Beginners begin somewhere else
Written: May 22 '04 (Updated May 25 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Amazing array of car classes, More mature people on live
Cons: rally, supertrucks bore me
The Bottom Line: I got it because it is a fresh of breath air from most arcade racers on xbox.
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| MC_Pucci's Full Review: Toca Race Driver 2 for Xbox |
Q&A update 05/25/2004
You have some great details here, and it's really well-written. But, what does the player actually do in this game? Yes, I know, they race, but what race modes are there? Tracks? Is there a series or career mode? None of the actual gameplay information is here. written by B_Campbell
My answer:
The player can race through a story-mode where the racer is forced to race cars under the race requirements with no capability of modding the car's specifications. Unlike simulator mode where the racer can set up their car to their liking. So if you just want a race with more custom settings. The simulator mode is built for you. If you want to play a linear racing story with cut scenes on how you make it to the top; the career mode is for you. I am not trying to put the game down, but career mode is simply a journey through all the car classes as you try to make yourself the top racer. Every level has a class with a certain point (ranking) requirement in order to run in the next level.
Speaking of the tracks in this game none of them are imaginery. You are racing through real tracks that you see on TV. The notable tracks are: Laguna Seca Raceway, Pike's Peak Speedway (NASCAR Oval), Brands Hatch (Off-road rally cross), Surfer's Paradise (Super V8s track), Balthurst (Super V8s track), Nurburing Short (DTM track), and many more.
(original article below)
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If you’ve played Project Gotham 2 on xbox live you love online racing, but might grow tired of the cheap racing tactics. Tactics such as being side swiped off the track and wall bouncing. What is wall-bouncing? Wall-bouncing is when you use parts other than the front of your car to hit the wall and “bounce” off of the wall with little to more speed gain. Side swiping is when you use your car’s sides to hit their cars sides in order to keep them off track. This game changes all of that!
If you try side swiping in TOCA, you will damage your opponent’s car and even your car. If you try wall-bouncing in this game all that will happen is your car will get stuck to the wall and your vehicle will be damaged.
Damage
A racing game isn’t a sim racer game without damage. There are two ways to gauge damage in this game; visual and physical. The Project Gotham series may have visual damage to cars, but it doesn’t really affect the car’s performance. That is where TOCA takes the cake. Your car will actually feel different when ramming into things because the point of impact can determine what damage will be caused. Five elements of your car will be affected by the damage engine (Engine, Tires, Steering, Suspension, and Gears). As damage is taken in you feel your car’s performance degrade.
Cars
Unlike Project Gotham 2, there aren’t as many cars in this game. However, there is a decent amount of car class races to keep you wanting more. Some of the classes include, “Master’s Grand Prix”(f1 style cars) , “Pacific American Series” (Skyline vs 3000GT), “Formula Ford”, “Rally Cross” (Land Rovers off-road), “DTM” (Mercedes, Audi, and Opel AKA German Touring Cars), “Supercar Cup” (Ford GT versus Koenig Testarossa), “Stock Car” (NASCAR) etc.
On other bad thing about the cars in this game is that they can’t go out of their car class (i.e. no Skyline vs. Mercedes Touring) and they can’t race out of their official locations (i.e. no Stockcars racing off-road in the rain). I don’t really mind it though, since the cars in each car class are well balanced.
Due to car class restrictions horsepower cannot be messed around with in this game, but these settings can; Gears, Down force, Suspension, Ride Height, Anti-Roll, Tires, and Brake Balance. So indirectly having the proper setups in this department will be like an increase in horsepower.In Xbox live mode custom car settings can be turned on or off.
Sound
There are custom soundtracks available, but due to the level of simulation and involvement in the game, you might just want sound effects on and nothing else. The sound effects seem good in this department.
Slight Gripes
The fuel gauge in this game needs to be taken out. It seems like you can’t run out of fuel. If they have a fuel gauge in a game, shouldn’t you expect to run out of fuel? Pit Stops shouldn’t be just for car repairs in this game, but also fuel!
Due to the fact that Codemasters is also the mastermind behind Colin McRae 04, you’d expect rally mode to be ultra simulation. Instead, it falls shy of that. The physics and graphics are below what Colin McRae is at. You want a good rally experience? Then play Colin McRae 04. The rallycross series should stay in the sequel since the physics of the Land Rover are well done. If you are playing this game, expect and excellent circuit experience and an excellent rallycross experience too. There is one series where you have Aston Martins V12 vs Jaguar XKR going against each other in the snow and drift on almost every turn without having to hit the E-Brake.
Super Trucks series needs to be taken out. I mean that license money could have been used to buy something cooler like Nissan Silvia license or BMW M3s. Who likes racing Semi trucks? I know I don’t.
Earning cars might be too difficult for some, but when you play online whatever the host has you can drive as well. But if you lack racing skills, you can either buy the codes to unlock everything from Codemasters for about $5 or wait until someone makes a code generator to do it for free.
Other than those gripes, this game is really worth picking up since it costs only $29 or less when buying it in the US while our foreign brothers and sisters will have to shell out more than $50 (exchange rate calculation done) for this game. Besides that, most people on Xbox live are more mature than the chaps on Project Gotham that start vocal wars. Most of all, you are more likely to encounter clean races in this game.
Recommended:
Yes
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MC_Pucci
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Location: Paris, France
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