GTR 2

The PC racing simulation category is not what it was. While the PC used at home for a wide variety of classic races in-depth simulation of a series, the ever-increasing power of game consoles and the promise of more sales there are many who wish to become racing developers simply abandon the PC. Consider SimBin's GTR 2, the sequel to 2005's GTR FIA Racing, listening back to the good old days of the MIS race. It is a vast and difficult due to one of the best racing games of last year and at its price, it remains one of the best opportunities of the year for the PC.

From the viewpoint of the content, GTR 2 is not much different from the original. The game still revolves around the GT race -- a mixture of multiclass forcing sports car makers such as Ferrari, Porsche, TVR, Saleen, and many others, all competitors on a cosmopolitan range of real life tracks from around the world. In addition, the model of conduct, which so authentically captured the vibrant yet often twitchy experience of driving a sports car highly tuned in the first GTR, is even more careful planning in the future. The lion's share of the improvement of the game, then you can see the slight decline in planing the original game is often steep learning curve.

The first and most obvious how GTR developers have made it through the driving school, a comprehensive tutorial which was apparently designed to take you from the bottom -- your first moments in the car tight competition with the game requiring artificially Intelligent drivers (or with up to 27 other players via the game's excellent online multiplayer racing). Categories covered include driving school basic principles, such as acceleration and braking, through cornering and overtaking, and finally, section by section failure of a large number of tracks presented in part. Each class includes a breakdown text, which covers the theory behind each concept of the race, as well as the specific objective that you must take in order to succeed in this challenge. You can also practice in front of a challenge "official" attempt against the ghost of a car or watching the ghost of a car to see the knees of good braking or cornering points, which is essential for some of the challenges delicate. By beating challenges you unlock a host of restricted Class championships which are classified in levels of difficulty, and some of the first you open championships are quite easy and serve as an excellent introduction to the kind of intense on-track action which forms the heart of the party. These new to the series are well served by simply going through the tutorials basic driving school, opening a few championships and competition in a few of those early rounds. In all, if you go so far as to compete in all 142 challenges found in GTR 2, you will be well on your way to mastering the basics of driving fast and have a good idea of how many tracks found in the game work.

Once you have completed the course and have built a lot of confidence at the beginning of the game, you will find a number of game modes and options GTR 2 just waiting to beat you and bring you back to the land . Open practice and time trial are two good ways to improve your lap time. The inclusion of a color-coded according to the racing line similar to that found in Forza Motorsport is a nice touch -- if we found in GTR 2 is not as dynamic as the feature in Forza. As a result, you can often find the points where one can "circumvent" the race online in order to save a few tenths. The same can be said of signs of the turn that pop-up when turning laps, which also suggest the equipment, you should be in the attack in a corner. Several times, you can ignore the recommended gear for what you know works better in a car.

GTR 2 The three main modes of race weekend of racing championships, and 24 hours of racing. A race weekend is a unique event, complete and convenient with multiple qualifying rounds, as well as the race itself. Championship mode includes both the 2003 and 2004 official FIA GT seasons, as well as custom you open championships by completing challenges in the driving school. New for GTR 2 is the 24-hour races on tracks such as Spa-Franchorchamps, Monza, and China Zuhai circuit. You can reduce those grueling endurance of a more manageable size (say one or three hours), and always the same day experience gradual transition in the evening you would be in 24 hours of racing.

There are three levels of difficulty to choose from -- novice, semi-professional, and simulation. And, as you can expect, the difference in treatment between novices and simulation is dramatic. At the novice level, each option antilock braking the various kinds of aid, such as stability and braking assistance, are available to be toggled on and off at your discretion. The semi-pro level disables most of this aid, but leaves your traction control and ABS system intact. The simulation difficulty level of gray at all options and lets you on the asphalt with your driving ability (and whatever you ask deity) to count.
And that is -- on the asphalt -- that you feel the full brunt of the GTR 2 experience. As in the last game, with all aid on the sidelines, it is one of the most exciting and difficult race experiences you can have. The cockpit, which includes impressively detailed and authentic interiors for each car in the game, puts you in the driver's seat, and turn after turn, you are jostled and thrown into the tracks at speeds ridiculous. All shake and wobble your car is felt and demands your attention. He plays the game with a joystick or steering wheel and pedal combination (or, heaven forbids, with a keyboard), you are still balanced on the tip of a knife, trying to get out the last ounce of the speed of your car while fighting Dégrade quickly against your tires. A bit too tire on the sidewalk or just a little too steep an angle in a corner can spell disaster, as a spin in the grass or even worse, full of colliding with the wall -- where you experience Game Sophisticated modeling of the damage.

In fact, the biggest credit GTR 2 refined driving model is that of a race going on, you can feel the nature of the car handling change. Just before you are due to a judgment, for example, you are then slide to the outside of corners normally could attack you at full clip at the beginning of the trial, that your tires start to work against you. Also, watch your mirrors because the chipset AI will be able to pounce on you after the slightest mistake. In fact, if there is a critical GTR 2 of the pound sterling otherwise sims approach to the conduct is that, even with its concessions to make the series more accessible for beginners, it is still difficult slog to get on the podium. Even the simplest custom championships needs a good dose of skill and concentration to win, which is not necessarily a bad thing -- as long as you set your expectations as such.

An integral part of a game just driving simulation of a multitude of options for dealing with your walk, and GTR 2 absolutely not skimp here. Any fuel strategy tire pressure, and from sources and to the camber and toe-in the fight against the bar, is adjustable in the game If you are an experienced virtual gearhead, the wealth of options in this will certainly be a boon. For novices, it seems likely overwhelming. Thank God, then, that the options of online game allows you to download user created sample configuration, which are organized by the rails. With a little digging, you can probably find a fast set for any car you are driving, the ability of these configurations rates is also a common practice to separate filtering configuration wheat from the chaff. Despite this, however, seems even qualifying excessively difficult in the game. Even with a tight, and a good portion of practice on the road, you will find it difficult to put in cars of the higher level when the time comes to drop the green flag.

The cars and tracks found in the game are modeled skillfully, and on a mid to high-end computer, we offer see the wealth of information on display on the tracks. The game runway models are wonderful, capturing the high notes of each -- Eau Rouge at Spa, Monza Parabolica, and the downhill slide in the never-ending right front in Barcelona. They also provide enough details, such as the flag to race officials, and a long train of spectators that the long straight at Spa, to keep you engaged. The quality throughout this is that, just as with the last GTR, you will need a heavy configuration to get the game running at a respectable clip. Even with the 3.20GHz/2GB RAM machines, we played the game, we met with frame rates enough questions to the default configuration to give us concern -- it is difficult to imagine that the game is very playable on the minimum requirements of 1.8GHz / 512 MB RAM. It is also useful to recall that the series is due for a change, because the menu system seems to be largely unchanged from the previous GTR, which is to say that it is a bit ugly and confused.

Even if you do not necessarily expect a wealth of variety in a racing game for the proper presentation, GTR 2 a few acoustic deals with the attentive listener. First, the sound of car engines is a marvel, softness, slurring purr of a G3 class Porsche, the angry, and frankly a little afraid of a moan TVR T400R. But the fun does not stop there. When shoot down the long straight at high speed, you will hear the sounds of dust and debris carefully clanking against the bottom of the car in the turns, you will notice protesting the tires squeal as they strain against your leadership; And if you run a in a wide turn, the teeth will chatter noisily your car bumps on the curb. Whether in listening on headphones or through your PC speakers cranked and very enjoyable, the game's audio presentation that you just carry much more in the car. Even the soundtrack music is not that bad, depending on your tolerance for the kind of techno-pop European presented in the previous Thursday GTR.

The possibility of going directly to the first GTR Thursday and start with GTR 2 is a testament to this game and the quality of its learning curve slightly softer. Once on the road, though, GTR 2 unapologetically requires your attention as a participant, which is exactly what listening and very deep race SIM should do. Provided that you have the PC horsepower to run this game on its quality and price point discount practically shouting for your attention.