It must be tough to be a racing game. Of course I've never been burdened with being a racing game myself, but I do rather suspect that there would be two things I'd be concerned with were I to be so magically transformed. Firstly there's the matter of my portrayal of speed. Racing games need to get that adrenal gland pumping, and they're not going to do it if they feel like you're hitching a ride on Grandma's shopping trolley. Evolution GT only just manages to fulfil this basic requirement. It feels solid, but stolid - dependably automotive. You've seen this a dozen times before - realistic to the degree that some sense of fun is lost, but with no sense of accurate simulation acquired. The sensation of zipping along at life-curdling speeds is what makes racing enjoyable, and to ignore it is to misunderstand why videogames have been made into these kinds of experiences the first place.
Secondly, were I a racing game, I'd need to be challenging. But where would one find new challenges for you jaded gamers? Normally it needs to come from your own skills, pitted against those of your gaming opponents. If I were being honest to the world of racing then I'd be concentrating on this singular problem, rather than on any peculiar gimmicks that it might be possible to invent. Racing is about being the best, being the fastest, and not, for example, being able to rewind time...
But that's not how Evolution GT sees things. It desperately wants to be an individual amongst the gaggle of racing sims. And, instead of getting a tattoo and smoking spliffs in the park, it decided to try and reinvent the racing genre by stealing tricks from other games. As a result it's a bit of a mess - a mish-mash of ideas lamely tacked over the familiar physiognomy of the contemporary multi-formula racer. It could have been a contender, but instead it has thrown the race with its desperate desire to be different. It's a bloated beast, only dimly aware of what its existence could have been.
Things don't even begin well. GT's contrived format is taught to us via an unbelievably ill-advised introductory tutorial, presented by an over-dubbed champion race driver Gabriele Tarquini. "You must drive headfirst," his dislocated non-voice informs us.
Tarquini introduces the special features which define Evolution GT's numerous failings. The first of these is 'intimidation', which is implemented via a small slider bar attached to the cars of your opponents. Put the pressure on them by keeping close and their nerve will eventually fail, allowing you to overtake with ease. And hey, as I type I realise that this sounds okay in theory, but the implementation in the game itself is impossibly naïve. The bar goes down, the bloke in front's steering goes wobbly and you overtake. It makes no real sense, and makes a mockery of the racing skills you'd want to exhibit in a game like this. It's not a simulation, but an aberration.
* Os : Windows2000/WinXp
* Processor : CPU Pentium III 800+ MHz
* Graphic Card : At Least 64 MB 3D Board Compatible DirectX@9.0c
* Memory : 256 MB RAM
* HDD : 1.5 GB free Space Drive
* Sound Card : DirectX 9.0c Compatible
* DirectX@ : DirectX 9.0c
* Keyboard/Mouse
* DVD-Rom Drive
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