"Another
year, another racing game." That’s the thought that comes to mind with so many
titles. But not the NASCAR series from EA. It’s the only racing series that
works its butt off to push the boundaries of the genre, year after year. 2005
brings the series’ biggest boundary-pusher yet: Total Team Control.
Total Team
Control is exactly as it sounds. The driver is the commander; the controller
of all things on four wheels. Races are team-based, and although it means more
to your success (and more to the player) to win the race yourself, the game is
open to mistakes. Losing one race doesn’t have to mean the end of the road for
your career, not if your teammates are on board. Active teammates are as real
as the car you start the race with. If you crash, total your vehicle or fall a
little behind, switch to another vehicle and it’ll still be possible to come
out victorious.
That’s what
Total Team Control is – a system that lets you manipulate the whole team. It’s
one of those things that makes you say, "Why didn’t they think of it sooner?"
It wasn’t that simple though. Imagine what it could do to the difficulty. Why
concentrate on my driving skills if there’s no complications from causing an
accident? Why shouldn’t I launch a chain of destructive pileups, switch
vehicles, and claim the first place spot?
To prevent
the obvious from occurring, the developers fought hard not to stray from
making each race about success of the team, not just one race. The artificial
intelligence is smart, both on the ally and on the rival/opponent side.
Good
relations go a long way. Your allies won’t let you take control of their
vehicle if they don’t like you. When it comes time to take the lead, watch
yourself. It’s easy to get carried away and bump the sides of your allies
along with the rest of the crowd, thinking solely about the finish line.
Eventually you’re going to need someone else’s help. They’re less likely to
listen to you if they don’t like you, and won’t have a chance at making the
top 10 if they lost speed because you rammed them into the wall.
Season Mode
and Chase for the Cup have returned as expected, but the big mode – the one
that’ll keep you up at night – is Fight to the Top. This mode focuses on every
detail you can imagine. View contracts, see who’s making the best offer, check
team statistics, and sign on the dotted line.
Fame and
fortune are just a few races away, however, the game is far from over when the
season ends. Fight to the Top is a multi-season mode that’ll take you from
signing with a Whelen team to having the option to sign with Craftsman, NNS
and NEXTEL Cup teams. It’s almost like four simulation racers in one. Score
enough dough and you can purchase a team, adding to the list of
responsibilities, but also adding to how much power and control you have.
It’s amazing
to me that 12 laps – which can result in long and furious battles – is just 8%
of what a full-length race would be. You can literally race 300 laps! On one
track! If there was a special mode with a big reward at stake I’d do it, but
right now I just don’t have the endurance for that. (I generally kept the game
at no more than 12%.)
Logitech’s
PS2 microphone technology has been implemented for driver feedback and driver
command functions. Call out to your teammates – tell them to "hold position"
or to "block" opponents. The response times are pretty good, and the voice
recognition quality is above average. It detected my commands with few
problems.
It does,
however, detect heavy breathing (which does not cause any gameplay
interference) and mistakes certain words for curse words. If you’ve been
following our NASCAR 06: Total Team Control coverage you’re probably aware of
its anti-curse system. Curse once or twice and get a warning – curse after
that and they’ll start deducting points, saying that you’re a role model who
should know better.
Good idea I
suppose, but after I noticed the mic could pick up heavy breathing I said to
myself, "It picked it up, that’s funny." The game registered that as a curse
word and told me to stop. I repeated myself and it said the same thing.
Apparently there was something funny about one of the words in that
sentence.
Comparing
Total Team Control to EA’s first PS2 NASCAR release will not yield major,
eye-popping differences. Irrespective of that, NASCAR 06 is one breathtaking
racer. The cars, the tracks, the backgrounds, the sunlight, the shadows – it’s
too beautiful for words.
Like looking
outside a window at sunset, the game captures the essence and beauty of the
real-world visuals NASCAR fans would notice if they took their eyes off the
race for one second. The sun pours through the background with a gorgeous,
blinding ray that shines the most perfect effect on the vehicles, and creates
a shadow that stretches accurately. Players are treated to a cornucopia of
effects that change from race to race, and from daytime to dusk and to night.
Product
placement is everywhere in this game. With all the Mr. Clean and Old Spice
High Endurance deodorant billboards you’d think the developers were trying to
tell us something. (I just showered like five days ago. What more do you
want?) But why waste time with those products when you could spend the day
racing a few hundred laps?
NASCAR 06:
Total Team Control’s gameplay, graphics and lasting side effects (excessive
amounts of replay value) put EA on top again. There aren’t any other NASCAR
titles on the market, but when there were EA’s games were still the best. The
only difference is that now you no longer have the option of making the wrong
choice. Now you only have one game to choose from – the right game. The best
game. The one with Total Team Control.
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Gameplay: 8.8
You can’t call
your game Total Team Control without first creating the best, most-realistic
control mechanics possible, and NASCAR 06 doesn’t disappoint. Not only do the
different types of vehicles control differently, but also the terrain (are you
on the track or making figure eights in the grass?) affects how the steering
with great prestige.
Fun comes
first with this game, but that doesn’t mean that the series has left its
simulation roots. The physics engine will get you every time. Bump your
opponent the wrong way, hit the side too harshly or from the wrong angle and
you’ll be the one who drops to last place. For this reason (and the inclusion
of new difficulties through team-based gameplay), Total Team Control is the
most challenging NASCAR game since the series’ PS2 debut.
Graphics: 8.5
A slight upgrade
from past seasons, NASCAR 06 appears to have done all it can do with the PS2’s
Emotion Engine. Sunsets, textures and eerily realistic shadows make up the
bulk of the beauty, but the whole game is visually appealing.
Sound: 8.0
Not the best EA
Trax collection though. They pick the soundtrack based on who they expect to
play it, and I suppose the country/rock sounds will, in theory, appeal to the
average NASCAR fan. But it doesn’t appeal to me.
The sound
effects, however, are as close to the real thing as ever. And the voice
recognition is top-of-the-line as far as PS2 games go. The technology has a
long way to go before it’s perfected, but if I call out a command and the game
responds accordingly, I’m happy.
Difficulty: Medium
A challenge
that’s fair but unforgiving. Opponents are equipped with sharp AI, while the
realistic physics make your vehicle a speeding time bomb. Playing NASCAR 06
will make you a better gamer. Defeating these challenges will make you feel
like a king.
Concept: 9.0
Total innovation.
Total originality. Total team control. EA has an instant winner on
their hands with a game so massive I had to take extra time to write the
review. The car swapping system has changed the series forever. It creates
gameplay dynamics that were not there before, and breathes new life into the
old ones. It’s especially challenging (and wonderfully rewarding) when you
figure out how to make your team take the top three spots.
Multiplayer: 8.5
Still limited to
two players when gaming offline, NASCAR 06 lets broadband users compete with
up to three other aspiring champions. An exhilarating multiplayer experience
that’ll give NASCAR enthusiasts goose bumps, and will turn non-fans into
obsessed gamers who won’t part with the controller. "What do you mean there’s
a NASCAR race on TV? I’m playing one right now."
Overall: 8.7
Did you buy last
year’s NASCAR game? Those who did had a great time with a great game. The
wonderful thing about NASCAR 06: Total Team Control is that you have to have
it whether you own its predecessors or not. No NASCAR fan should go another
day without experiencing Total Team Control’s addictive magic. It’s the
ultimate simulation racer.
