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Playstation/Gaming Discussions => PS3 Discussion => Topic started by: ##RaCeR## on August 04, 2002, 11:49:27 PM

Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: ##RaCeR## on August 04, 2002, 11:49:27 PM
These are taken from a 90% build of the Australian version titled AVESCO V8 Super Cars.

Lookin mighty sweet.

(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgamenation.com.au%2Fimagelib%2F0%2Fss_833_16_orig.jpg&hash=a7bd288111bd0d296d34b9bcb5f5ed23ac1bfcdc)

(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgamenation.com.au%2Fimagelib%2F0%2Fss_833_18_orig.jpg&hash=96f69f9c1a72057466b6573613abc74a2fef6521)

(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgamenation.com.au%2Fimagelib%2F0%2Fss_833_23_orig.jpg&hash=40ee9e6c9cc5a21f7d20b3f8ea343d82481b4965)

(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgamenation.com.au%2Fimagelib%2F0%2Fss_833_25_orig.jpg&hash=d481e3ebdb0f206667ea478ad8e885c6da3123f9)

(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgamenation.com.au%2Fimagelib%2F0%2Fss_833_21_orig.jpg&hash=5b343e2c5b50dbb4057a07e7e2e0a739f935821a)

IMPRESSIONS
------------------

V8 Supercars Race Driver is nearing its launch date on 27th August as we’ve managed to have a sit down with the 90% complete version of the game to provide you with some more impressions on what will be the biggest racing game of 2002 for PlayStation 2.

In V8 Supercars Race Driver’s career mode you take the rolle of Ryan Mckane, a young rookie race driver trying to earn a name for himself on the international circuit. You have a slight chip on your shoulder that was built up by the death of your father, some 15 years ago, when he was run off the track by rival racer, James Ryan. The career mode sees you build the rating and skill of Ryan as he competes in all of the major racing series around the world, including the best: the V8 Supercars Series in Australia.

Not only does the game specialise in providing you the officially licenses AVESCO V8 Series to race in, you’re also going to able to compete in 13 championship series from around the world including DTM from Germany, the American All Stars, the Lola World Championship and the Britsh Touring Car Championship.

Aside from the Career mode, Free time allows you to race on any of the tracks that are available at the start of the game, as well as the tracks that you unlock later on in the story/career mode. Immediately available are the 7 Australian tracks; Phillip Island, adelaide, Eastern Creek, Canberra, Bathurst, Sandown and Oran Park.

Taking one of the monster V8’s out was the course of the day, and after setting the difficulty of opponents, from 75% as standard to 110% (total mongrels) it’s a quick step to the Car Shop where you can adjust all the finer details of your V8. Options here include Gears (manual or Auto), Downforce, Suspension, Anti Roll (affects car stability at high speed), Tyres (slicks, intermediates, wets), Brake Bias (amount of force dediacted to rear or front brakes), and you can also test drive your setup to make sure it works perfectly on any of the available tracks

When starting the race your faced with a pack of 13 other cars which in free mode you can select to your liking including the teams you race against. It\'s here that two of the most important aspects of driving games come into play: visuals and gameplay, and V8 Supercars Race Driver doesn\'t fail to impress. First thing that hits you is the attention to detail in the car models. As mentioned in previous hands-on impressions, the cars are constructed from many thousands of polygons which give them an incredibly level of realism. The falcons are an A1 replication of the real life racing model with stylish rear spoiler, front guards and body shape that any V8 fan would have dreams about. So too, the Commodores are equally modeled, with impeccable attention to detail including fully 3D car rims (which look excellent as the cars tear along the track) and fully animated car driver model (who is quite cool to watch from the \'behind the car\' view as here steers the V8 left and right and changes gears). What makes them even more recognisable are the incredibly detailed and authentic decals that line the bodies of the 15 different teams in the V8 avesco series. From Big Kev\'s Holden Commodore to the Supercheap Auto Falcon, the Perkins Castrol Commodore and the Gibson Motorsport Falcon, the car models are instantly recognisable and their authentic look provides a great deal of personal and localized appeal to this version of V8 Supercars Race Driver.

Other effects include real time environmental reflection mapping for the cars (trees and trackside objects reflect off the cars), Real time weather effects (drive in rain, storms, or drizzle with accompanying amounts of water on the track and even headlights that are used in difficult conditions), tire and skid marks that adorn the track surface and the old tried and tested lens flair effect. Background scenery is also spot-on in their recreation from the real tracks. Those who have raced around the infamous Mount Panorama will have a sense of de-ja-vou as they drive around what is arguably the best racing course on earth as you recognise the corners, trackside building and details as well as sponsor adverts that litter the sides of the road.

Adding to the graphic impressions of the game is something that will become obvious as soon as you head up against a pack of V8\'s (especially when you set the difficulty level to 110% - total mongrel opponents); car damage. On the harder settings your opponent’s will introduce themselves to you by simply smashing your rear lights and windscreen out with a well-timed nudge in the rear, telling you you\'re way too slow and unskilled for this type of competitive racing. Once you become a nuisance to them though, they\'ll let you know by smashing you right off the road when you get in their racing line. Sure, the AI of the game is very good, so much so that they will go out of their way to pass retard drivers who can\'t find 3rd gear, but if you\'re trying to go head to head with them on a straight vying for position leading into a corner - you are in for some serious argey-bargey as your opponent will do his best to plant you on the side retaining wall at 180Kms/h. Incidents like the Bargwanna crash some weeks ago are all too common when you play against the tough AI in this game, and visible car damage, and the limitations of driving a piece of wrecked crap around the raceway (in terms of handling and performance as both degrade when your car takes damage), are just two of the factors that make this game an absolute must for V8 fans alike. You\'ll lose panels on your car, suffer dents and see broken glass fly left, right and center all over the track and the loss of the occasional front wheel is nothing too uncommon when you mix it with the tougher drivers or when you\'re all too inexperienced at controlling what is one of the fastest cars in the world: the V8 Supercar. In fact, new owners of game are bound to spend a fair bit of time just enjoying the effects of high speed collisions and crashes, as not only do the cars maintain high levels of detail when smashed (visible engine parts, suspension and underlying chassis detail), but the physics engine behind the crashes is one of the best ever seen in a racing game (Yes, I admit to starting a race and turning around to see the awesome effects of a head on collision with 13 other V8 Supercars!). You’ll find yourself vying for position in a race at 200Kms and a well-timed nudge and cause your opponent to spin around at high speed, careening into a nearby retaining wall, or even better, to be collected by a pack of other V8\'s storming down the raceway. All the crashes look spectacular and cars flip, roll and spin with amazing realistic movements.

This physics engine creates one of the strongest and most realistic driving games on any platform to date - which is in line with the driving heritage that Codemasters have built with their previous Toca games. Drop the pedal on the accelerator at high speed on uneven ground and you\'ll lose control off the car all too quickly and find you driving a car with marginally reduced performance thanks to an ugly incident with a concrete wall. You can also push a car right to the edge on a corner where you begin to feel it lose control, only with skill you can recover the turn and go on to post an excellent time for the course. You also have to be on your toes 100% of the time as the tough AI (when set high) means that your racing against opponents who fight for their position in a race and recovering from nudges and bumps (as well as avoiding any other pileups) is imperative for your success. When you get hit you really have to struggle to recover, and when you do it successfully you feel great about it, although your ego will be quickly deflated if you don\'t learn the in\'s and out\'s of each of the games 38 courses (especially undulations in the track, something that Bathurst is notorious for).

Finally, something that can\'t be left out of these impressions is the car noises for the V8\'s: they are bloody fantastic. Some people just have to own a V8 and not because of the power of its engine, but moreso the noise that it makes, and V8 Supercars has incredible samples that really give the impression of 300+Kilowatts of power under the hood. So too, screeching tires, car smashes and all driving-related noises really add to the overall atmosphere of the game.

Overall, even at the 90% stage of completion, V8 Supercars is easily the best racing game on the PlayStation 2. As a package it has the best aspects of racing, sound and graphics that you\'re likely to find on the console for a long time, and it\'s career mode and the awesome range of vehicles available in it besides the mighty V8\'s is sure to keep even the mildest rev-head busy for months.
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: ajoh432 on August 04, 2002, 11:54:22 PM
Yeah, it does look pretty damn sweet.:)
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: THE EYE on August 05, 2002, 03:03:53 AM
hmmm... aren´t those screens from the X-Box ??? Or what does "A,B,X,Y" in the upper right corner mean ?!
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: ##RaCeR## on August 05, 2002, 03:21:10 AM
Hmm, from what I know of its PS2 exclusive for a 9 months. Those screens are supposedly from the PS2 version. Not sure.
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: Knotter8 on August 05, 2002, 05:48:35 AM
Quote
Originally posted by THE EYE
hmmm... aren´t those screens from the X-Box ??? Or what does "A,B,X,Y" in the upper right corner mean ?!


haha, yeah... I think are so pretty becuz they\'re Xbox
screens... somehow someone wanted to make ppl
believe these are PS2 screens :laughing: Although the
last pic has a different control thingy onscreen. It seems
to have PS2 button icons.... the pic is only slightly jaggier.
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: Seed_Of_Evil on August 05, 2002, 10:41:05 AM
wow! impressive sweet graphics. Thanx for the info ;)
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: THE EYE on August 05, 2002, 12:35:09 PM
Folks... I´m sorry !!! YES it is PS2 exclusive !!! I just saw the Game on German TV (Giga-Games)  !

IT ROCKS ! This Game beats GT3 !!! I can´t wait for the release...
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: kopking on August 05, 2002, 12:38:36 PM
wtf... ive just got red x\'s
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: Kurt Angle on August 05, 2002, 02:02:41 PM
Lookin good!
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: ##RaCeR## on August 05, 2002, 09:19:49 PM
I have heard its PS2 exclusive for a year and that the XBOX version has only just begun production.

Hmm. Looks sweet though.
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: Kimahri on August 05, 2002, 09:34:19 PM
well those buttons are obviously off the xbox controller so.......are they doctored?

If not i cant see how you guys are just ignoring them.
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: Knotter8 on August 07, 2002, 02:02:41 AM
Why does it always disappoint ? Ok, here are some REAL PS2   screenshots of the game. And Yes, this is the same game, only that it\'s named Toca Race Driver in other countries. It does feature the same character Ryan Mckane.
Note the PS2 button control thingy in the left corner of the 3rd pic which proves these are PS2 caps and the ones Racer posted are Xbox screens.  

(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dgs-online.nl%2Fimages%2Fps2%2Ftocaracedriver%2F44.jpg&hash=8f330918c6459deb638285ff0576b0281affee7e)

(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dgs-online.nl%2Fimages%2Fps2%2Ftocaracedriver%2F45.jpg&hash=60c626bf7ddd22f5b0dd52d064e40e52bd89da26)

(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dgs-online.nl%2Fimages%2Fps2%2Ftocaracedriver%2F53.jpg&hash=92f64fcea3424778256c0dc83ebe20eebfd07931)
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: seven on August 07, 2002, 02:47:54 AM
Knotter those screens you posted must be extremely bad caps of the game - we\'ve seen videos of the game, we\'ve seen other "PS2" screens and the above posted screens do this game absolutely no justice.
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: StAnZo on August 07, 2002, 11:08:52 AM
Yep, those grabs are very poor.. i couldnt find any worse. Well, it\'s only 16 days away for the Euro release,
and i\'m getting proper hyped up for this game. it should be something rather groundbreaking.
The element of personalities and story lines should have been implimented into racing games a long time ago.
As most of the race fans on this board know, the main attraction to a race isnt the cars or bikes or what have you,
It\'s the drivers personalities and personas that draw in the crowds. Ask yourself this...why is F1 flopping?
It\'s because it\'s a one horse race and it happens to be schuey all the bloomin time. there is no rivalry
it also turns out that Ferrari have been able to bend the rules far more than i care to remeber, but that\'s another story.

Toca cars are brought into line with each other with the aid of weight restrictions on those cars that tend to win
the majority of the races. this evens out the victorys and makes a season that much more enjoyable.
One of my faves was Jason Plato. well done on winning it last year mate.. it was an excelent round off to the
season. anyway, i hope that Codemasters can emulate the feeling of winning a tough race under hard conditions
and make it extremley rewarding.. Racing is life to the drivers. it sure is time that we race fans had a proper chance
to get stuck into a racing game that has the immersion that Toca Race Driver is promising.

http://ftp://downloads.codemasters.com/Video/racedriver-series-4-story-avi.zip

StAnZo.
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: StAnZo on August 07, 2002, 11:51:56 PM
Edited.. :shamefull
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: Samwise on August 08, 2002, 06:54:55 AM
Thanks for reposting the review. ;)
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: StAnZo on August 08, 2002, 07:30:59 AM
oops :D edited now.. man, how stupid. lol
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: Kurt Angle on August 08, 2002, 12:53:52 PM
I will be getting this game. It got 9/10 in the latest PSW mag!
Title: Totally sweet new Pro Race Driver screens and review!
Post by: ##RaCeR## on August 08, 2002, 03:38:07 PM
Here are some more official PS2 screens from playstation.com.au

These are much better.

(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fau.playstation.com%2Fassets%2Fnewsscreens%2Fv8supercars%2Fv8large03.jpg&hash=a2e0f119ccf06be7387aa05e60e8dd815aec6301)

(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fau.playstation.com%2Fassets%2Fnewsscreens%2Fv8supercars%2Fv8large04.jpg&hash=fa8d8d4ceccf5f578615b3d0ba6572dc925f4263)

(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fau.playstation.com%2Fassets%2Fnewsscreens%2Fv8supercars%2Fv8large13.jpg&hash=39b5b610c0fcd75c8614481d982018bf2f1b25a9)

(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fau.playstation.com%2Fassets%2Fnewsscreens%2Fv8supercars%2Fv8large08.jpg&hash=cd661b0901f5066c37d4ca99c73fa65f3823159b)

(https://psx5central.com/community/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fau.playstation.com%2Fassets%2Fnewsscreens%2Fv8supercars%2Fv8large21.jpg&hash=61bd985827bfca2ad6e3b5d6a982fc9d69d6c9f4)

NO JAGGIES!!!