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IGN Review of NASCAR 2011: The Game
NASCAR is a particular sect of racing that holds a very specific look, style, and excitement that stands out from all other variations on the sport. It is unique on many fronts, from the sponsor-clad stock cars to the giant pack of vehicles driving in eerie unison until someone makes a break for glory. Its popularity has soared to such enormous proportions that NASCAR rings bells across the world whether you love it or loathe it.
Capturing the subtleties of the experience in a video game is no simple task. Without a console NASCAR game in existence since 2008, developer Eutechnyx nabbed the license and, along with publisher Activision, delivered NASCAR The Game 2011 to the world. The UK-based team has taken a valiant stab at the sport, but pacing problems and buggy multiplayer keep it from being a game that will draw anyone but pure NASCAR fans.
The game throws you directly into the action by immediately sending you into the Sprint Cup Series to build your name as a racer. From your first experience at Daytona to a late season dash through the "Chase" towards the cup, you'll see both variety and speed across all the real world races While this no frills attitude helps you get right into the action, you get very little in the way of introduction to the game's world.
At its heart, NASCAR is all about the pack. Cars race at high speeds around tight tracks and it's up to drafting and precise timing to be able to work your way through the standings. And it's when you're surrounded by cars, trying not to swerve into a spin, that the game truly shines. It's the fear of a single slip-up ruining your entire race day or sending you back to the rear of the pack that makes the game exhilarating. NASCAR The Game 2011 captures that feeling well. But the flip-side of the coin is that if you're leading the pack or hopelessly left behind, the game becomes a real drag. Unless you can catch a draft and head back into the thick of things, or unless your rivals are able to catch up to you in the front, the polarized ends of the race become a chore of simply finishing the race without screwing up.
The physics float you across the track in this iteration of NASCAR. Between the race and a lot of the crashes, there is a disconnect between your vehicle and its surroundings. Some friendly scraping is unavoidable and the sparks are satisfying, but when cars start really wrecking, the images just don't line up with what you may come to attribute to NASCAR from the real races. The game does succeed in realistically recreating the fine line it takes to spin a car out of control with a simple bump to its back side.
On the note of crashes, the yellow caution flag seems to wave at almost random intervals. I sprinted through deadly wrecks unscathed to nab a ten-spot jump in the standings without seeing the flag, while other times the flag was flown numerous times throughout the event at the slightest sign of a bump. And no matter how bad things get, the black flag never emerges for penalties.
Tuning options can help placate racing gearheads, but the average racer won't go into the settings to truly augment their car to perform differently at Bristol than it would at Richmond. Knowing you have the ability to tweak your downforce, handling, and gearing is comforting as you may encounter points late in the season where your opponents pull ahead of you in the standings. Hardcore players will be able to even dig into tire pressures, suspension rebounds, and more to get the experience they want out of the racer.
The general audio works nicely, from the hum of the engines to the scrape of the wall, but it's really your personal caller that grows in annoyance. Not only is his advice often late (like a five second delay on a wall bump), but his constant repetition, especially when you're winning, will absolutely push you towards aggravation. On a better note, the introductory commentators fit the ambiance of the race beautifully and help highlight the excellent introductory celebrations that showcase each track. It's a shame that they only make an appearance before you get behind the wheel.
When you win a race the game gives you the ability to gratuitously celebrate your victory by spinning donuts for extra experience points and playing a long, drawn out car-top fist pump and a blast of champagne to cover adoring bystanders. While some celebration is well deserved, it's hilarious to watch the older drivers climb up on the cars to celebrate like the youth around them using the generic avatar celebration animations.
The game features a leveling system that doesn't actually affect your gameplay in any way. Whether you're level two or level fifteen, your car will still drive just as fast and you'll only find yourself with additional "Invitational" events to take part in and have a larger collection of stickers to show off. Your level is also present in multiplayer, but it's not always a litmus test to showcase the quality of drivers you're up against.
While the game's best moments come while surrounded by dozens of other cars, multiplayer is locked down to a mere sixteen total players. You can't play with additional AI racers, so lobbies range from two players up to the maximum.
The real problems appear with both the wait times to actually get to a race and the glitched experience that emerges from the first wave of the green flag (if you're lucky enough to see it). One time the screen faded in as my car was flipping around like a phantasm in mid-air; another time I started the race in first place, four laps ahead of my competitors; a different occasion had my opponents swirling through the air as though a tornado had just passed through. In addition to these starting quirks, I watched as competitors floated across the track hovering a foot off the ground with no explanation and even noticed the pace car making laps with the rest of the drivers. When you actually do get into a race, the small number of cars on the track deflates the most exciting element the game has going for it: the pack.
©2011-04-07, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Capturing the subtleties of the experience in a video game is no simple task. Without a console NASCAR game in existence since 2008, developer Eutechnyx nabbed the license and, along with publisher Activision, delivered NASCAR The Game 2011 to the world. The UK-based team has taken a valiant stab at the sport, but pacing problems and buggy multiplayer keep it from being a game that will draw anyone but pure NASCAR fans.
The game throws you directly into the action by immediately sending you into the Sprint Cup Series to build your name as a racer. From your first experience at Daytona to a late season dash through the "Chase" towards the cup, you'll see both variety and speed across all the real world races While this no frills attitude helps you get right into the action, you get very little in the way of introduction to the game's world.
At its heart, NASCAR is all about the pack. Cars race at high speeds around tight tracks and it's up to drafting and precise timing to be able to work your way through the standings. And it's when you're surrounded by cars, trying not to swerve into a spin, that the game truly shines. It's the fear of a single slip-up ruining your entire race day or sending you back to the rear of the pack that makes the game exhilarating. NASCAR The Game 2011 captures that feeling well. But the flip-side of the coin is that if you're leading the pack or hopelessly left behind, the game becomes a real drag. Unless you can catch a draft and head back into the thick of things, or unless your rivals are able to catch up to you in the front, the polarized ends of the race become a chore of simply finishing the race without screwing up.
The physics float you across the track in this iteration of NASCAR. Between the race and a lot of the crashes, there is a disconnect between your vehicle and its surroundings. Some friendly scraping is unavoidable and the sparks are satisfying, but when cars start really wrecking, the images just don't line up with what you may come to attribute to NASCAR from the real races. The game does succeed in realistically recreating the fine line it takes to spin a car out of control with a simple bump to its back side.
On the note of crashes, the yellow caution flag seems to wave at almost random intervals. I sprinted through deadly wrecks unscathed to nab a ten-spot jump in the standings without seeing the flag, while other times the flag was flown numerous times throughout the event at the slightest sign of a bump. And no matter how bad things get, the black flag never emerges for penalties.
Tuning options can help placate racing gearheads, but the average racer won't go into the settings to truly augment their car to perform differently at Bristol than it would at Richmond. Knowing you have the ability to tweak your downforce, handling, and gearing is comforting as you may encounter points late in the season where your opponents pull ahead of you in the standings. Hardcore players will be able to even dig into tire pressures, suspension rebounds, and more to get the experience they want out of the racer.
The general audio works nicely, from the hum of the engines to the scrape of the wall, but it's really your personal caller that grows in annoyance. Not only is his advice often late (like a five second delay on a wall bump), but his constant repetition, especially when you're winning, will absolutely push you towards aggravation. On a better note, the introductory commentators fit the ambiance of the race beautifully and help highlight the excellent introductory celebrations that showcase each track. It's a shame that they only make an appearance before you get behind the wheel.
When you win a race the game gives you the ability to gratuitously celebrate your victory by spinning donuts for extra experience points and playing a long, drawn out car-top fist pump and a blast of champagne to cover adoring bystanders. While some celebration is well deserved, it's hilarious to watch the older drivers climb up on the cars to celebrate like the youth around them using the generic avatar celebration animations.
The game features a leveling system that doesn't actually affect your gameplay in any way. Whether you're level two or level fifteen, your car will still drive just as fast and you'll only find yourself with additional "Invitational" events to take part in and have a larger collection of stickers to show off. Your level is also present in multiplayer, but it's not always a litmus test to showcase the quality of drivers you're up against.
While the game's best moments come while surrounded by dozens of other cars, multiplayer is locked down to a mere sixteen total players. You can't play with additional AI racers, so lobbies range from two players up to the maximum.
The real problems appear with both the wait times to actually get to a race and the glitched experience that emerges from the first wave of the green flag (if you're lucky enough to see it). One time the screen faded in as my car was flipping around like a phantasm in mid-air; another time I started the race in first place, four laps ahead of my competitors; a different occasion had my opponents swirling through the air as though a tornado had just passed through. In addition to these starting quirks, I watched as competitors floated across the track hovering a foot off the ground with no explanation and even noticed the pace car making laps with the rest of the drivers. When you actually do get into a race, the small number of cars on the track deflates the most exciting element the game has going for it: the pack.
©2011-04-07, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved