Outside your vehicle the tracks look really good and are packed with detail.
The weather can slowly change over the course of a race, planes and helicopters
will fly over the course, and the jumbo screens will feature live footage from
the race. It all works together nicely to make you feel as if you’re really at a
raceway and not some empty simulation of one. The on-track action also looks
great, with tire smoke, skid marks, and visual vehicle damage all adding to the
realism.
All of this graphical goodness comes at a cost, however. You’ll need a system
that exceeds the minimum recommended requirements if you want to avoid slowdowns
and other gameplay hiccups. Even on a high end system the game was occasionally
subject to quick pauses that could play havoc on your race.
Control in the game is tight and responsive; either with a wheel controller
or even if you brave it with the four arrow keys. The cars behave realistically
and feel as if they have some weight and speed behind them, especially if you
turn up the realism settings. You’ll be able to feel the effects of the track,
the drafting off of the car in front of you, and the gentle “love taps” you get
from your fellow drivers. Most gamers will be able to tweak the realism settings
to find a level that provides the right degree of challenge on the track.
The game’s AI will provide a challenge to most gamers, but if you’d rather
race against other humans the game supports up to 44 players in internet
multiplayer races. You have to be pretty lucky to find that many players online
and in one race, but smaller races are certainly enjoyable. There are some
issues with lag that can cause cars to warp ahead or for you to experience a
hiccup in controls, so a 44 car race may just be a theoretical maximum anyway.
In addition to the problems with the interface and the trial and error
involved in finding the right set of realism settings, the game has a few other
issues. Your spotter’s comments don’t always synch well with the on-track action
which can take you out of your feeling of immersion. There’s also some
strangeness with the way the game handles cautions with some cautions and
penalties not really matching up with what is happening on the track. Most
gamers can live with this occasional strangeness, but hardcore simmers may
suffer a few mild heart attacks as a result.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
82%. NASCAR SimRacing provides some great NASCAR action for both
casual and hardcore race fans.
System Requirements: Pentium III 1.0 GHz; 256 MB RAM;
32 MB
Video RAM; 8x CD-ROM; 3.0 GB Hard Drive
Space; Mouse.
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