GTR2

Realistic is an understatement

Platform	OVERALL
PC	9.80

Overall

9.80

Picture yourself in a GT racing car with several hundred horsepower under the hood. You are hurtling down a straight with the world in a blur and approaching an S-bend. You brake at the very last minute and drop your speed quickly to avoid too much oversteer. As you turn, the car wobbles as the massive tires struggle for grip over the track. You glide around the corners taking care not to spin the tyres. Squeezing the throttle, you touch the apex of the second corner and launch out, letting the car swing wide to gain extra momentum. Meanwhile, the roar of the 700hp V8 fills your ears, adding to the high-pitched whine of the turbo as the engine reaches its redline, scraping for every last kilowatt of power. If this isn't a perfect depiction of automotive heaven then I don't know what is.

Play GTR2 and this is an experience you will never become tired of. This game is a follow up to the successful GTR. This monster looks fast, drives fast and is challenging enough to make sim nuts feel '1337', yet approachable for arcade racers that are ready to immerse themselves. It revolves around the FIA GT Championship and takes every effort to give a real definition to racing sims. Too often driving games claim to be realistic, yet never pull it off. The cars might look real, but the driving is usually shallow and arcadish. In contrast, there is a purity to this game which obviously stems from the developers own enthusiasm towards GT racing.

Apparently there are a few improvements to the game that set it apart from the original (I haven't really played the first much). Firstly the low-speed handling of the humongous, over-powered European cars has been modified to make the cars handle easier in the corners. That's not to say it's been 'dumbed down', just improved. Also tyre characteristics play a huge role now and you can really notice it. Take too much speed into a corner and you'll find the tires scraping and skating against their grain.

The physics in the game are unbelievably correct (not that I've driven a GT car, but they're as correct as you could imagine them to be). Never in a game have I experienced cars that feel so fast, so powerful, so imbued with mass and momentum. In fact, this is the first racing sim where I've experienced 'hopping' around some corners - the process where there is too much grip on the outside tyres and the inside tyres lift off the ground producing a bouncing effect. Also the full-3D cockpit view will reflect this effect with the camera lurching from the positive and negative G-forces on your virtual head, further adding to the realism.

Enemy AI is the best ever, and could teach Mr. Schumacher some important lessons in manners. The AI cars are aggressive and fast, yet fallible, and, in case you feel the heat, you can turn down their aggression in the race menu to suit your taste. In saying this, the menu interface is quite simple and easy to understand especially with the multiplayer component. There is also the ability to download the MoTec telemetry software for an even more authentic racing experience.

Sound-wise the game is flawless. Every action of every car has been recorded to the minutest detail. While tuning your car in the pits, you'll hear the murmurs of the mechanics and staff, the echoed announcements over the loudspeaker and the sounds of nearby cars doing their thing on the track. The music is equally suited to the game's theme and really gets your heart pumping if you set it to play while racing.

The graphics in the game are quite beautiful and each car is modeled accurately inside and out. There are a few things about the tracks that seem a little less realistic, namely the blending of distant objects but this can be easily overlooked. Time of day and weather effects are also something to be a admired from the glaring morning/evening sun, to the murky night where headlights are your only guidance, to rain sheeting across the track and spraying off cars.

GTR2 is a superb package and deserves a high rank amongst the best racing sims out there. It is as much a joy to race the AI as it is to sample the many cars and tracks and become experienced with them. So if you think of yourself as any kind of racing sim fan, or just a plain petrol-head, you simply must get yourself involved in GTR2.

Posted by selbie Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:39:11

Foolz

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:04:57

i remember playing the first one at Myer's. Best racing game ever! Sadly I never bought it, though.

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