Race Driver 2: Xbox's GT4 Rival?

TOCA Race Driver 2 is coming to Xbox and PC in Spring - and has been described as "Gran Turismo for Xbox without all the geeky crap." New screens inside.

Codemasters today announced that it will retain the TOCA license for the five-million selling Racxe Driver series, to be released on Xbox and PC in Spring under the name TOCA Race Driver 2: The Ultimate Racing Simulator.

Codemasters has secured exclusive and perpetual rights to use the TOCA motor sport brand for computer and video games. TOCA Race Driver 2 will launch complete with Xbox Live functionality, and is designed to be "the definitive racing game experience", according to the announcement.

Codemasters Nick Wheelwright said: ""Securing the TOCA name guarantees the future for this established and immensely powerful motor sport gaming brand. For gamers, the TOCA series is the number one choice in realistic racing and TOCA Race Driver 2 maintains that key value and drives it forward with an incredible variety of motor sports."

The developers are also claiming "the most sophisticated physics and car handling engine yet", with a new, realistic Terminal Damage Engine. Whether or not it does actually touch GT4 in this department remains to be seen for the moment.

But the game was recently described by militant Xbox magazine Xbox World as "Gran Turismo for Xbox - without all the geeky crap", a headline somebody at Codemasters' PR team is surely smiling about.

The sequel will offer 31 championships covering 15 different motor sports, 35 cars including Ford GT, Aston Martin Vanquish, Jaguar XKR, Nissan Skyline and AMG-Mercedes CLK. You can also expect 31 global race locations delivering 52 tracks, up to 21 cars on track at once, battling for position, and a new visual engine running at the magical 60 frames per second.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com