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Wednesday 4 June 2003

Vroom! [spiny]

While the others are off playing PS for a couple of weeks, I've cracked open a can of petrol-head wh00p-ass in the shape of TOCA Race Driver.
This is quite simply the best PC racer I've played in ages. The AI is top notch, it's got a non-linear progression that dosen't force you to win every race & pretty well acted & directed cut scenes. The handling is great, even on a gamepad (which is how I'm playing it in third person view. Or should that be third car view? ;))
Oh and by the way, it's drop dead gorgeous in the visual dept. Nice particle effects, reflections, even a motion blur effect to give a real sense of speed. These Alfa 0wnage shots were taken 1280x1024 full detail with ansio filtering. In game frame rates are between 45 & 60.
It's got me staying up too late on work nites & tuts from the missus about my track time. It must be good :)

6 comments:

  1. Could we just be cotton-pickin-clear that 3rd person views in drivinggames are for total complete comprehensive and in fact absolute utter fagg0ts?

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  2. Could we just be cotton-pickin-clear that driving games are for total complete comprehensive and in fact absolute utter fagg0ts? :)

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  3. Am: Normally I'd agree. F12002's third person cam is poo and the in car cam rx0x0rs etc. GP4 is a bit 50/50 as there's a greater sense of speed with the t-bar cam but a greater feeling of immersion in the cockpit cam. Colin 2 & Rallisport Challenge are both much better with bonnet cam than 3rd person, the in car cap sucking because it restricts your view too much.
    TOCA3's a bit wierd in that the bonet cam is much better from a feeling of immersion, but I really feel compelled to drive with a wheel in this view. This is where the problems start for me tho as the wheel 'sim' controler implementation feels lousy, alternating between feeling like soup & overreacting. I guess this betrays the multi platform baggage of the title. On the other hand the gamepad 'arcade' implementation is spot on in third person. It feels just like a really fast radio controlled car & is bags of fun.
    Muz:But they suck less than none of you fags turning up to try the new RS map pack last time out :)

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  4. Are there any actual multiplayer pc racing games? That'd be fun no? Beej in his Mini Cooper S, Slim in his MX5 Roadster and me in say, a Mclaren F1 or something suitable. :)

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  5. Toca is excellent, the bonnet cam / wheel on screen solution is to use a steering wheel controller :-)
    Toca does 12 player multiplayer, MotoGP2 does 16 and I'd imagine Colin3 will do too.

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  6. Yeah, I tried toca the other night & it was fun. Not affected too much by lag. I expect it's a riot on broadbad. (There's no cd key either, no no lame ubisoft like problems )

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