Like a Sunday drive with the Bodines...
Written: Sep 10 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fight to the Top mode singlehandedly saves this game from one star.
Cons: Terrible AI, bad driving physics, worse damage mapping, ridiculous "street-racing" segments.
The Bottom Line: A decent game for the casual fan, but realism, AI, and control issues prevent this one from being even an average offering.
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| strykerbc's Full Review: NASCAR Thunder 2005 : Chase for Cup for PlayStatio... |
Maybe I'm just spoiled. See, this is my first serious encounter with EA's NASCAR products. EA forced my beloved Papyrus out of the market by buying exclusive rights to NASCAR properties for gaming purposes, which meant an end to the amazing "NASCAR Racing" series. I was skeptical about EA's ability to put out a decent NASCAR game, but to an extent they've proven me wrong. Let's start with the strongest point of the game, Fight to the Top Mode, and proceed down the ladder from there:
Like Madden's Owner Mode, this is NT2005's crown jewel. Starting out in the local Featherlite Modified Series, you go out and show your stuff, and hopefully gain enough prestige for a Craftsman Truck Series team to call you up and ask you to test their ride. Post good times in the test session, and they'll have a job offer for you. It works like this as you progress through the Featherlites, the Trucks, the "NASCAR National Series" (really the Busch Series, but renamed to avoid selling beer to the kiddies), and finally the Nextel Cup. But beware--the first offer you get to move up is probably going to be in equipment which can only nicely be described as "junk." Try to move up too fast and you'll have the so-called "Dave Blaney Disease"--lots of talent, but stuck in rides that can barely finish the race, let alone finish top-5 and bump you up the ladder. Once you've signed with a ride, you're stuck with that ride all year. Mercifully, though, you can run as often as you want without being fired. Feel like running part-time in the Busch series to get your name out there while running full-time in the Trucks? Hey, no problem. You won't be fired for skipping work every week--you just won't get paid.
The Fight to the Top begins (in utterly ridiculous fashion) with Ryan Newman pulling up next to you at a stoplight and challenging you to a street race. Win, and he'll have his agent put you in a Featherlite car. A terribly unrealistic gimmick lifted straight out of that awful Stallone movie, "Driver"? Yes, but this is EA we're talking about. Street races will come into play later on in the game as well, as your fellow drivers will sometimes challenge you to them. Generally, this happens as your prestige improves and people want to challenge you for show. Sometimes, it happens because you ticked the wrong guy off on the track. Winning these races will unlock production vehicles for use in races of this type, making it almost a half-NASCAR, half-street drag game. You'll also be given the chance to compete in charity races. While these don't pay, they do win you fans, prestige, and hero/villian points.
Speaking of fans and hero/villain points, these are some of the more dimwitted features of the games. Want to earn some fans before a race? Engage in a mind-numbing, button-mashing "autograph session" that will end up doing more damage to your controller than benefit to your cause. As far as hero/villain points go, it's pretty self-explanatory. Race clean and ye shall be a hero. Race to win and ye shall be a villain. It's hard not to be a villain considering how difficult controlling the cars is, but that's a story for later on.
Another cool aspect of Fight to the Top is that once you have enough money, you can buy your own team at any level you can afford. Once you've purchased a team, you can sign sponsors and drivers, upgrade the equipment, and even set the price of souvenir trailer goods. You can drive your car yourself if you want, but if you've got overlapping commitments (i.e., a Truck race and Cup qualifying on the same day), you need to have a fill in driver signed for one of the two, or you'll be regarded as a no-show.
Skill points are another addition that doesn't really add much. Basically, race clean, win, stay out of the wall, and draft well to earn these, which can then be used to buy Thunder Plates. Thunder Plates are basically Madden Cards. They unlock features of the game such as tracks, drivers, sponsors, paint schemes, etc. There are also some "performance-enhancing" plates that give you an automatic pole position in qualifying, etc.
The unlockable tracks brings me to my complaint section--most of the tracks in this game do not exist. One of the real life tracks that the Nextel Cup series goes to, the amazing Pocono Raceway, is conspicuously absent. A number of notable drivers are missing from the game as well, such as Jeremy Mayfield, Sterling Marlin, Jamie McMurray, etc. Don't get me wrong, lots of the tracks are fun, but I'd like to at least see real tracks on the schedules, not the obviously-fake "Old Spice Speedway."
Another serious beef I have with the game is its driving physics and damage modeling. These cars and trucks DO NOT HANDLE LIKE REAL RACERS. Not even close. You can go waaaay too hard into turns and still save it, and even you go head-first into the wall, you'll be able to drive away and get back up to speed within seconds.
Ask a real driver what happens when you go head-first into the wall.
The speeds considered reasonable for track use are also ridiculous. I pulled through the turns at Martinsville at almost 100 mph with little trouble. In reality, if you try to get through there faster than 65-70 tops, you're going into the wall. Period. Of course, as stated, that's not a big deal with this game.
I also have serious issues with the control mechanism. Driving is damn near impossible with the analog sticks. The cars are just way too sensitive and will fly into the infield in larger, gradual turns such as those at Daytona. The only solution I've found to this is adding so much wedge that the car is tighter than a...never mind...and it's still irritatingly loose.
The biggest insult of all, though, is the "Pack AI" that EA sells the game on. Folks, this isn't "Pack AI." It's "Khan AI," as in the wrath of Khan. If you so much as bump-draft a guy the wrong way, his goal in life for the rest of that season is not to win races, but to prevent you from living to see Monday. I've been a lap down and had top-ten cars driven by my rivals dive down the track and wreck me. Took themselves out of contention, but they did some work on me as well. If a driver doesn't like you, they will blatantly wreck you regardless of what it means for them. It's basically like driving on a track with the entire Bodine family--no fun at all.
All that said, EA's NASCAR game isn't terrible. It's nothing special, certainly not worth $50, but it's not terrible. The Fight to the Top Mode is what saves this game--without the added dynamic of progressing through a career, NASCAR 2005 would be unplayable. Even still, this game has some serious flaws. If you're looking for a very expensive stress reliever, buy this game and just crash into everything. Hell, it's pretty hard not to crash into everything, so if you're trying to, it should be lots of fun. If you want a realistic NASCAR simulation, with true-to-life physics and top-notch AI, then go find Papyrus' NASCAR Racing 2003, which I would heartily recommend over this barely-salvageable game any day.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
strykerbc
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Member: Ben C.
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Reviews written: 61
Trusted by: 12 members
About Me:
Stop reading my profile and read the dang reviews!
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