The feel of a freshly baked steak and burning rubber can be nothing short of breathtaking. And all that can now be experienced from the comfort your own home with Nascar 2011 the game. But is this Eutechnyx developed game worth playing?
Modes
The first thing players will observation is the menu. This is no ifs ands or buts one of the best menus ever made. The stable in the background and track entrance cards while loading put me right into the Nascar experience. An feel gained from many modes including career, quick race and online play. Now commonly I'd say that occupation mode is where the mileage is at but this time I just can't.
Career mode let's you play as yourself or one of the 43 predominant Nascar sprint series drivers. As you race you gain experience, which can be put in new sponsorships or unlocks supplementary content, commonly an invitational event or a color scheme. The sponsorship is a nice touch. After a incorporate of decent finishes you'll gain interest from predominant sponsors. Put their logo on the car will unlock supplementary bonuses for predetermined criteria, like leading a race for 10 laps. And while the sponsorship is a great idea it only goes so far because occupation mode only supports one season, all hard earned respect goes lost after the 36st race, not great.
Racing
Luckily the cream of the crop is determined on track and in that respect Nascar 2011 the game does very well. Racing with 43 other cars fighting for every inch of the racetrack is an feel unlike any.
During the race the game does a stellar job keeping you posted of the world around you. At the bottom of the screen the Hud gives a clear summary of the surrounding cars. And the tire and fuel indicators are requisite for development it to the end of the race. Trust me I've had races where the tires would suddenly fall off a cliff, leading to the definite puncture.
This is both a good and a bad thing, because while it adds a nice strategic element to it, the operation lacks subtle cues. Tires tend to drop off quite harshly and any car damage is always brutal. I've experienced a race where the car would pull to the left leaving me counter steering straight through the entire thing - no ifs ands or buts exhausting!
Also tactical is the positioning of the front end. These cars drive quite heavily so the entry to a angle makes all the inequity between ending in a giant swabble or reaching the quit line scot-free.
When you do make errors or conclude go the long route, there's always the possibility to pit. In the pits a small screen pops up giving options for refueling, or changing tires. The only downside to this is that it yanks the player straight out of the immersion and switches to a fly cam until the car returns to the track.
The same can be said about cautions. These flags, which indicate a safety car situation, add a big lottery to any race. In the game they don't come out too often (luckily?) but they do get the job done, although it would've been nice to stay in-car throughout the whole thing.
Reasons they don't come out too often probably have something to do with the Ai. They tend to drive very cleanly and don't get tangled in each other's tracks too often. When they arrival an obstacle (probably you) they do a solid job in trying to avoid it, despite failing when in larger packs. Don't expect anything like the real thing though. The two-car bullet phenomenon, where one is the pusher, is absolutely something you won't see in the game. The same can be said about strategic slipstreaming in packs or slingshots. But for the largest part the Ai is satisfying.
Ultimately these elements do compliment the tactical sport that is Nascar, and unabridged they've been implemented very nicely and do deliver close racing as is notorious for the sport, well done Eutechnyx!
Driving
So how do these cars drive? To find out I connected a G27 to the Ps3 version of the game, and grinded my teeth in. To be honest I was a puny anxious at first. Looking a big oval banking advent up and knowing that the wheel is connected to 3500lbs of aluminum doesn't fair well with me. And after many laps of bravery and content, I can say that it absolutely does what it says on the tin.
These V8 muscles are heavy and it feels that way. Changing direction is tough, punishing any rookie entry to the corner. Contrary to what you may think the smaller ovals are what no ifs ands or buts get to you.
Also leading for any tight oval is skillful braking. The balance between high pedal pressure and soft is as big as light and day. Aggressive drivers will absolutely find the car dancing under the pressure, leaving you pray to the upcoming attackers.
As I mentioned before damage adds to the excitement of racing. Any feel with the wall and you might find the car pulling to whether side. Harder feel will hurt the transmission. The damage is both visually and mechanically pleasing, despite never willing to break the car completely. Even the hardest of impacts will not effect in an self-acting forfeit of the race, the only dent in the system.
To prevent damages you might want to tweak the car setup a little. Players can pick between a standard setup (auto tuned for the singular race) or come to be engineers themselves. Aspiring engineers can start out easy using a few sliders to change the downforce, tires and gearbox among other things. I think that most will no ifs ands or buts appreciate this simplified formula of development setups. Go all out though and the game throws any possible tweak into the mix. I can't confirm this but I can dream it being on par with real world Nascar! And the best part is that all these efforts do pay off during the race, both in car-wear and stability.
I can't deny that I'm a fan of Eutechnyx when it comes to gameplay and again they don't disappoint. With every aids off it's maybe a bit shy of being a unblemished sim, but it's inspiring and the setup work is perfect. Likewise easy mode does a great job in offering a pick up and play feel to anything new to the sport.
Online
With the handling aced most will probably photo fabulous online battles, fighting till dusk and pushing the tires to their absolute limit, well don't. Online racing often falls short of the photo we have in our heads, because close racing can only be done with mutual respect. Unfortunately, and I can't blame the devs for this, the oval circuit lends itself perfectly for bump races and ghost riders. I can say that out of all the races I've been on, I done not a singular one with a feeling of pleasure and content.
On the inspiring side I haven't experienced much failures in the online theory myself, although I've heard complaints from other users. So when you do know a incorporate of fair buds that are up for a race, go for it! But for most racers, unfortunately, lack of skill/intention worldwide will mark this mode useless.
Presentation
Nascar the game 2011 is out for the Wii (May 24th), Ps3 and the xbox360. The last two versions are selfsame to each other and is the version that we used for this review.
The current gen is running on its final legs and it shows. The graphics while pushing 43 cars fall short of the best we've seen in the genre. The trackside objects look very flat and do a poor job in conveying the belief that you're part of a bigger world. On the flip side the cars look great and it can be no ifs ands or buts inspiring at times to read a cars backend infomercial.
Also surprisingly good are the pre-race shows. These include hawks flying into the air and fireworks as the cars pass the pit straight, things you'd expect in real Nascar racing. But again unfortunately the in-car feel doesn't live up to the immersion.
This isn't particularly helped by the sound. No matter the view you're in the machine always sounds the same. It lacks a rough edge and is too clean overall. Less clean is the sound of the spotter. This director up in the sky helps the driver pick the best lines and keeps him up to date of the swabbles ahead. In the game however he feels the need to repeat, confuse and annoy, within spectacular short timeframes. He especially feels the need to repeat "all clear" when driving on an island for numerous laps. I do feel that supplementary tweaking and a few extra lines would greatly help the spotter implementation.
Conclusions
Nascar 2011 the game is the first of the series and is shows. On top of that the graphics suffer from having to run 43 cars at all times. Still the racing itself is great and does offer a lot of joy, even when you're not customary with the sport. The proper implementation of damage, tire wear and fuel compliments this feature.
The biggest problem, in my eyes, is the fact that you may find it unrewarding to race. Online is a hit or miss and the occupation mode isn't up to speed just yet. And because of that your mileage may vary to the largest extend, development this title a propose only to the biggest of Nascar fans or the purest of racers.
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