World Racing Initial, and superficial, impressions..

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Sun Mar 23, 2003 3:11 pm

Picked this one up and had a chance to sit down with it today...
 
 First of all, the game has one of the most confusing interfaces I have ever seen in a racing game. While I can understand and appreciate what the developers were trying to do by allowing you several ways and places to access many gameplay options, at first you´ll likely have a hard time figuring out what race you are about to race next, or even what car you are using! Make sure you use the ´race scheduling´ option, or whatever it is called, as your base...that will keep you somewhat sane!
 
 I am also glad this game is on the xbox, AND it supports custom soundtracks. The ingame tracks were turned off before the end of my first test lap. Horrid stuff.
 
 The handling of the vehicles, at least the lower powered ones available to you at the start of the game, is not nearly as difficult as advertised. In fact, the sim-inclined can go right ahead and put the sim level at 100% from the start, along with turning ABS and the other driving aids off. It´s OK, you´ll be able to handle it. No where near as difficult as Ferrari f-355.
 
 I´d also suggest turning off the dynamic AI difficulty, unless you are a fan of rubberband, catch-up racing. While not as strong as Apex´s rubberband, dynamic AI lets you catch up pretty easily after some poor driving, and likewise keeps the AI close even if you have been running perfectly. Like Apex, the catching up is easy, but the overtaking requires some work. I have found fixed AI at about 85% to be a nice place for me to start.
 
 The cokpit camera is nice in this game, and works well with my wheel. They have a rear view mirror, but I have found myself turning it off unless I needed it, because it does seem to affect frame rate. Frame rate can slow down a touch from time to time even without it, especially at corners, but nothing so-far that affected my control.
 
 The tracks I have raced on so far have been nice, and it is true you can see areas of the track far in the distance that you can race right up to! Neat touch! They included ´fog´ as a weather effect, and the first few races i raced happened to be in fog. I was annoyed as i though they were using a cheap tactic to cover up pop-up, but I have since raced in other conditions with much better visability.
 
 You are rated in various driving aspects as you participate in each race, stuff like fairness, style, etc. You will get demerits for ´shortening´ the track by cutting corners, taking shortcuts, etc, but so far I have found the penalties to be somewhat inconsistent. I have taken some serious shortcuts and only been penalized a little, while other times by tire barely clips the dirt at a corner and I lose points. We´ll see how this plays out.
 
 So far I am enjoying the game. I have some new cars and tracks unlocked, though honestly I don´t know how or why...maybe time released?
 
 PK, no real early ´pucker factor´ in this game either, but the driving experience is better than Apex´s.... [ This message was edited by: webdanzer on 23-03-2003 11:12 ]

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Sun Mar 23, 2003 4:17 pm

I´m with you 100 percent on the menus. Quite possibly the most confusing interface I´ve seen in any videogame, period.
 
 All of your other points are spot-on.
 
 So far, I´m very encouraged by the physics model. It seems to simulate weight transfer very well, even at the default 50/50 sim-arcade level. I love the way the car understeers, plowing straight ahead with tires seemingly chattering, when you try to turn while braking too heavy and too late entering a corner.
 
 Frankly, I think the graphics are a touch overrated. The cars look decent, but the textures, lighting and backgrounds are nothing special. Apex looks nicer, I think, and Rallisport still looks better than both! But the draw-in distance is stunning. You can see all the way to the horizon in great detail, which is awesome.
 
 I think many of the reviewers of this game didn´t stick with it. Yes, the early vehicles are slow sedans, wagons and mini-vans. They´re sluggish in acceleration and aren´t that quick. Still, the racing is quite fun, and the AI isn´t cheap at all. It also follows proper principles as far as the racing line, etc.
 
 In summary, I´m really, really encouraged by the physics model. Can´t wait to get to the higher-performance vehicles!
 
 Take care,
 PK [ This message was edited by: pk500 on 23-03-2003 12:18 ]

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 12:22 pm

This bears another mention..
 
 Major kudos to the developers for the way they enabled the player to taylor the difficulty in this game.
 
 The dynamic ´catch-up´ model is fine for players who just want a down and dirty arcade fix, while the way you can set a ´fixed´ difficulty level down to 1% increments is just awesome.
 
 You can perfectly tailor the game for a difficulty that suits you, and know that how you place is based on soley how you race. YOU can decide approximately how much leeway you should be allowed.
 
 You want to be knocked out of contention after a couple of bad turns? Fine, pump the setting up. You want to be able to have the chance to recover from a bad wreck or two? Fine, reduce it!
 
 This is a difficulty model I would love to see in every racing game out there from now on...

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 1:16 pm

Web:
 
 Agreed, 100 percent. Between the cars, long courses -- hell, it took me 12 minutes to complete a two-lap race last night -- excellent driving model and adjustable AI, this game is a definite keeper.
 
 Take care,
 PK

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 1:23 pm

Are we going to get a review of this one, PK?
 
 <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_smile.gif">

Neckthai · Post by **Neckthai** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 4:03 pm

Nooooooooooooooo!
 
 Not another game I must have. I can´t play all these titles and sleep and work. Something has got to give. <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_smile.gif">
 
 Neck

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 4:19 pm

Web:
 
 Yeah, I´d like to work on a review, indeed. But I need to get my review of NCAA Basketball 2K3 done before the damn season ends!
 
 Rest assured, I´ll have plenty of hours of happy playing time with World Racing before I review it!
 
 Take care,
 PK

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 4:54 pm

I am enjoying the hell out of this game.
 
 Glad you guys are too !
 
 All the above impressions seem accurate to what I´ve experienced. Except, I think WR´s graphics are superior to APEX´s (especially on my setup). I just wish there was a hood cam instead of the straight on 1st person one. That one is a tad too low to the ground for me. I like the ´cockpit´ view but I lose too much detail from the beautiful tracks.
 
 I also suggest turning the weather effects off as they add no value and look pretty bad IMO.
 
 I see myself enjoying this one for a long time !!! <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_biggrin.gif">

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Tue Apr 01, 2003 12:15 pm

I´m contemplating getting this due to PK´s endorsement, but I went and watched the movies on IGN and am a bit concerned about the physics. Looks like those vehicles just bounce around like toys.
 
 What am I missing/

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Apr 01, 2003 12:34 pm

Randy:
 
 Do you mean bounce around after collisions or bounce due to excessive suspension travel?
 
 The former is true -- just as it is in every console racing game, including the mighty, overrated Gran Turismo 3. Sorry, but the original Gran Turismo still is the toughest in the series, by far. <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_smile.gif">
 
 The latter experience in World Racing is not. I haven´t sensed any excessive suspension movement. Sure, the lower-class cars will lean and roll a lot more than the prototypes and DTM touring cars, and that´s realistic. There are no modifications available, so when you´re driving a Mercedes mini-van with a high center of gravity, you will feel some pretty good lean and roll.
 
 My only disappointment with this game so far is the off-road component. I know many people have raved about it, but I think it´s next to useless because you can drive through trees! That kills any challenge in point-to-point off-road racing.
 
 Thankfully, I didn´t buy this game for off-road racing. I bought it for asphalt racing, and I think it delivers quite well in that area, especially with the sim slider turned all the way to sim and the AI slider tweaked to your level of competition.
 
 The courses are just magnificent, too.
 
 Randy, if you have qualms, is there anywhere in your area that rents this game? WR is no PC sim, but I think the driving model is every bit as good as the Gran Turismo series or F355 when the sim setting is set to 100 percent sim.
 
 And the AI racing line seems a lot less robotic and drone-like than either of those games. I wouldn´t call it fluid like Jarrett & Labonte Stock Car Racing, but the CPU cars will get a bit offensive and defensive in their movements instead of rolling around the track like a Lionel train, cars connected in a straight line.
 
 Let us know what you think if you get your hands on the game.
 
 Take care,
 PK

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Tue Apr 01, 2003 1:57 pm

Good call, I´ll go ahead and rent it.
 
 Re cars bouncing around - I don´t agree with you that anything I´ve seen in hundreds of hours of GT3 time looks like the video footage on IGN of WR!
 
 Also, GT3´s racing was my problem with it, not so much the car handling. But then again, there were no Force Feedback Logitech wheels for the original Gran Turismo on the PSOne. That makes ALL the difference.
 
 FWIW I spent some time with the wheel on V-Rally PS2, Rally Fusion PS2 and Pro Race Driver PS2:
 
 V-Rally doesn´t let me change views using the wheel controller, and their in-car is AWFUL. It´s very realistic for the position it´s in, but is way too zoomed in ahead. You can´t possibly drive a Rally car through twisty mountain roads using sideways sliding with such a narrow field of view. It´s too bad because in most ways the cockpit view rocks. It just ain´t all that usable. Anyway, the wheel works well with it, but the handling leaves something to be desired, as it´s almost impossible to apply the "correct" amount of opposite lock to catch and end your slide. You end up sawing the nose left and right unrealistically.
 
 Rally Fusion is actually not that bad with the wheel, in spite of the game being rather limited in its feature set and gee-whiz aspect, the racing felt pretty decent and corrected fine with the wheel.
 
 Pro Race Driver also feels fine except for the big bug where FF turns off if you pause the game or use the test session before a race - have to keep unplugging/replugging the controller to force a re-detect. ACK!
 
 I think V-Rally 3 may end up being a dual-shock only game because of the need to saw left and right on the controller. There´s no such thing as smooth here.
 
 The other 2 can be wheel games, but only Rally Fusion REALLY benefits from it in my opinion
 
 Pro Race Driver also suffers from the "Turn too much get oversteer" problem. The only thing PRD understands to be understeer is when your brakes are locked. You can´t actually have rolling understeer in the game, which really sucks.
 
 So there ya have it <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_smile.gif">
 
 Randy

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Apr 01, 2003 2:11 pm

Thanks for the feedback, man.
 
 V-Rally 3 is pretty lousy with the Controller S for the Xbox for pretty much the same reasons you mentioned for the PS2. The cars are just too "whippy" in their handling. There just isn´t enough of a gradual feel to the sliding, especially on gravel. You´re either going straight or snapping the car sideways -- very little in between.
 
 Rally Fusion surprised me. A pretty fun game as long as you accept it´s an arcade game with some catch-up logic in the rallycross racing.
 
 Either way, I´d take Rallisport Challenge for $19.99 new over either V-Rally 3 or Rally Fusion for the Xbox. And I´d take Colin McRae 3 over all of them, warts and all.
 
 CMR 3 is quite good, especially from the driving model aspect. But Codemasters better add more features to CMR 4, such as the ability to drive more than just the Focus in the championship mode, all parts unlocked at the start of the game and the ability to determine your repairs at service, or the CMR series will plummet quickly.
 
 Yes, the driving model in CMR still reigns supreme. But other rally games are getting closer, and they´re offering a lot more features.
 
 Sort of reminds me of the race for superiority in baseball games. High Heat always had the gameplay down pat with few extras. Now the other games are approaching HH´s gameplay and offering a lot more modes and features, making them better and more fun overall choices, in my opinion.
 
 CMR 4 is a make-or-break edition of the series, in my opinion. It is in development right now, but I know little about it other than that fact.
 
 Take care,
 PK [ This message was edited by: pk500 on 01-04-2003 10:14 ]

RandyM · Post by **RandyM** » Tue Apr 01, 2003 4:29 pm

>> Either way, I´d take Rallisport Challenge for $19.99 new over either V-Rally 3 or Rally Fusion for the Xbox. And I´d take Colin McRae 3 over all of them, warts and all. >>
 
 Hm, at $19.99, Rallisport is overpriced <Grin> Seriously, I played it to death trying to like it as much as many others did, but aside from pretty graphics, I had to punt it, because the courses were just too darned short and I got tired of the tach banging against the stops on every straight!
 
 > CMR 3 is quite good, especially from the driving model aspect. But Codemasters better add more features to CMR 4, such as the ability to drive more than just the Focus in the championship mode, all parts unlocked at the start of the game and the ability to determine your repairs at service, or the CMR series will plummet quickly. >
 
 Agreed <IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_smile.gif">
 
 Randy

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Apr 01, 2003 4:53 pm

>>>Hm, at $19.99, Rallisport is overpriced Seriously, I played it to death trying to like it as much as many others did, but aside from pretty graphics, I had to punt it, because the courses were just too darned short and I got tired of the tach banging against the stops on every straight!<<<
 
 Yeah, spot on. But I don´t hold Rallisport to the same standards as Colin McRae. It´s an arcade game, a fun and beautiful arcade game.
 
 So it was good fun for me before CMR 3 arrived.
 
 Take care,
 PK