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Intro  When
first hearing about Pro Race Driver some time ago, the idea
of living the life of a fictitious character through the trials of
living in his family's shadow and competing for his own piece of the
time, well, it just didn't seem tempting. My immediate thoughts were
of Stallone's Driven; and, while I'm a fan of 'The Sly', I
just couldn't bear to see his career take a nosedive like that, so
having the description being equated with Rocky's downfall just wasn't
something that enticed me. Well, after spending a good deal of time
as the other Ryan, I have to say that whatever preconceived notions
I had that were negative where absolutely wrong. Codemasters delivers
one of the most enjoyable and versatile racers of the year with this
fantastic release.Gameplay: 8.5/10 Oh, that Ryan Mckane, he thinks he is so cool. Well, he does have a fantastic name, and, if the player's skill is up to par, great skill behind the wheel as well. It's not all champagne and beer endorsements, though. Ryan's had it rough. Son of a famous racecar driver, he and his brother witnessed his dad die in a crash some 15 years ago, and now they have both taken up the family sport. He isn't just competing against his father's legacy, though, as his brother, Donnie, is now a famous driver himself. Trying to get into the limelight is going to be tough when competing with a legacy and a living pro. That's where the player comes on. Picking up as Ryan starts off on his career, they'll need to impress a team to sign up with him; which won't be hard, since I think the first trial can be won driving backwards. After getting a crew, the player will find themselves hanging out in Ryan's office, which will also act as the hub to get to all races and options. The computer and answering machine are the key items though, as challenges will be sent through both, as well as offers to race new circuits. Personal challenges can result in the player getting their opponent's car, if they win. Job offers come in the form of offers to compete in contests, and each race within the contest allots points to the top five places, and these places go towards a total amount of points to move to the next tier of races. Tiers and challenges all feature a wide array of cars, 42 licensed vehicles in all, that range from muscle cars to speedy racers; so, if you have a particular favorite vehicle, there's a good chance it, or a nice substitute, is in here. Don't any of the offers or challenges lightly. The player's performance is reflected in future correspondence, so poor driving will get poor offers, and vice-versa. What's interesting and also most enjoyable and frustrating, is that each of these invitations come from different companies who offer different cars to race in. The option is given to tweak a car before driving, but since I'm a novice in the area of the automobile arts, I left the standard configurations in place, and they did just fine - a nice feature was the head of the crew giving vocal descriptions for each part of the car, the course, and why the settings were configured as such. The different cars actually have noticeable control differences as well, sure, some will be more noticeable than others, but it'll be those times when a car seems nearly impossible to control that'll really test the player; there are ways to practice driving before actually racing, but it'll still be tough. The course designs, on average, are great. Several courses are repeated, but it's not really a big problem since the different cars make it feel refreshing each time. There's also a spectacular tight track that has a lane barely enough to fit two cars, except in straight portions and larger turns, but those can either result in some great crashes or some exhilarating victories. There are a few courses that seem almost too unforgiving, especially if the AI for that track is ramped up, but, a good equalizer was found from a friend: if someone is giving you a run for your money, slam into them and then book it, most of the time the computer takes more time to recover from an accident and it gives the player time to gain some much-needed distance. For the instances where there are accidents, they are quite the site; excellent body damage will have glass shards flying everywhere, bumpers falling off, fenders laying in the road to be ran over, and even massive pile-ups with debris everywhere. If a course is too tough, instead of trying to find the course advantage, there's no shame in making one - with a little force. Car damage is probably the most controversial part of Pro Race Driver. There's a nice indicator showing the damage done to various portions of the car, so the player is always made aware of what's going on, but it's the wreck to damage ratio that seems off. A car can flip in the air three times, land on its wheels, and continue to race, but, a car can lose a tire and the player is screwed. Now, if they are going to be lax about damage, why not give the player the ability to place themselves back on the track, but penalizing them a few seconds? If this is in the game, I couldn't find it. Restarting a race can be done in personal challenges, but in actual races, it's a loss. One positive is that the pit is speedy and efficient; while not prone to going into them myself, some races do require them, so it's nice to know that a good lead won't be lost by following the rules, or using common sense - yes, I'm looking at you Daytona USA. While spectacular to look at, some fine tuning was needed to balance out just in what direction they wanted to take the game. With aspects being sim-oriented, and gameplay that has a tendency to feel more arcade-like, there's also the life aspect of the game. In between courses, players will get to live a little of the Mckane lifestyle. This includes: getting cussed at by random drivers, random cutscenes of no importance, meeting some ladies, getting talked down to, acting overly cocky, chatting at press conferences, and whatever else a - budding- professional driver might experience. Don't take that as law though, as I have never been one, but it certainly seems realistic enough. Some of the scenes help to push the story and really give the game something dynamic to help it all together, while others seem like they were tossed in to kind of keep attention; but, with such a story-driven game, I would've like to have seen most, or all, of the fluff scenes provide something of substance. Overall, though, the story and being the one living the career of a fictitious racer is a fun change of pace. Aside from the uneven mixture of very
easy and pretty hard courses and untapped potential of the story
sequences, the major problem is that Pro Race Driver doesn't
seem to pick which side it wants to be on. There are several successful
titles that blend arcade-style racing with Sim aspects, but in every
area, one is always overshadowing the other, and that makes it difficult
for the player to get a solid feel for the game. Whatever negatives
there may be, under it all is an absolutely fantastic racer that's
both fun and incredibly addictive. Graphics: 8/10 Sound: 8/10 Control: 8.5/10 Overall: 8.5/10 [ top ] |
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