Game: Total Immersion Racing
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Razorworks Studios
Release Date: 20th November 2002
The concept for Total Immersion Racing seems fairly exciting; licensed GT, GTS and Le Mans Prototype cars, real world track locations and "smart AI" who hold grudges and remember your actions. With a career mode that lets you work your way up the ladder, racing more and more powerful cars for different teams, and a series of challenges which unlocks various cars and tracks for play in time trial mode, my first impressions of this game were good.
After around 5 minutes of playing however, I was soon disappointed. Career mode begins with a choice of 2 GT teams to race for, either Team Audi or Noble Racing. The choice is fairly inconsequential as while there are differences between the cars featured, the overall handling of the game is the biggest challenge. It's somewhere inbetween arcade and simulation and feels very slidey and erratic around corners.
It took me most of my first qualifying lap to master the handling of the car I had chosen, so naturally I was in last place on the grid for the first race of the series. Surprisingly, within the first couple of straights I saw myself through to 1st position in the GT class without any challenge from the AI at all. In subsequent races, I noticed that apart from spinning out every now and then, the computer players stick rigidly to their racing line just like games such as Gran Turismo 4. Another similarity between the two games is a lack of damage to cars, both visually and mechanically.
Even more disappointing was the fact that a feature shown on the back of the box, the "AI-tude meter" which was intended to indicate how computer players were feeling, doesn't even feature in the game at all. In all of my time playing the game, I tried to instigate some sort of reaction from computer players, but unless I was in the way of their racing line, absolutely no sign of the AI "holding grudges" was present. The only mention of rivals in the game came from the Team Manager in Career mode, who seems to choose a random racer from the same class and tell you that they're now your rival. More often than not it was someone 3 or more places below me in the standing who I hadn't even had any contact with during the previous race.
The Career mode in the game isn't too bad once you've accepted the handling problems and lack of AI intelligence. It's fairly easy to place first in each championship, if not win every race. The progression from GT cars to Le Mans Prototypes is decent, and they are slightly more difficult to drive. For each class you move up into, there's an extra lap per race, and 2 extra races per championship. It'd easily be possible to win all 3 classes of championship in a single play session.
Challenge mode features smaller championships featuring specific cars in which you must place first to unlock the next challenge. Doing so also unlocks new cars for use in Single Race and Time Trial modes. The same problems with AI and handling are present in Championship mode, and as there are only 9 tracks featured in the game, it can get rather boring.
Graphically the game is average; while it doesn't look bad, the quality is lower than Gran Turismo 4 and other games in the racing genre. As previously mentioned there's no damage to cars, and while the game claims to have advanced particle and weather effects, I wasn't particularly impressed. The soundtrack features mainly techno beats behind the racing which are repetitive and don't really stand out as something I'd actually like to listen to. The worst sound feature by far however is your Team Manager on the radio, who will tell you either obvious ("Overtake the next car and you'll be in first place") or inaccurate (the last quote, when you're in 3rd) information.
Overall Total Immersion Racing seems to be more of a failed concept than a game. Perhaps the entire AI programming budget was spent on acquiring the licenses to the cars featured, or perhaps "computer opponents with the intelligence of real racing drivers" were too difficult to program. Whatever the excuse, Total Immersion Racing fails to live up to its claims, and without them is a mediocre and bland racing game with very little appeal to anyone.
Rating: 45/100
Grade: D
Game: Ford Racing 2
Console: Sony Playstation 2
Developer: Razorworks Studios
Release Date: 28th October 2003
Ford Racing 2 is a simple, yet strange concept for a game; players race various models of car produced by Ford in various events. While there's 32 different cars to choose from, this is far less than the average racing game of the era, and for players without much knowledge of these models, it may seem like a rather dismal selection. For players who are aware of Ford's range of and have played other racing games, the choice of just 6 tracks (even if they do have 16 layouts of said tracks) and lack of a real career mode will be the main offputting factors.
At the main menu screen you're given the option of selecting a Quick Race (with preset cars on preset tracks), Single Player Mode (which includes options for Ford Challenge, Ford Collection, which lets you race with your unlocked cars and tracks, and view your Driver Profile) and Multiplayer (where players can race their friends). As Quick Race and Multiplayer races are stand alone races, it's to be assumed that Ford Challenge is the main mode, although it seems like more of a supporting mode.
In Ford Challenge mode you're given 7 different classes of racing (separated by car type), with 2 or more challenges in. Some are locked to begin with, and can be unlocked by completing other challenges. There are 8 different types of challenge; some are driven alone such as Driving Skills and Racing Line challenges, and others are against AI opponents, such as Standard Race, Elimination and Duel. There are 34 different challenges in total, and 3 difficulty levels on which to complete them.
The handling is game resembles arcade style racers but braking seems to be a big problem, as any attempt at slowing down ends in losing control and sliding off the course. The challenges themselves have a wide range of difficulty with some requiring completion on Easy mode, and others being possible on Hard. The AI is incredibly unpredictable and sometimes drives very badly, even spinning off track of its own accord at times. Some of the solo challenges seem fairly unnecessary and give the impression that the developers just wanted to pad out the gameplay of Ford Challenge mode.
Graphically the game's locations look nice for the era, and even the cars aren't too badly modelled. There's a slight lack of detail on some models, especially stock cars however. For a long time I was under the impression that there were only 3 songs to choose from in the entire game, however the default setting for the audio is "Rock" which features 3 songs. If changed, players can also listen to Funk and House music, or a combination of the 3. The music featured is energetic and fun to race to.
Overall Ford Racing 2 has a lot of problems; no real career mode or replayability, mixed with a small selection of cars and tracks, most of which have to be unlocked. While it can be fairly graphically impressive, and the racing soundtrack is good, the cons outweigh the pros quite heavily and give the game a very hollow feel overall. There's hardly any depth to Ford Challenge mode, let alone the others and so you'll have experienced everything the game has to offer within a few hours.
Rating: 36/100
Grade: E
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