R: Racing Evolution Review

Developer	Namco
Publisher	Namco
Genre	Driving

It’s tough to make your mark in a genre dominated by a name brand. Such is the case in the arena of racing videogames which has glorified the name of Gran Turismo since 1998. What is a developer to do when anyone who can wax philosophical on the beauty of a corner apex will recite the litany of standards set by the Turismo series?

The answer may well be, go the way of the arcade. Counter tight physics with stylish, loose ones. Take car customization to insane levels and ramp up the damage that the simulations are too afraid to dish out. There lies the gist of the two sides in this generation spanning genre war.

R: Racing Evolution falls on the arcade side of things in this unique genre. With simulation taking a slight back seat , the series hopes to pull ahead of the Project Gothams of the world and make people forget, if only for one race, the name of Gran Turismo.

Gameplay - There are so many well done arcade racing games out there and you can tell the developers of R: Racing Evolution know that. Throughout the game there are not so subtle reminders that this game is trying to push the Ridge Racer envelope in a new direction. While a noble effort, the fact remains that, despite the innovation, it is the standard basics of racing the game fails to deliver on.

The most notable innovation in RR is the Racing Life mode. Essentially a story mode with fourteen races, you take on the role of Nora who quits her job driving ambulance to join the GVI racing team. As you progress through the races you come face to fade with Gina, a woman of supermodel proportions and predator attitudes. As the story unfolds, you the idea is to provide extra tension in your races as you strive to beat your new rival, Gina.

While the idea is good, the fact remains that I just don’t care. I’m here to race and the not so rags to riches tale simply falls short for me. The cinematic scenes are very well done and the ladies look damn good but if I wanted to watch a story of racing I’d go rent The Fast and the Furious. It’s intentions are good, but it’s just not enough to get me involved in this game. And trust me, I need to feel involved because the racing mechanics are custom built to throw me from the game like a traffic accident without seat belts.

While it’s not supposed to be a simulation by any means, neither is it supposed to feel as though I’m driving on a skating rink. If I drive a car, even in arcade land, the rules of physics should still be in effect here, don’t you think? Instead, I feel as though every time I step into one of the high performance machines in RR, I’ve just woken from a drug induced coma and have yet to shake off the effects.

Driving into a corner and then applying the brake in order to set your entry line, you would expect a few things that car drivers just take for granted. Such as the feeling of the weight shifting to the front and the front tires gaining a bit more traction. You should feel as if the car is aching to break out of the confines of physics that you have stuck it into. And when the proper moment is reached, you should be able to apply the gas and feel the weight shift again as the traction turns into a speed advantage on the turn exit.

Not so in RR. Instead, as you enter the turn, you never really know if you’re coming in too fast until it’s too late. As you apply the break, no sense of weight shift is apparent either graphically or through car control. The sense of speed doesn't’ match and the exit out of turn has no sense of traction, no sense of real speed. It’s more like the bus pulling out of the stop. And this is while driving some of the high end sports cars in the game.

The tracks all look good but in the same breath, I have to say that I don’t find them any too interesting. They all give you the standard racing challenges, but nothing stands out as being extremely well constructed. Turns are there simply to have turns, not to give you a set of passing opportunities.

There are some interesting new features, however, and I’m in hopes that some will find there way into other games in the future. One such item is the ability to monitor stress in your opponents. A little bar appears over the other cars when you get close and as you stay on their tail, the meter rises. When the meter fills up and starts flashing, odds are good that your opponent will make a mistake. Of course, that is the time when passing is ideal and your victory at hand. I like this feature as it encourages drafting and gives you a chance to “duel” with the other cars.

Another interesting feature is the “ radio contact with your pit crew” as the manual states. While I think this idea has great merit and one I hope will make it’s way into other racing games, it’s done horribly, horribly wrong in R:RE. Instead of having actual communications with your pit crew (something that would have been cool) you are subjected to their constant and mindless shouting at you. From moment one, you are forced to endure “WATCH OUT FOR THAT TURN” and “NOW IS THE MOMENT! GO, GO, GO!” . The other cars drivers are making snide comment in your ear as well which are equally mindless and almost as annoying. Why do we need this? Do we need more information thrown at us as we drive at frenetic speeds and wrestle with warped physics? I, for one, do not. I wish I could just make them shut the hell up.

The other basic elements of a driving game are in R: Racing Evolution. That would include racing points for opening up other cars and the like. While nowhere near as interesting to do as a game like Project Gotham, it at least provides some interest.

All the standard racing modes are here as well, including the ability to Drag Race. It’s a nice feature, but more or less a nod to The Fast and The Furious from which the game was blatantly modeled. And the game also fulfills it’s obligation to Gran Turismo by having a Rally Mode for you to experience the joy of wrestling bad physics on dirt track.

You can customize certain aspects of your car, which would be cool if they had any actual effect in the races themselves. To me, it just felt like the wanted to add a simulation element so the folks who like realism would be appeased.

While R: Racing Evolution isn’t horrible, when you compare it to Project Gotham 2, it just doesn’t hold up. It’s just not as intuitive or as fun and the story mode that is thrown in isn’t enough to take your mind off how frustrating driving these cars can become. Not much for me to recommend here when there are so many better games out there. And with online support to go with it.

Graphics - Fortunately for the developers of this game, the graphics are great and at least comparable, if not better than in some cases, then anything else out there. So, as I know many of you will ditch the gameplay aspects of my review and get it simply for it’s good looks, I’ll go into some detail here.

Yes, the chicks are hot and rendered extremely well. Plenty of boob shots make it into the cinemas, so those racing on a Saturday night can get all the eye candy you can stand and get ready to clean up on Sunday. Yes, the tracks look pretty damn good with great lighting effects and cool shading. Very realistic tracks help you get into the mood and give each race a very cinematic look and feel to them.

The cars are all modeled very well and accurately. Sun reflects off the paint in a very cool manner and the only gripe I have is that they’re painted way strange colors. Too much orange for my blood, but who am I to judge.

Sound - As I’ve mentioned above, the whole pit communication thing is annoying as hell, but the in game music is pretty neat. All original for the most part, they provide a nice combination of ethereal tunes and hard driving race tunes. I like this for the fact that it’s different than the current trend in racing games, which is to take every fast speed metal track and stick it on the DVD. While some of that is cool, sometimes a few new tunes you never heard before can be a real boost to your game play time.

Sound effects are on par with every other racing game I’ve played and do a nice job of representing what I imagine the real thing would sound like. It’s your usual fare of crowd noise, squealing tires and brakes and cars roaring.

Bottom Line - With the large amount of other racing games out there, it’s hard to recommend Evolution. Other games just do the racing genre better. While I know it’s supposed to be arcade, the whole game just feels weird to play and the new innovations feel like the everyone is just trying ot hard. Bottom Line is that it’s not even that new or innovative as it’s just ripping off the idea generated by a very popular movie.

For my money, arcade racing time is better spent with Project Gotham 2, if you have an Xbox that is. With no online play, no real stats to care about and some very shoddy racing mechanics, the graphics are the only thing that make this game stand out.

Review by Aaron Hilden