Graphics - 3/10
While looking impressive at still shots it fails in motion. Cockpit view worsen the fps and speed immersion. My machine goes on full setting with all Simbin games and rFactor, so it's bnot a hardware problem I think. They added tones of candy things who are just eating fps, lots of voving objects on track side etc. Bad desision. And what the hell is this bluring dials in cockpit at speed. Where the hell hell is this idea coming from? Does anyone loosing ability to read in car dials at 150kmh in real life. Amazing how sensless it is.
Physics - 0/10
While not bad as for 'game', it's distaster confronted with what was expected and hyped based on marketing of the product. You don't feel conected to surface you drive on. Steering is delayed. Force feedback is joke. With no aids low power cars behave like you are seating on rubber ball and control the car by two string attached to steering rack. If real cars had behave this way, I would be dead 20 years ago. The behave better when traction, braking and stability aids are on. I guess that was the licencing condition from manufacturers LOL
I am yet to unlock more hardcore cars tuned to race spec, but still... it's a joke. I drove in real life quick cars, some in half race specs on tracks. Over years I drove some 50 laps of The Ring in variuos cars (some rented quick machines) and again I would have died 100 times if the real cars behaved that way.
I hope I am missing something fundamental about settings for steering wheel calibration, as I can't believe how bad it feel
oh, you're awesome, we all suck.
I love reviews from guys who played a game for 20 minutes, then justify their opinions by saying they drove on a real track.
The FPS issue is on Xbox, as the PS3 does not have problems with FPS. Welcome to Mickeysoft.
While the PS3 version is already patched, there are still some bugs (Viper Vs. GT battle-you can't race as Viper).
All the control issues can be changed/correct under 'steering tuning'.
Nurburgring times on some cars are very close to actual times seen in the press.
The blur aspect is to give a sense of speed, and to force attention to the road ahead. No one reads dials at 240 km/hr (oh, wait, you know this from your 'ring experience).
The game starts out bad, but actually gets quite deep after a while. There are enough cars, and they can be all race-spec'd (a la GT, GT2, but then lost thereafter). There is a nice tuning mode, and upgrade mode.
I recommend the Lotus Exige or the Audi R8.
The auto settings are annoying at first -they drop you into a new car on a new track, and judge your ability in one lap. Verdict: lam-o, but you can turn off all the aids.
The game is far too easy on 'easy' or 'medium'. On hard, the AI is really variable. Overall, the AI is good for collision avoidance, but exactly like GRID for aggression. Far better than GT5. Race events and AI behavior is good, with cars running off track, minor collisons up front, but there are too many catastrophic flips and bumping a car will allow you to drive right under them. Crash/bump physics are more accurate, and not fake like GT5.
However, at points it gets REALLY annoying. Ever wonder what would happen if they got 16 Bugatti Veyrons together for a race at the 'ring? Apparently, everyone would bash about like a country fair smash up race with $16M worth of cars.
So far, I'm at 120 stars and level 26, and have done some on-line races (all horrible, kids can't race). This game should be compared to GRID, and in that respect is a better game, but unfortunately, EA took a nice model from Simbin and crapified it for the US market. Those doughy yank kids think that racing games should be demolition derby. It's frustrating to come out of Eau rouge perfectly, draft the car ahead, enjoy the physics of the car, then have the opponent just bash you out like some ******** 14 year old online. That's what NASCAR games are for. The poor coding and bugs is typical EA -they always do a 80% job.
The whole precision/aggression aspect is just stupid, you can bash cars around and still be deemed "precise". Many car battles on 'hard' can only be won by bashing out the opponent. Damage mode is the same with "visual only" or "full".
Why you should rent or buy used: the McLaren F1 in Dolby 5.1 around the Ring. That's worth it.
How this game would be better:
1. Forget the fake tracks. I don't know why developers insist on crappy fake tracks that run through cities or under tunnels. Forget ovals, they are as boring to drive on as to watch.
2. More real road racing tracks, accurately modeled. The real tracks, like Spa, are accurate for track details, but not surroundings. The beauty of games like GPL are the real tracks, and historical tracks.
3. Remove the aggression aspect of the AI -make it into a racing game, not a demolition game.
4. Replay mode is weak.
5. Reward system is far too overdone.
It's a lot of fun, but with some changes, it could be great. It's about racing and thrills-very unlike GT5.
No weather, tire wear, pitstops, red flags, etc. Like all other console games -0 sim value.