| Product: |
e Racer (PC) |
| Date: |
07.06.01 (169 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Some new ideas, Great tracks, Lower price
Disadvantages: 'Fake' cars, handling
Apart from being based on different Motorsports or cars, most driving games can be quite similar in what they offer to us gamers. Rage have tried to take the average driving game and make it that little bit more interesting and have given us e-racer.
That’s right, you get to engage in narcotics racing around some of the worlds biggest clubs and dance venues. You’ll be at Cream, Gatecrasher.......OK, end of joke.
The ‘e’ part of e-racer is basically there to show that there is an online element to the game. If that instantly fills you with scepticism and doubt then don’t get totally negative just yet. You can engage in online races which is currently not the most user-friendly activity on other games that have this feature (check out Toca 2 to see what I mean!) and you can even win goodies for winning online races! On top of this there is a hall of fame for the top point scoring drivers and if that wasn’t enough you can even download additional tracks and cars. Not bad if you ask me.
Visuals:
When you pick up the case (DVD style) you’ll see that there are a few interesting and good looking screen shots. This is pretty much confirmed in the game – the visuals are of a decent quality although I have to say that they aren’t exactly groundbreaking. The cars look good (although they’re not ‘official’ cars) and the tracks range from interesting to positively bland. If you’ve played the Demo of this game you may not have been impressed with the course. I would agree with that but rest assured that this isn’t the best course available.
The one thing that stood out visually for me was the sun flare effect, which seems to be used quite intensely in most driving games. You don’t get the typical ‘ring’ effect here though – it’s much more like the real thing and hats off to Rage for getting something quite trivial so spot on. That’
s not a sarcastic comment, it’s just one thing that I noticed above others.
As always though visuals are down to your system specs so if you’ve got the very latest in graphics technology this game will look great.
Audio:
You’ve guessed it ‘realistic audio modelling’ so the cars sound real. Well, everyone says that don’t they and still we end up getting games that have sound effects that could well have been created on the cheapest equipment possible. I still say that Gran Turismo, Toca 2 and Colin McRae 2 have the best overall sound quality that I’ve heard. The engines have a convincing feel and if you drive over grass and gravel the sound changes to what I would call realistic.
In e-racer the sound is good. It’s nothing to get excited about but collisions sound real, engines rev in a throaty manner and on the whole the sound is certainly none too shabby.
Features:
This has to be the best part of the game. You can race in one of seven cars on one of thirteen tracks. That’s certainly nothing to be sneezed at and when you bear in mind that more are downloadable it adds up to a very good package indeed. The cars aren’t anything special as far as I’m concerned, I can’t stand games that have fictional cars like in Tokyo Highway Challenge on the Dreamcast. They’ve done a good job of attempting to make some interesting vehicles but the game would have been received better if ‘real’ cars had been included.
The tracks are a different matter altogether. They are brilliant – congratulations to Rage for going to town on this point. You can race around a town centre, a scrap yard and even an Aircraft Carrier!!
My personal favourite is the ‘grim up north’ course. It’s dark and mysterious but has much more of a race track feel to it and I prefer this kind of course to the more Metropolis Street Racer style town centre tr
ack. You do get a true racing track in the form of the Indy Oval similar to the Daytona and F355 challenge courses.
Gameplay:
Everything so far is pretty good so as long as it handles well we could be on a winner.
Well, yes, it’s different. I’m not sure if it’s realistic but there’s a fine line between arcade and simulation, something that can either work like in Gran Turismo or fall flat on it’s face.
It takes a little getting used to but when you’ve adapted to that arcade/sim handling you’ll probably have quite a good time with the cars. I spent a while bouncing around the courses before eventually getting the feel of how the cars handle and actually racing as opposed to following.
I know some people have played this and instantly disliked it and others have played it and it’s become their favourite.
This isn’t the kind of driving game PC owners get very often and Rage have to be saluted for giving us a game that is a step in a slightly new direction. I’d like to see an e-racer 2 just to see if they can improve those few rougher edges and give PC owners a game that is a decent alternative to Gran Turismo.
For more info get over to www.eraceronline.com for all the info, screenshots and downloads.
MR.COATES
Summary:
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