Archive for the ‘Racing’ Category

About a week ago, Xbox 360 Fanboy reported info regarding the next Forza Motorsport - thanks to a leaked survey from Intellisponse - and that the acclaimed racing series could possibly be shipped on 2 Dual-Layered DVDs - thanks to the bevy of new stuff likely being added (400 cars! 100 tracks! Driving Assist!). Well, one of our sources – thanks to a bit of snooping around Dhruva Interactive – claims that this may not necessarily happen in the long run.

(more…)

With two racers just a few feet ahead of me, the race is about to end. I plan to make a dash for the finish line on the penultimate corner. Maybe I’ll manage to squeeze in and beat them to first place. The second-last corner is looming ahead; now’s my chance. But before I can even understand what’s happening, the driver in the second position suddenly spins out of control and crashes into the side wall. As I whiz past, I look back to see him still spinning and crashing into the trailing pack of cars, leading to a satisfying pile up. I grin in amazement at how the AI racers are more realistic than the previous racing games I’ve played. No more rubber band AI. Nice touch there - AI racers that don’t always follow the perfect driving line.

With just one driver separating me from the finish line, it’s time to concentrate. In the excitement of the previous crash I failed to overtake him. The last corner is my only chance to overtake him. As I approach it with just a few feet separating us, I try to overtake him from the inside line. Much to my disappointment, I completely misjudge the turn and crash to my left. The screen goes crimson red. Front bumper crumpling in, windshield glass shattering - the car is wrecked beyond repair. It’s the end of the race for me…or is it? This is where the Flashback Feature comes to my rescue, which allows me to rewind up to the last ten seconds before my fatal crash. I can select any point from those ten seconds from which I can restart the race! I roll back to the point just before the crash, adjust my turn and shoot past my rival towards the finishing line and a thrilling victory.

All of this happened in the last twenty seconds of the race. That’s how exciting and adrenaline pumping this game can get.

(more…)

Every so often, I entertain the thought of giving a licensed game a crazy whirl, preferably based on some popularly, hyped motion picture. The most common perception being that a game specifically made to use a movie brand as a backdrop will most likely reek of fungus bread drenched in spoiled-egg stew, and that the accompanying vice-versa (movie based on a game franchise) will also hold true. Which is what’s so weird about Speed Racer for the Nintendo DS; despite being tailored in mind for people interested in the current-running, heavily-stylized reinterpretation of the Japanese-animated show from the late 60s, the DS version doesn’t borrow many assets from it – especially when compared to its console-counterparts. There’s virtually no story-line to speak of, and signature facets such as the Mach 5’s many whacky gadgets are nowhere to be found (Well, except for the one that makes the car jump – but every car in this game has that!). Even more bewildering, is that it’s a capable, if somewhat derivative, arcade-racer to boot.

More after the jump.

(more…)

Shortly after we previewed the PC version of Codemaster’s upcoming mix of arcade and sim racing game, Race Driver GRID, we had a chance to have a look at the Xbox 360 demo version of the game as well. Weighing in at 795 MB, the demo turned out to have more bang for the buck then other game demos that have been clogging our bandwidth but failing to deliver a gameplay experience that would justify the huge file sizes. With support for online racing in the demo via Xbox LIVE, it is pretty much ensured that this is one demo that you won’t be deleting any time soon, at least, not till the game hits the shelves coming June.

(more…)

The month of May seems to have started off on a great note, what with E-Xpress Interactive playing Santa and leaving us a PC preview copy of the highly anticipated multi-platform game GRID. Knowing the rich history that Codemasters has when it comes to the racing games genre, the racing buffs in us were eager to try out the latest offering from their able-stables. Certainly then, braving the Mumbai traffic to rush back home was something that we were not really too keen upon. However, once back home and having installed the game, it just took us a couple of minutes into the game to know that all the trouble was worth it.
(more…)

2007 was a good year for racing games. Fans weren’t exactly spoilt for choice, but it was more a case of quality over quantity. There was something for everyone; Forza Motorsport 2 for the purists and car enthusiasts, DiRT for some off-road escapades and the best car damage ever, and the highly underrated and overlooked PGR4 with its addictive pick-up-and-play approach.

Like in most other genres in 2007, the Xbox 360 came out on top here was well. Forza 2 and PGR4 were exclusive to Microsoft’s console, while DiRT came to the PlayStation 3 months after it did on the Xbox 360.

But 2008 is a new year, and it’s already off to a smashing start – literally. Here’s a look at what racing fans can look forward to in 2008. Once again, there’s something for everyone – simulation, arcade and even some combat racing. And Sony fanboys can finally stop sulking now, because from the looks like it, the PS3 has got some heavy-hitters lining up on the grid.

(more…)

Trackmania Nations Forever is the newly released edition to the popular free-downloadable racer from Nadeo Studios, known greatly for it’s immense customization and gravity-defying driving sensation, with more than enough sickening loops to make F-Zero turn awkwardly and blush. If you’ve got 500 megs of bandwidth to spare, you should go right ahead and download this. Efforts to not do so will encourage irrationally, unexplained exchanges between your house pet and self. And we wouldn’t want that, now would we?

LINKS:
- Filefront
- GamersHell
- Worthplaying
- ComputerGames.ro
- Internode

Incidentally, those with Trackmania United should check out for the equally free Forever add-on here. FYI, that’ll cut you about 900 megs.