Just finished my first race, and man I'm impressed - here's a quick review for those at work...
Game is solid, and I mean solid 30fps with some nice blur and some nice subtle camera jolts for hard collisions - completely smooth for me so far...
Graphically, it looks damn impressive - bright lighting but not blinding like DIRT, 20 cars on the track, detailed car models, super-detailed crash models including flying debris like glass and bumpers, great in-car dashboard, sharp textures, trees that actually look like real trees, lots of spectators - I can keep going on...
Controls - spot-on - the car has some insane grip and response on the track - it drifts so tight that I half-expect to spin out on every turn, but it grips the corners so tightly it's like your wheels are stuck to the track, the brakes make the car stop on a dime and the drifting combined with the lovely smoke feels so satisfying - I think GTAIV's driving is the reason why I was making such cautious turns at first...
Sound is just lovely - let's just say that when I battled my way to 1st during the beginning of the second lap, I didn't even have to use the rear view look, as I could always tell when the guy in second place gained on me, and from which side he was approaching from, and I could block him without even looking back... crashes sound satisfying with the crushing metal and glass as well, especially when you hear the other cars crashing either up ahead or behind you...
AI is great as they don't just drive "perfectly" around the track which I absolutely hate in games, they actually battle each other by ramming during turns, of even on straights when next to each other - a few cars tried to take me out as well, but again thanks to the controls I was able to hold on like a pro and avoid losing control...
Back to the car models and damage - my first race, I purposely crashed sideways as I drifted into the pack in the first turn to get ahead, and had my front left bumper crushed in, a few more hits and it flew off onto the track where it collided with other cars... slid off the track a few times from taking them too hard so I restarted the race...
Second time, I flew into the pack on the first turn, this time my left wheel axle got bent crooked, which led to my car sliding off to the left on its own as I drove.. then I thought, let me race properly the third time - where I drove aggressively but carefully, and won the race, witnessing and starting a few pile-up crashes along the way...
Menu presentation is pretty damn nice as well, just like how DIRT's impressed me as well...
Nice touch is how you can press the Back button in the middle of a race and get an instant replay, which I found out by accident while trying to find out where to switch camera angles...
So yes, I'm impressed, and I've only done the races so far, and I still have the two other events to do - and I had the replay of my win going on the whole time as well... make sure to download this when you guys get home...
Game is solid, and I mean solid 30fps with some nice blur and some nice subtle camera jolts for hard collisions - completely smooth for me so far...
Graphically, it looks damn impressive - bright lighting but not blinding like DIRT, 20 cars on the track, detailed car models, super-detailed crash models including flying debris like glass and bumpers, great in-car dashboard, sharp textures, trees that actually look like real trees, lots of spectators - I can keep going on...
Controls - spot-on - the car has some insane grip and response on the track - it drifts so tight that I half-expect to spin out on every turn, but it grips the corners so tightly it's like your wheels are stuck to the track, the brakes make the car stop on a dime and the drifting combined with the lovely smoke feels so satisfying - I think GTAIV's driving is the reason why I was making such cautious turns at first...
Sound is just lovely - let's just say that when I battled my way to 1st during the beginning of the second lap, I didn't even have to use the rear view look, as I could always tell when the guy in second place gained on me, and from which side he was approaching from, and I could block him without even looking back... crashes sound satisfying with the crushing metal and glass as well, especially when you hear the other cars crashing either up ahead or behind you...
AI is great as they don't just drive "perfectly" around the track which I absolutely hate in games, they actually battle each other by ramming during turns, of even on straights when next to each other - a few cars tried to take me out as well, but again thanks to the controls I was able to hold on like a pro and avoid losing control...
Back to the car models and damage - my first race, I purposely crashed sideways as I drifted into the pack in the first turn to get ahead, and had my front left bumper crushed in, a few more hits and it flew off onto the track where it collided with other cars... slid off the track a few times from taking them too hard so I restarted the race...
Second time, I flew into the pack on the first turn, this time my left wheel axle got bent crooked, which led to my car sliding off to the left on its own as I drove.. then I thought, let me race properly the third time - where I drove aggressively but carefully, and won the race, witnessing and starting a few pile-up crashes along the way...
Menu presentation is pretty damn nice as well, just like how DIRT's impressed me as well...
Nice touch is how you can press the Back button in the middle of a race and get an instant replay, which I found out by accident while trying to find out where to switch camera angles...
So yes, I'm impressed, and I've only done the races so far, and I still have the two other events to do - and I had the replay of my win going on the whole time as well... make sure to download this when you guys get home...
