Regardless of what system
that you happen to be more partial to, you certainly can’t deny that Gran
Turismo 3 is one of the best driving games in the areas of gameplay, graphics,
and sound. There really hasn’t been a road / LeMans style racing game to top it
since it came out, but Empire Interactive and Razorworks has looked to do just
that with Total Immersion Racing. While it doesn’t quite get the best of GT3, it
does offer a fun and challenging driving experience that you certainly have to
give them a lot of credit for.
TIR puts you in control of some of the coolest cars
found in the European road racing and LeMans circuits (watch Speedvision and
you’ll catch them periodically) including BMW, Audi, and Panoz for example. You
can choose to play either a challenge mode or a career style of play, each being
a little different. The challenge modes have you race through a varied number of
tracks and races through things like endurance or manufacturer events, and
winning unlocks a new car or track. The career mode, as its name implies, allows
you to actually build a career in racing which includes signing contracts. After
a season is over, you can elect to stay with the same team or switch which may
move you up from GT (beginner) class to GTS or Pro.
Let’s talk about the career
mode for a moment, since it really impressed me and had a lot going on. The
concept pf signing onto a team isn’t anything new obviously, but being able to
select from multiple teams and managers, each with their own attitude and
vehicles, was pretty neat. The managers will also come out before and after
races to tell you how well or how poorly you did, and will also give you some
tips and hints before a race to help you prepare accordingly.
The other thing that
managers are responsible for, which leads into my next point, is telling you
about your rivals and who you’ve got to watch out for. TIR has implemented an
emotion engine into the game which will cause AI drivers to be more on the
defensive, more aggressive, more confident, or even who has it out for you. If
you knock an opponent off the road for example, you can bet that they will carry
a grudge and will come up to get some revenge. Maybe it won’t be in that race,
but the next one. If you block out an opponent at the finish line so they can’t
pass, they can get more aggressive. However, if they happen to pull off some
good moves during the race, they can get really confident and not careful enough
which leads to mistakes. The engine worked surprisingly well, and added some
additional things to look out for.
The difficulty in TIR was
pretty good as well, and each race option will have you select amateur,
professional, or legend difficulty, and each one reflects pretty accurately. The
harder modes make the AI drivers a little smarter and less prone to mistakes,
while the amateur difficulty provides a good challenge that doesn’t allow you to
be sloppy, but doesn’t force you to drive perfectly. Spinning into the grass
won’t knock you out for good, for example, but if you knock an AI opponent into
the dirt don’t think that he is gone and forgotten, since he will be right back
at you within a half a lap or so.
There were only a couple of
gameplay gripes that I had with TIR overall, one of which being the control. The
steering on the cars isn’t horrendous or anything, but it does seem to be a lot
looser than some games I have played. A slight touch on the control stick will
cause you to turn pretty heavily when you first start playing it, so some
replays are pretty funny to watch as you swerve around periodically to get it
together.
The other gripe that I had
comes in the overall demolition derby gameplay that can ensue with a rival or
the teammate of one. Sometimes you will find yourself playing “let’s see who can
push the other off the road first” rather than focusing on racing and since this
isn’t the goal of the game it just seemed like a little much at times. It got
bad enough during one race that I think the AI driver of the BMW team was only
looking to broadside me around a corner … which he did a few times. Some cars
that you’re not rivals with will also be unforgiving if you get into their
turning path, and the same pushing matches may break out randomly a few times
during the race.
Graphically, TIR makes good
use of the PS2’s capabilities. The cars will reflect light and dark changes as
they drive around the track and pass into tree covering or darker areas, and the
replays show the same thing. It’s not quite the GT3 level of detail, but the
cars look nice and there is a nice blurring effect in the distance. Some darker
races, like in the evening, can cause the track and background to seemingly fuse
together in some places and make it harder to see, but the developers threw in a
nifty little direction arrow which not only tells you what turn is coming up,
but will also color code itself to tell you how sharp or gradual it is.
The sound was also very
impressive as well, and the sounds of the rumbling or whirring car engines were
accompanied by the vacuum sounds of turbo chargers kicking on at high speed. The
tires will screech, not too excessively, and the music for both the selection
screens and the race itself was a nice blend of jazzy or techno sounds which
sometimes seemed more in line with Wipeout … but never got annoying or seemed
really out of place.
Overall, this definitely
won’t make it to the throne of PS2 racing titles, but it provides enough
replayability, unlockable extras, and fun to last for a while … despite the
looser controls and some bump and drive gameplay which seems more in line for
your local arcade. If you have GT3 and are looking for another racing title for
the $19.99 range that won’t disappoint, look no further than this. Great job to
Empire Interactive and Razorworks.
Gameplay: 7.9
Lots of tracks, a
good selection of cars to unlock, and some cool race modes make up the bulk of
this game. The tracks have some good variations in looks and include some sharp
turns and hills here and there. The overall feeling can seem a little arcadey to
the die hard realism fan, and the loose controls don’t seem to accurate from a
physics perspective, but the customization of the cars and handling along with
the actual models from the GT circuit look great. There is a lot of
replayability and this game won’t get beat for a while.
Graphics: 7.8
The graphics and
track models looked awesome, and the cars and lighting effects … while not the
best … looked really good next to most other things I’ve seen. There were some
issues in darker track areas with some scenery blending, there was some pop up
in the replays, and some minor slowdown issues occasionally … but ultimately
nothing that will take away from the overall enjoyment of the game since these
weren’t constant problems.
Sound: 8.0
The music has a
good mix to it, even if some tracks seem a little too futuristic for this type
of game. The car engine sounds and the collisions were decent as well, and
nothing which felt out of place or will disappoint.
Difficulty: Medium
There are three
difficulty settings, all of which seemed pretty accurate to me. There is a
challenge on any level that you play on, and there are a bunch of things to help
you get used to the game which can be turned on and off like driver and braking
assistance or anti lock brakes.
Concept: 8.0
While this isn’t
going to grab the #1 spot, it’s a darned good racing game that did a lot of
things right. Some minor tweaking in a sequel may just move it up the ladder …
Multiplayer: 7.7
Two players can
go head to head in single race mode, but adding in some extras like maybe team
racing through a season or mission based modes (pick up the most “whatevers”
first) would have been really neat.
Overall: 7.9
It’s not perfect,
but it’s a lot better and a lot less glitchy than a ton of other racers out
there that I have played. After you get used to the controls it’s a lot of fun,
and fans of racing games should pick it up especially for the $19.99 price tag.
Here’s great gift idea for the little Mario Andredi Jr. on your list this year.
