race options that players of rFactor will know well. I selected the configuration for Round 1, Magny-Cours, and clicked the Go button to virtually travel to the French track. I drove around for a bit, got used to the car, left the session and repeated the process for all six tracks.

Now, I have good news and bad news. I'll break with usual tradition and give you the good news first: The car is absolutely amazing. To bring the SLF car to our computer screens, ISI enlisted the skills and finesse of CTDP, the modding group responsible for such legendary rFactor and F1 Challenge Formula One mods as F12005, F12006 and the in-progress F1 1991. Their skills certainly show in the physics, looks and feel of the car. Its lines are smooth and sleek, with the kind of class A modelling one would expect from groups of CTDP's caliber. Feedback to my wheel is exemplary, obviously because the game comes default with the RealFeel plugin. The 750hp V12 engine sounds average, but is very hard to handle well. Thankfully the car is easy to hold in a slide, and is just controllable enough that you have heaps of fun, even when not chasing an incredibly fast lap. Setting up the car is an experience too, it being very responsive to changes in the suspension and mechanics. CTDP have done an excellent job, and I commend them for creating such an awesome car to drive.

The bad news? Well, it's a crying shame that such an amazing car can only be driven on such terrible circuits. Five out of the six tracks, which take up the bulk of the game, are an insult to the games they were blatantly taken from. Magny-Cours and Estoril? RACE 07. Donington Park? GT Legends. Zolder? Looks suspiciously close to the Real-Time Racing version. And Jarama... I detect deep shades of Grand Prix Classics' F1 1979 mod. What the producers of SLF09 have done is take these tracks, and water them down. The textures are flat and dull, and polygon counts seem slightly lower. Now I can't say or know whether SimBin or GPC were involved in the porting of these tracks, but the least ISI could have done is keep them at the same quality levels as the originals without taking a step backwards. It's incredibly disappointing to see tracks in a PC sim as ugly as these.

Well then, that's basically it content-wise. Many people whose comments I've read on this game have said that, generally, Superleague Formula 2009: The Game is nothing more than a glorified rFactor mod that you just happen to pay for. Reluctantly, I have to agree with them. The only thing about this game that truly stands out for me is CTDP's incredible handiwork and craftsmanship with the Superleague car. This would have worked so well as a mod for rFactor, maybe an official addon, but unfortunately corporate jumbles got in the way. Even then, I'm not entirely sure whether this would warrant a mod, so obscure is the series this game is based on.
Despite the car, I feel that this game is not worth half of its 40-Euro price tag. Though we are in tough economic times at the moment, 40 Euros for a single car in different liveries and six tracks taken from other games is, quite honestly, ridiculous.

The real life Superleague formula is generally considered a joke, and due to the tracks, among other things, the official game has come halfway to being one too. It's a pity, really. It could have been so much more.

Now... Football... or Soccer?

RaceDepartment Score: 5.5/10
Author: Rhys Gardiner
Screenshots: Ivo Simons
More screenshots and discussions on the SLF Game forum thread: click here

 

[Tomas Beha]

Yes, ISI had Simbin deliver several tracks for this game - so basicly they are conversions, but licensed ones. Not really fair to call a car with Champ Car chassic, a 4,2liter V12 and 750hp a joke - but yes, the series did'nt really rock the racing world.

Little bonus-info, and funny thing from our (Custom-8's) view, Kasper Andersen actually beat the track-record on the real-life Jyllandsringen in his SLF-monster last year when he gave the Danes a change to check out his new wheels. He set a time of 1.04.10, but without a suitable gearing - he mainly drove 2nd gear around the cirquit. To bad we can't try these cars in Race'07 then :tongue:

Kasper Andersen is driving the FC Midtjylland racer, and have also made a little video about the game, since he do like to drive sims as the rest of us: http://blog.kasperandersen.info/2009/11/05/superleague-formula-the-game/ (it's in danish though)

note: we also had him give som feedback on our track, which you can find on our homepage

 

[Rhys Gardiner]

Not really fair to call a car with Champ Car chassic, a 4,2liter V12 and 750hp a joke - but yes, the series did'nt really rock the racing world.

Note that I never called the car a joke - the car is one of the best I've ever driven. It's just that the rest of the game almost negates whatever benefit the car would have given.

 

[Tomas Beha]

Thats true, guess I got it slightly wrong - it was just this final note

The real life Superleague formula is generally considered a joke

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Does anybody know if this game is already on sale with a discount somewhere?

 

[Kol Bailey]

Was this ever on PS3? And A1GP game would be better.