Jump to content
xisto Community
nelarozi

Toca Race Driver3 Talking about the game

Recommended Posts

Well I bought this along with the Momo race wheel - which is an excellent investment. This is the first racing game Ive bought, but I have played many demos in the past, so have some baring to comment on.First impressions, that playing the game with a wheel is really hard! Although incredibly enjoyable.. I have been frequently saying "OH ****!" as I overjudge a corner and plough straight into a barrier. My heart has been really pumping today, and I feel a bit twitchy after particuarly close races or even on the single rally stages. So im suitably impressed how immersed I feel.. as I come from a FPS, Strat and MMORPG background, and I havent had a buzz like this off any of those types of games in years.I am a car lover, so its great to have such a huge selection of vehicles to play around with. Theres a huge range to choose from, which you have to unlock, but its not a chore, you really enjoy the challenges, and if you dont enjoy a certain class of race, then you dont have to do it.I suspect a strong modding scene will spring up around this game, no guarantees mind, so I think longevity will increase as fans build more cars and tracks to play with. Only time will tell.I am very happy that my investment has brought as much unexpected joy as it has. Bearing in mind that your going to need this game and a wheel if you dont already have one. You can pick up the ultra cheap saitek wheel for around ?15, but I highly recommend you splash out on the Logitech Momo Racing wheel, especially if your a motor head.So 4 stars, as you will have to like racing or cars, to get any kind of enjoyment beyond a week. Goes without saying really, but it is essentially a sim (although you can set it up as an arcade racer.. but wheres the skill in that?) and as such requires a certain amount of dedication

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I've got a steering wheel as well, and the TOCA series has always been good: the ability to drive so many cars around so few a circuits is brilliant for a driving game! You have the challenge of having to learn different techniques for every car that you drive in: something that allows a driving game to have some form of a plot, and preventing you from just picking the best car and beating everyone with ease.Toca 3 is again a game which means you have to have some skill, but also allows you to refine your technique: so when you start off, driving into every wall in sight is still an option, but by the time you hit the "fast" cars, you need to have improved a lot: no longer using the barriers as a guide around the track...What can I say: I think all the TOCA series are really good!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It has taken Codemasters 3 games and around 3 years to come close to perfecting this racing series. I am not saying that this is hands down the best racing game ever, but man, its one of the better racing games to grace the PC in sometime now, and have refined many of the mechanics to make this a worthy racer overall. And for a mere $20 dollars, this game cannot be passed up if you are a hardcore racing/driving game fan!From the moment you start into your career mode/world tour, you are jolted right into a race, which is somewhat jarring. It was somewhat cool how they just kind of throw you in there like a rookie and see what you can do, but when you do not have your controller configured and you are using automatic, also with not having played this game before, its hard to know what to expect which makes the initial race somewhat annoying, but I really don?t think that it counts for anything, so that was cool with me. The next thing that really stood out to me is that this game is not about racing modified Japanese crap like every other racing game out there, or only racing F1 series, or only racing stock cars; this game literally has you driving anything with 4 wheels on, and some things with more. When I first started playing the TOCA series, I was floored that I was supposed to race semi tractors. Sure, they were not like racing F1 cars or American V8 muscle, but they sure were fun and different, and different this game does and does well. This game may not have every car on every manufacturers rooster, but it has the cars that count, and that you will really want to drive unlike GT4 where half of the cars in the game are crappy Asian 34 bhp cars which are not fun to drive, yet they have been in the Gran Turismo series since GT2, and are still present in GT4 for some odd reason. Cars like the Ford SHO Taurus and Ford Focus are worthy additions to a racing series, since you can actually use them for racing. Sure, I would love to see more cars in this game, but there is enough here to get the job done at the end of the day.Next is its simulation aspect. On one hand its super deep and with you going in there knowing what you are doing, you can blow by the competition with just some gear swaps, toe and camber changes and a few other small tweaks. This game is really easy to get into for beginners and they can easily race for a good long while without touching any of the settings, but in order to mater this game, you are going to need to at least change a few of the settings once you start getting into the more advanced races.And finally, I feel that dirt track racing deserves some mention. In TOCA where you have rally or sprint car races, this is probably one of the best rally games out there. This might have something to do in that Codemasters, the creators of TOCA 3 also make the genre defining Colin McRaes Rallisport Challenge year after year and keep doing a superb job in adding to the series each and every installment. If you have played Gran Turismo 4?s special condition races(snow and dirt), you know that it feels like you are sliding on glass the entire time, no matter the type of terrain you are on. In this game, you can actually feel you car bite the dirt at times and it also will take a few seconds after getting off the dirt onto the Tarmac to get dirt worn off the tires and get some traction. This really adds an enormous amount of realism to the game, not seen in many other games.Oh, and a little side note, if you are getting the PC version, make sure you pick up a controller. I have been using the extra controller that I bought for my 360, and its quite possible one of the best controllers I have ever used on the PC, and just works perfecting for this game. Sure, its $39.99 where as some cheaper logitech?s are 19.99, but it is most defiantly worth the purchase.Sound is great, every car sounds different, crashes feel for the most part real and like they would in real life. Not really anything that stands out as genre defining, but there are really no criticisms either. Crashes sound very realistic, and engine noises sound dead on. On thing that was the one major hiccup was voice over radio from your manager. Sometimes he will say things that would apply during the race, but he will say them on your last lap after crossing the finish line. One example is; ?Now make it happen from here on in? when you cross the finish line on your final lap to end the race which is kind of random, and they really should have just put an if statement in there to fix that up. Its not a major problem, just something that detracts from the gameplay a little bit.The graphics are on par, they are not on the 360 level with Project Gotham Racing 3 which came out a year ago, and I really don?t understand why. On my nVidia 7800GTX, I have every setting pushed to the max, and AA and AF turned on, yet it still is not as refined as a year old game on a console with a graphics card that is somewhat inferior to mine in my PC. I really do not understand that. I am not saying they look terrible, but they will now blow you away if you have gotten your hands on a 360 since launch last year. The high point of the graphics for me is the detail used in the cars. On some cars where the engine is exposed, you can see the crankshaft just barely turning when at an idle, but when you start winding the thing up. Sure, it?s a little thing, but it makes the game 10x cooler.Online on the other hand leaves a bit to be desired, sure, its here, but getting into a race is kind of tough at times, the menu is a little difficult at first, and finding someone can be a challenge, but when I have gotten online, there really has not been any lag that has really hampered the game too much.My final thoughts on this game are; if you are a racing fan or know anyone who is one, go out to the store now and pick up the game, its only $19.99 and will keep you coming back for months, even if you wont be playing it online. :PB)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.