YouGamers.com

Reviews

RACE 07: Official WTCC Game

Bring Your Controller of Choice (and Some Patience)

Veterans of past SimBin titles may notice some changes in the controls, specifically gamepad controls. Both RACE and GTR are geared towards the hardcore set, and those who have the luxury of a wheel - particularly a Force Feedback-enabled wheel - are treated to the same exacting handling as in previous SimBin games. But for the masses, gamepad input code has been tweaked, offering a more forgiving and natural experience when steering with a gamepad (these same handling tweaks apply to drivers using a mouse and keyboard, but that's an option of last resort).

RACE 07 ships with profiles for the most popular controllers, but custom profiles can be created

As with everything else in the game, control options can be fined-tuned to suit just about any taste

Piloting a car with an Xbox 360 gamepad still carries with it a steep learning curve, and the instant return-to-center that comes with an analog stick takes some getting used to. With an Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel, driving is more natural but still quirky, largely because Microsoft hasn't released fully-functional drivers for the unit with any version of Windows (Force Feedback isn't implemented, and the gas and brake pedals are tied to one axis, reducing racing to a go-or-slow affair). More advanced wheels with working drivers, such as most Logitech models, offer the most authentic experience.

Replays Done Right

After giving up completely on Forza 2's frustrating replay and photo modes, it's all smiles using the replay feature in RACE 07. Just like a DVR with television, a replay is always recording (the length is configurable from the default of 30 seconds), and replays are automatically saved for later viewing. Speaking of television - the game is branded with the Eurosport logo, so the default replay camera is naturally the TV-style camera. Those of us on the wrong side of the Atlantic likely know Eurosport as the strange cable channel that is always showing grown men kicking a ball around a field, but they're also known for airing motorsport events that don't make the airwaves on American-based networks. After a few days of racing, the replays begin to add up, and the replay theater can quickly (and happily) become a vortex of lost time.

Replay features have been beefed up, with configurable replay length and automatic saving of replays

Even the AI drivers are fallible when jockeying in the first few corners

Replay mode has an unintended negative consequence: the game's lackluster audio is highlighted when you're not focusing on keep the car between the barriers. Engine sounds are well-matched to the various cars, and other sounds effects are appropriate, but all of the audio lacks the polish of the game's other assets (the sound of rushing wind is absent in open-cockpit cars, for instance, and crashes are aurally understated). There's no built-in support for hardware-accelerated audio, and even with a Creative Labs X-Fi Xtreme Gamer, my ears were underwhelmed. For a game that does everything else so well, spending more time on the audio system and sound effects would noticeably bolster the racing experience.

Online Play: Not For the Faint of Heart

On the positive side, multiplayer is functioning - and fun - from the get-go. By now, SimBin have honed their netcode to produce an acceptable level of lag, even with 10 or more drivers on the track. AI drivers can now fill up empty slots in multiplayer, though this practice is frowned upon in most online races. The most substantial improvement comes with the integration to Valve's Steam platform. With a Steam account in hand, the Shift-Tab key combination brings up the Steam in-game community interface to connect with racing buddies. Steam's voice-chat features also come in handy, as RACE 07 lacks in-game voice chat of its own. The in-game server browser offers the usual race mode filters, and I was able to connect quickly and seamlessly to servers with open slots.

From the school of cheeky passing...

Step One: Come up fast and ease off the accelerator

Step Two: Pull out of the draft and step on the gas

Step Three: Say hello to the new friend in your mirrors

Multiplayer races are generally one-off races or full Race Weekends, with a voting system to determine when to move from one element (such as practice) to the next (qualifying, for instance). My only word of caution: if you're new to the game, spend ample time in solo mode, practicing and dialing in your control scheme. The RACE community tends to lean toward the serious end of the spectrum (though some servers are intended for newcomers, and are labeled as such). This means that driving the pack into the wall in the second turn will earn you stern reprimands from other players. I should know: I spent the better part of an evening unintentionally ruining races with overzealous starts on servers from London to California.

Page 1: IntroductionPage 2: What's New?Page 3: GameplayPage 4: Controls, Replays and MultiplayerPage 5: Graphics and HardwarePage 6: Summary and Scores

Related Stuff

Tags