Racing

Colin McRae – DiRT

Description

DiRT is the first racing game in the Colin McRae series not to solely focus on the rally championship. It features other offroad events with vehicles like buggies, jeeps or trucks all licensed from the manufacturers. Races are not always solo against the times of other drivers, but up to eight cars often race together on a single track.

The main game mode is the career where you work your up a pyramid of different tiers with events ranging from normal Rallies over Crossover or Corr to Hill Climb. For every event you complete successfully, you get points and money. Money is used to buy new cars. While the amount of money depends on choosing one of the five difficulty levels, the amount of points depends on your final result in the event; you receive the maximum of 10 points for completing an event with a first place regardless of the difficulty level. These points are needed to unlock new events in the current tier. If you have gathered enough points the next tier will be automatically unlocked so you don’t need to do every race in a tier in order to unlock the final event at the top. The difficulty level not only influences the strength of the other drivers, but also how critical the damage is upon hitting obstacles. Some events are further split up into two or three races where the damage is carried over and the allotted sixty seconds worth of damage repair is not offered after every subevent. The main parts that can be repaired are the engine, turbo, exhaust, gearbox, bodywork, wheels, suspension, cooling system and it is also possible to clean the entire car.

All events feature several licensed true-to-detail-vehicles which also have a detailed damage model. Each vehicle can in addition be tuned in several categories like engine or suspension before each event. To help you make it even more individual, you can create your own look of the car with several dozens predefined kits. There are also 182 different liveries to collect in the game and 46 different cars. …

Colin McRae Rally 04

Description

Colin McRae is no longer with Ford and Nicky Grist is no longer Colin’s co-driver. Things have moved on in the rally-driving world, as they have with this, the fourth title in the series. This time the player is in the vehicle of their choice.

While the game features improved graphics over the older titles in the series the biggest improvement is the handling in the game, which is now based on real-world physics. Where the previous titles’ handling of the cars made use of one pivot point, the new physics engine has four pivot points, each wheel interacting independently of the others.

There are four championships modes: 2WD, 4WD, Group B and Expert. 2WD is for beginners. 4WD is the next step up, offering an intermediate challenge. Group B features cars from the ’80s that were banned in 1986, as they were unrestricted and capable of extreme acceleration. And finally, Expert is for those that finish 4WD in advanced mode, upon which they are presented with Expert mode where one drives with cockpit view only, and with the highest damage setting. …

Colin McRae Rally 2005

Description

The fifth iteration of the rally racing game inspired by the “Flying Scotsman”. Choose from over 30 car models. The detail and physics are improved, and more playing modes are available, including a new around-the-world career mode. Weather conditions and rally courses can both be customized. Network play supports up to eight players with split-screen. As always, the menu design is clean, and the tracks are dirty!

As with previous games in the series, Colin McRae Rally 2005 is presented as a realistic rally simulation, with players participating in rallies consisting of 70 stages spread over nine countries. There are over 30 cars available. There is also a revised graphics and damage engine that enables paint scratches on the car, and a new ‘career’ mode where the player starts out in the lower club leagues and works their way up to compete with Colin McRae in his 2004 Dakar Rally Nissan Pick-Up. In ‘Championship’ mode the player takes the role of Colin himself competing in six rallies using any 4WD car. The game’s graphic engine allows for more realistic damage effects, like broken glass and doors falling off, and a blurred vision effect if the player comes into contact with a hard object. The damage system has similarities to the Destruction Derby one, as a damaged radiator will stall the car, and make it need to restart the engine. A slight level of customization is the ability to put your name and nationality on the window. …

TOCA Touring Car Championship

Description

The British Touring Car Championship represented the worldwide peak of saloon car racing in the mid 1990s, attracting factory support from Audi, Renault, Ford, Volvo and several other constructors. In this game you can choose from all official teams and drivers of the 1997 season, won by Renault’s Alain Menu.

All the circuits are also included. The cars have a realistic damage model, so they can loose specific parts like bumpers or mirrors. The weather effects are also very realistic. Car handling is designed to be tough but realistic. …

TOCA 2 Touring Cars

Description

The BTCC (British Touring Car Championship) was Britain’s biggest domestic racing championship in the late 1990s, and this game recreates it. Cars from 8 constructors tough it out over 8 circuits of first-person high-contact racing.

You can race the full championship or take on single races or time trial challenges. At this time the series required all cars to make at least one pit stop during the race. This seriously affects your driving and pitting strategy.

Besides the TOCA races, each of the venues also features special racing events where all drivers race identical cars. These range from the Ford Fiesta to exotics like the AC Blower and the Lister Storm, and higher, in a format similar to American IROC races. 8 bonus track layouts are also included. …

TOCA Race Driver

Description

Race Driver adds a storyline and career structure to the Codemasters touring car racing lineage. You are Ryan McKane, son of a fatally crashed racer and younger brother of a very successful racer. Guide Ryan to the top of closed-wheel racing.

A wide roster of championships and cars are featured. You can race a Mercedes DTM silhouette car, a BTCC Peugeot, Australia’s V8 Supercars, and more. Realistic circuits are included, although many have to be unlocked. The physics engine is realistic, and multiple camera angles are on offer.

The Director’s Cut release has extra tracks and some of the championships are updated. …

TOCA Race Driver 2

Description

Codemasters returns to the racing fold once more with Race Driver 2. On this occasion, you can race your way through 15 different types of motorsport including the usual supercars and stock car types to the more unique rally, formula ford and supertruck types, plus much more.

The single player career mode has you racing for pride through various championships from around the world, including the European ToCA and Australian V8 Supercars series, racing on tracks that will take you from Laguna Seca to Bathurst with another 20 cars maximum racing against you at any one time. You can then take to the online modes, racing with up to 12 other people through either your PC internet connection or Xbox Live. …

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