Race Driver 2: Hands-On, Screens, Videos

Toca bout stunning! Codies' new racing sim takes pole position as the best looking racer on Xbox, with the most convincing damage system ever. Must read, watch, race!

Over the last few months, we've been spoilt for choice when it comes to hot new racing titles. Xbox has arguably led the pack, with last year's Project Gotham 2 performing fabulously, and Microsoft's imminent RalliSport Challenge 2 causing a stir as seen in our recent preview with vids. Titles like Colin McRae Rally 04 offered astounding quality, while Gran Turismo 4 Prologue offered a glimpse at what's in store for (patient) PS2 owners later this year. Hell, we even had Mario Kart: Double Dash!! just for fun.

While these racers are all distinctive and different enough in gameplay terms to each warrant a purchase for motor heads, we're at the stage now where these latest racing games are the prettiest we're going to see for the rest of this generation of consoles. They look extremely impressive, like never before. And now, along comes a brand new racer - Race Driver 2 - and in visual terms, it arguably surpasses everything seen on any home console to date. So excuse us for a while while we talk visuals...

In a nutshell, Race Driver 2 has all the detail, gloss and special effects seen in Project Gotham Racing 2, if not more, but it runs at a rock solid sixty frames per second, something the Bizarre-developed title simply couldn't muster. In light of this new level of Xbox graphical awesomeness, the Gotham 2's thirty-frame syndrome is frankly unacceptable! RalliSport 2, as video'd up on Kikizo recently, was in a much earlier form than this near-final version of Race Driver 2, so it's probably too early to compare the two titles graphically.

Race Driver 2 looks utterly realistic, boasting a solid and authentic style, top-notch attention to detail, and effects such as environmental lighting and reflective bodywork that outclass Gotham 2. The scale, dynamic geography and draw distance on the diverse range of 52 global circuits is phenomenal, and the way it all moves around convincingly with around twenty vehicles in a race is pretty much the tightest we've seen on any format to date. However, we've not seen much in the way of weather effects (rain etc) just yet.

The damage system is also the most developed we've ever seen in a racing game, putting the likes of GT4's Prologue edition and Gotham 2 to shame. We have a (hands-on) feeling RalliSport Challenge 2 will come close in this area, but really we're talking about a pretty sophisticated damage engine here. You'll see metal crumpling, bumpers bursting, windscreens shattering and tyres, er, falling off. As a sim the game demands full control and attention - and if things get really bad, an entire axel with wheels will fly off, and the race is over! Fortunately though, you can restart any race.

It's particularly dangerous during the formula one races, where little bumps and nudges can result in catastrophic spins off course, and if the speedometer doesn't like it, you're finished. Of course, the damage looks great as well, and there are some impressive realtime crashes, which look especially cool from the drivers-eye view.

A complete line-up of racing styles are all in the package, including GT Sports Car Racing, Street Racing, Rally, DTM, V8 Supercars, Global GT Lights, Rally Cross, Formula Ford, Open Wheel Grand Prix, Classic Car Racing, Super Truck racing, Stockcar Oval Racing, Ice-Racing, Convertible Racing, and Performance Cars... and you'll need to master all of them if you want to progress through the game's central Championship mode.

A considerable line-up of 35 performance cars includes the 6.0-litre, 450 bhp, V12 Aston Martin DB9, Ford GT, Koenig C62, Land Rover Bowler Wildcat, Nissan Skyline GT-R, Jaguar XJ220, Subaru Impreza WRX and AMG-Mercedes CLK.

The game doesn't offer the most glamorous presentation in the world, like you'd find in PGR2 or RSC2, but it's still watertight. Most notably, the entire story behind Championship mode unfolds through a series of FMV cut-scenes, as your driving trainer and advisors take you through the practises and politics of the motorsports business. A couple of these scenes are included in our videos, they look pretty nice and make the experience that little more immersive.

Some of my pals in gaming are pretty snobby when it comes to racing titles and the way they handle. For them it has to be a certain way and really, really hard, or it's somehow just crap to them. I fear I'm a little more easily pleased when it comes to racers, but to be honest you'll be hard pushed to find a physics engine as balanced as the one in Race Driver 2 - it's fully authentic without going overboard and sacrificing fun, and still tough enough to really punish you when you make mistakes, sometimes frustratingly so. One magazine recently described Race Driver 2 as "Gran Turismo 4 for Xbox, without all the geeky crap", and I can see where they're coming from.

How well the game's relatively steep learning curve and championship structure fold out, how the game performs over Xbox Live, whether or not it's actually better than its rivals outside of the graphics department, and most importantly whether or not it can truly touch the promise of perfection from GT4 later this year, are questions we'll aim to answer in our imminent full review.

In the meantime, enjoy these fresh screens and videos. Race Driver 2 (which boasts the TOCA license and prefix in Europe, and a different name - V8 Supercars 2 in Autralia and NZ) will be on shelves at the end of April.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com

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