Post by zero7159 on Jan 13, 2013 17:23:32 GMT -8
I purchased this game before Christmas as a gift to myself, but was unable to get it fired up until the last few weeks due to my CSR Elite going down. Anyway, I have put at least 10 hours into this game and so I thought I would give you guys some thoughts.
As a preliminary matter, if you want the best review out there, go check out the review at ISR.
I have watched the ISR review and it is excellent.
Anyway, like some of you, I bought the original Nascar the Game Inside Line but was horribly disappointed. That game was released broken and even the wildly overdue patch did not make it any more than mediocre. I ended up trading in the game as part of the great trade in of 2012 which resulted in my Xbox 360 and PS3 triple screen set ups.
So, it was with great trepidation that I dropped $60 for the sequel. I am glad I did.
With regard to presentation and graphics, this game is solid. Its not iRacing in the graphics department, but nothing is. There also is no triple screen support. I have the Xbox 360 version and it has all of the tracks and Sprint Cup cars. They have the entire license, so there is the Fox commentary, lots of advertising everywhere, etc. Overall, the graphics are good, not great. The tracks look somewhat muddy, but the cars are modeled quite well. The tracks look light years below iRacing, but the cars are comparable. Only Sprint Cup cars are in the game, no Nationwide or Camping World trucks. Maybe next year. Also, there are only 360 and PS3 versions, no PC version, yet!!!!
The career mode is solid. You get to pick any of the drivers. If you want to be Danica, no problem. You will progress through the NASCAR season and do all of the same events they do, starting with Daytona. You can make the races short, with fewer laps, or you can do the whole real life race. There are four difficulty levels - Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert. Easy is way too easy, Medium is uneven and Hard is way too hard, at least until you upgrade your car. That is right, you upgrade your car in career mode, which is a first for a NASCAR game.
Force feedback and physics are very good. You will have to tinker with the wheel settings, the defaults totally suck. Get rid of the dead zone. Eutechnyx has a wheel set up guide which is quite good. Here it is:
nascarthegame.com/news/ntgil-steering-wheel-set-guide
The force feedback is very strong. You will definitely want to turn it down. You can feel what the car is doing most of the time. Its not iRacing or rFactor V8 Supercars ffb, but its enough. Make sure you turn off all aids, those are obviously meant for controller users. With regard to physics, you definitely can feel the car spinning, sometimes too late. Don't worry, you can hit the cars around you without getting arrested (ala iRacing). That is part of the fun of the game. There is damage, but its no fun. Its much more fun to hit the wall and your fellow drivers.
I did not even bother with multiplayer. Why would I do multiplayer in this game when I have the best NASCAR multiplayer in the world in iRacing??? This game is strictly for shits and giggles.
The game sounds authentic. I already mentioned the commentary, which is taken straight from the NASCAR broadcasts. The cars sound just like they sound on TV. I hate to admit it, but I like the sound here better than iRacing. Yes, I said it.
You get your money's worth. There is the long career mode, challenges from past years based on real life situations and the multiplayer, if that is of interest to you. You can paint your car.
The AI is uneven, depending on the difficulty level. On Medium, with my lower level car, I had some good battles with the AI. Sometimes I kicked their asses, sometimes they got me good. On Hard, it was way too hard. The AI are like robots. I probably need to upgrade my car before I can try the Hard difficulty.
In sum, if you like NASCAR and sim racing, and are looking for a fun, simcade diversion, this one is for you. Yes, I would have preferred a PC version with better graphics and triple screens, but this will do for now.
Buy with more confidence than the prior monstrosity!!!!
I will report back once I have gotten deeper into the game.
As a preliminary matter, if you want the best review out there, go check out the review at ISR.
I have watched the ISR review and it is excellent.
Anyway, like some of you, I bought the original Nascar the Game Inside Line but was horribly disappointed. That game was released broken and even the wildly overdue patch did not make it any more than mediocre. I ended up trading in the game as part of the great trade in of 2012 which resulted in my Xbox 360 and PS3 triple screen set ups.
So, it was with great trepidation that I dropped $60 for the sequel. I am glad I did.With regard to presentation and graphics, this game is solid. Its not iRacing in the graphics department, but nothing is. There also is no triple screen support. I have the Xbox 360 version and it has all of the tracks and Sprint Cup cars. They have the entire license, so there is the Fox commentary, lots of advertising everywhere, etc. Overall, the graphics are good, not great. The tracks look somewhat muddy, but the cars are modeled quite well. The tracks look light years below iRacing, but the cars are comparable. Only Sprint Cup cars are in the game, no Nationwide or Camping World trucks. Maybe next year. Also, there are only 360 and PS3 versions, no PC version, yet!!!!
The career mode is solid. You get to pick any of the drivers. If you want to be Danica, no problem. You will progress through the NASCAR season and do all of the same events they do, starting with Daytona. You can make the races short, with fewer laps, or you can do the whole real life race. There are four difficulty levels - Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert. Easy is way too easy, Medium is uneven and Hard is way too hard, at least until you upgrade your car. That is right, you upgrade your car in career mode, which is a first for a NASCAR game.
Force feedback and physics are very good. You will have to tinker with the wheel settings, the defaults totally suck. Get rid of the dead zone. Eutechnyx has a wheel set up guide which is quite good. Here it is:
nascarthegame.com/news/ntgil-steering-wheel-set-guide
The force feedback is very strong. You will definitely want to turn it down. You can feel what the car is doing most of the time. Its not iRacing or rFactor V8 Supercars ffb, but its enough. Make sure you turn off all aids, those are obviously meant for controller users. With regard to physics, you definitely can feel the car spinning, sometimes too late. Don't worry, you can hit the cars around you without getting arrested (ala iRacing). That is part of the fun of the game. There is damage, but its no fun. Its much more fun to hit the wall and your fellow drivers.
I did not even bother with multiplayer. Why would I do multiplayer in this game when I have the best NASCAR multiplayer in the world in iRacing??? This game is strictly for shits and giggles.
The game sounds authentic. I already mentioned the commentary, which is taken straight from the NASCAR broadcasts. The cars sound just like they sound on TV. I hate to admit it, but I like the sound here better than iRacing. Yes, I said it.
You get your money's worth. There is the long career mode, challenges from past years based on real life situations and the multiplayer, if that is of interest to you. You can paint your car.
The AI is uneven, depending on the difficulty level. On Medium, with my lower level car, I had some good battles with the AI. Sometimes I kicked their asses, sometimes they got me good. On Hard, it was way too hard. The AI are like robots. I probably need to upgrade my car before I can try the Hard difficulty.
In sum, if you like NASCAR and sim racing, and are looking for a fun, simcade diversion, this one is for you. Yes, I would have preferred a PC version with better graphics and triple screens, but this will do for now.
Buy with more confidence than the prior monstrosity!!!!
I will report back once I have gotten deeper into the game.
