It's been six years in development and severely delayed, but having now spent a week with the game so many virtual racers have waited so long for - is it any good? The short answer is yes, but not quite as good as it should be. The problem is when you wait so long for a game you expect perfection - and people that expect perfection will almost always be disappointed with what … [Read more...]
All aboard the Gran Turismo train
Gran Turismo 5 is finally arriving. And as it has been delayed more times than an average British train - when it arrives the passengers will want it to be faultlessly smooth, sell tasty sandwiches and have clean toilets. Customers will be demanding perfection. So now we know when it will finally be out, and the intro video from the game has emerged from somewhere, now … [Read more...]
Codemasters break out the F1 2010 bug spray
After weeks of putting up with tirades of semi-disgruntled customers on their forum, Codemasters have released a patch for F1 2010. As we reported, there were some genuine problems that needed fixing, and it indeed looks like they have fixed them. So what has now improved in version 1.1 of the game? (The Xbox patch is not available at the moment - it should be online on Monday … [Read more...]
The best racing game soundtrack?
ORD’s Dan Thornton posted an article about Gran Turismo 5 the other day (here, if you must know) where he mentioned what the main theme music was going to be for the much-overdue game. The answer is a new My Chemical Romance track called Planetary (Go!) (here, if you must know) and it got me thinking about which racing games have the best soundtracks – and indeed which need … [Read more...]
Is F1 2010 infested with bugs?
F1 2010 has been on general sale for a couple of weeks and has received generally rave reviews. The chart-topping game scored 86/100 on Metacritic. Official PlayStation magazine gave it 90/100. IGN gave it 85 and said it was “Easily the best Grand Prix game since Geoff Crammond was on the beat”, and your very own Online Race Driver scored it 4.5/5. But wait – what was that? The … [Read more...]
ORD reviews Codemaster’s F1 2010 – 4.5/5
Well, where do you begin? After all the hype and expectation, the first Formula One game for four years has arrived. Much was hoped for when Codemasters obtained the licence - a company with a good track record in making great racing games, and their style is immediately apparent when you boot up the game. The presentation and menus are all beautifully presented - clean and … [Read more...]
ORD: F1 at Spa and F1 2010 comparison
Last week I went to the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. And you can see the pictures I took to provie it in the gallery below. I came back from one of the world’s best circuits after three days’ camping very happy (go Lewis!), very tired and very wet, but with my appetite even more whet (yes you do spell whet like that, even if it does look like a silly word when it’s … [Read more...]
The stuff racing dreams are made of
Racing games have come a long way since I was a youngster. My first experience of gaming in any form was a variation on ‘Pong’. I’m not sure who made it, but it was almost certainly possibly nearly identical to this. By the time I experienced my first racing game, things had developed a little, but only a little. My first console (I say mine, I didn’t buy it myself as I was … [Read more...]
Time for the commentary to cease
Often confusing, irritating and hilarious in equal measures, commentary in racing games has for too long been appalling. The PlayStation’s F1 ‘97 was legendary for all the wrong reasons. Murray Walker is, in my opinion, the greatest commentator of all time in any sport, but the game made him out to be some kind of maniac hell-bent on listing who the top-ten drivers were at … [Read more...]
Looking forward to the best F1 game ever made
September 24th 2010. Get that date in your diaries – for it’s the release date of what looks set to be the greatest Formula One game of all time. Five developer videos have been released to whet our appetites, and after watching them I’m bloody hungry. Each will wet your pants for different reasons: the first is a general introduction, the second explains the handling physics, … [Read more...]
Making racing games wheely good
I'm planning to prepare properly for this Autumn. The release of Gran Turismo 5 and F1 2010 are important to me. The dates are in my calendar, my time is booked off work and I intend to get all my affairs in order beforehand - including the writing of a will. It also means that after few months under the bed gathering dust it will soon be time to once again break out the … [Read more...]
Grand Plans for Gran Turismo
The fifth in the Gran Turismo series is late. The game is so delayed in fact, that many fans have stopped caring about it’s release and have moved on to other activities such as raising families, learning to speak backwards and teaching monkeys to ride motorbikes. Gran Turismo 5 at GamesCom on Flickr by Sergey Galyonkin (CC Licence) However, their ears may prick up once … [Read more...]
Why TOCA shouldn’t be mediocre
I unashamedly loved the ‘TOCA’ series. TOCA Touring Car Championship was my first game when I got a PlayStation. TOCA 2 was still my favourite game by the time I upgraded to a PS2, and was only superseded by TOCA Race Driver. By the time Race Driver 2 came out I had upgraded my PC with the very latest software (remember Windows ME?) and bought myself a steering wheel in … [Read more...]
Motorsport Manager Wanted
I always enjoyed a bash on Grand Prix Manager, but somehow always managed to fail miserably with whatever team I picked. I’m not sure if it was my poor understanding of business, strategy, persistent hiring of Damon Hill or anything else I was doing wrong but Damon and his teammate would always qualify on the front row and then fail miserably in the race. Every bloody race. The … [Read more...]
ModNation Racers review: 3/5
So – is it a Mario-Kart beater? Well, nearly. There you go, you can stop reading now. Oh, you’re still here? Enraged and want me to justify that irritatingly ambiguous conclusion? Oh, alright then – enjoy this ModNation Racers review, just for you. The main problem for ModNation Racers, and indeed for any game of this type is that Mario Kart is brilliant. It always has been … [Read more...]