Features
* The Only OFFICIAL V8 Racing game for Australia and New Zealand Customisable
car set-ups
* Real cars and circuits from around the world and imagery
* Realistic car mechanics with accurate handling and collisions
* Authentic sound recording used for all the cars
* Pit Crew Advice
* Motion capture will be utilised for the story elements within the game
* Visible damage to the cars utilising the FEM system as used by the crash
test industry
* Professional script writers, composers and directors have been used
throughout.
Tracks
Mt Panorama, Bathurst
Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
Oran Park Raceway
Adelaide Street Circuit
Eastern Creek Raceway
Canberra Street Circuit
Sandown International Motor Raceway
Drivers
Paul Radisich (18) Shell Helix Racing (Falcon AU)
Marcos Ambrose (4) Pirtek Racing (Falcon AU)
Steven Richards (6) Ford Tickford Racing (Falcon AU)
Craig Lowndes (00) Gibson Motorsport (Falcon AU)
Russell Ingall (8) Castrol Perkins Racing (Commodore VX)
Garth Tander (34) Valvoline Cummins Repco Race Team (Commodore VX)
Glenn Seton (5) Ford Tickford Racing (Falcon AU)
Larry Perkins (11) Castrol Perkins Racing (Commodore VX)
Steven Johnson (17) Shell Helix Racing (Falcon AU)
Greg Murphy (51) K-Mart Racing (Commodore VX)
Mark Larkham (10) ICS Ford Team Smartcar (Falcon AU)
Jason Bargwanna (35) Valvoline Cummins Repco Race Team (Commodore VX)
David Besnard (9) Caltex Havoline Race Team (Falcon AU)
John Bowe (600) CAT Racing (Falcon AU)
Todd Kelly (15) K-Mart Racing (Commodore VX)
Steve Ellery (31) Super Cheap Auto Racing (Falcon AU)
John Faulkner (46) John Faulkner Racing (Commodore VX
Cameron McConville (3) Lansvale Smash Repairs (Commodore VX)
Brad Jones (21) Ozemail Internet Racing (Falcon AU)
Paul Morris (29) Big Kev Racer (Commodore VX
)"Driving Force"
and "GT Force" steering wheels with force feedback fully supported.
Manufactured by Logitech.
1 or 2 players
Multitap (for PS2) adaptable: 1-4 players
Memory card (8MB for PS2): 146Kb minimum
Analog Control Compatible: all buttons
Vibration Function Compatible
Review by Neville
WIlkinson
Go NUTS
with the official V8 Supercars Game
It’s great
to see games coming out that take V8 Supercars seriously, and OziSoft’s
V8 Supercar Race Driver is one such.
Currently available for PlayStation2, Race Driver has all the bells
and whistles, including a plot to go with the product. Sure you can
indulge in the biff and barge of, say, Canberra but if you want to get
into a full on story with racing involved then Race Driver has that
as well.
I have to admit
– just like everybody else – I’d heard about Race
Driver for months now and seeing all the bits and pieces being released
really had me pretty ‘toey’ leading up to the first time
I could have a fang on the real thing.
I can actually say that I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw.
I didn’t stuff around with much, it was just a case of ‘take
me to the V8 Supercars and then don’t bug me for an hour’.
No setup, no qualifying, just racing and if I qualified last then there
was going to be carnage in the first turn. Funny how in real life when
you lock up the front wheels you can’t turn, well as I found out,
the game is the same as I proceeded to create a panel beater’s
fantasy in Turn 1.
Car Control
At the green flag if you have the foot flat to the boards you have to
control the fishtail off the line, great fun when you are trying to
jam your racer into that impossible gap.
If you like to use the buttons for accelerating or stopping instead
of the Dual Shock joy stick then you will have to be careful getting
out of the turns as you will be constantly lighting up the rears, all
good fun really.
Same with braking, use the buttons and you will have to brake in a straight
line as you will usually lock ‘em up and have no steering.
If you have an analogue steering wheel and pedals then you will be able
to have a lot more control when you stomp on the anchors then the go
fast pedal.
One thing I did notice in the car setup area was the commentary on how
to set up a car, especially for individual tracks – handy for
a ‘Knudpucker’ like myself.
Crashability
Mayhem is one way of describing it. The damage is the best so far, when
I seriously punted a Kmart Commodore in the first turn he lost his rear
wing and I lost my front air dam.
In my limited time I managed to lose the bonnet, both front guards,
boot lid, front doors, both front wheels and smash all the windows at
various crunch points (Canberra is a good track for this). I’ve
flipped my car and sent others flying, including Crompton sliding along
on his side (I was doing a Max Wilson out of a spin and clipped the
silver and black Ford).
Interestingly enough some pretty big accidents happen without your help.
I saw a rollover between two computer cars as I was following them –
sweet!
The folks at OziSoft have told me that they have even tried to match
the driver characteristics to their cars so you have to know who you
are going to make that move on, they even race harder if you’re
trying to pass and give you a bit of aggro, particularly if you start
it.
Overall
If you have a PlayStation2 and are into driving games then V8 Supercars
Race Driver should be high on your shopping list.
In the time I had in front of the tube I had fun and there is the option
of one, two or four players on the one TV.
As with most of the gaming stuff around today the graphics were excellent
and the little things like jiggling key rings when you are choosing
your weapon add a nice touch.
The Aussie tracks featured in the game include Bathurst, Adelaide, Canberra,
Phillip Island, Eastern Creek, Sandown and Oran Park. V8 Supercar Race
Driver also offers overseas racing including the BTCC and DTM championships.
All up there are 38 tracks and around 40 cars of various shapes and
sizes to get your teeth into and blaze away. What, is that hour up already?
Key Features
The Only OFFICIAL V8 Racing game for Australia and New Zealand
Customisable car setups
Real cars and circuits from around the world and accurate imagery
Realistic car mechanics with accurate handling and collisions
Motion capture will be utilised for the story elements within the game
Pit Crew Advice
Visible damage to the cars utilising the FEM system as used by the crash
test industry
The list of Australian tracks includes Adelaide Street Circuit, Phillip
Island Grand Prix Circuit, Mt Panorama Bathurst, Eastern Creek Raceway,
Oran Park Raceway, Canberra Street Circuit and Sandown International
Motor Raceway
Professional script writers, composers and directors have been used
throughout
From the Developers of TOCA World Touring Cars and Colin McRae Rally
Nev "the rev"
Wilkinson
Image Gallery
Click on the thumbnails
to see the full size picture :
 
|
