TOCA Race Driver 2: The Ultimate Racing Simulator

"A solid racing game with a surprisingly in-depth story"

I am hardly a connoisseur of racing games. In fact, the only reason I play “realistic” racing games, such as Gran Turismo or its sequels is because my father loves them to death. Regrettably, he doesn't like *my* type of racers (F-Zero and Mario-kart being prime examples) because he prefers his games to be realistic. Pah...

My disdain for the genre aside, I do know a good game when I see one, which is why this game took me somewhat by surprise. When I picked up the game at my local computer store's bargain bin to give to my Dad for a present, it didn't really look (or sound) like much. I had never heard of the series before, so I assumed it was a fairly run-of-the-mill title. However, upon loading it up, I was pleasantly surprised by the results.

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics in this game are quite good, hardware specs permitting. The tracks and cars look suitably impressive, although the bystanders are, for the most part, either non-existent or cardboard cut-outs. The weather and lighting is well pulled off and the game is overall quite good, graphically speaking.

Story: 10/10

Arguably the thing that sets this apart from most other racers out there is its story. You play as a custom-named, up-and-coming race car driver looking to secure a spot on one of the leading race teams in the country. Your only companion in this quest for glory is your pit boss, a rotund and crotchety, yet loyal old Scotsman named Rick. Over time a few other notable allies and rivals make their appearance and the game does an excellent job developing the characters despite having a limited amount of time to do so. From the arrogant Five-O to the quick tempered Caeser, all the characters are quite nicely brought to life through a series of cutscenes shown in between races.

You actually grow quite attached to the characters and there are even a few unpredictable plot twists thrown in for good measure. It is a stellar story, and easily the best I've ever seen in a racing game.

Controls: 8/10

I played this using a USB steering wheel and pedal attachment and actually had a really good time with the set up (after some initial wrestling with the program to recognize the damn thing and set it up properly, that is). I'd highly recommend taking this route rather than trying to play with the keyboard. I briefly attempted this one night when I didn't feel like hooking up the steering wheel and it didn't go well at all...

The controls themselves work great. The physics engine does a good job of emulating the real racing experience. You will need to learn how to drift, take corners properly and slipstream in this game and the game responds quite smoothly once you learn the proper technique. There are a few minor irritations, mostly to keep cheating weasels like myself in line. First off, on a few areas of off-road terrain that look like terrific shortcuts, your car will be launched into a skidding spin, regardless of how slowly or carefully you approach the area. While this does do the job of keeping people from purposely cutting corners, it also makes things very frustrating should you accidentally overshoot your target and wind up in the offending grass, as you will be spun helplessly and will likely need to restart the race. Furthermore, the placement of these areas seems to be totally random. Some blatantly obvious shortcuts (that aren't supposed to be taken) are easily accessible through a little off-roading, while other rather obscure ones are given the spinny grass treatment. It's a minor complaint, but it's still minorly irksome.

Sound: 8/10

Not too much to talk about in this department as, other than the menu screens, there is no music. The cars sound believable enough, though are not as realistically represented as in, say, the Gran Turismo series. The voice acting is very well done, and it's certainly nice to see that at least some games can pull this off without sounding cheesy or fake. Rick will occasionally radio you with updates during the race, which can get a little annoying as some of his quotes are fairly obvious to anyone with half a brain (“Third place! Only two more cars between you and first!”) Overall, however, the sound is excellent.

Gameplay: 9/10

Racing games can be broken down into two very broad categories: Driving Simulators, which seek to emulate as much of the real racing experience as possible and Arcade Racers that pay less attention to real world physics and more attention to ridiculous, over-the-top things that don't really happen in races. TOCA Race Driver 2 falls squarely in the former category and, as such, gamers that prefer their games to be full of big stunts or deadly attacks may want to look elsewhere.

The physics are not perfect, but they're darn close. You will feel a notable difference in traction depending on whether your tires are cold or hot, new or worn and clean or dirty. The game does register car damage and, as such, it is very important that you play the game like you were actually racing a car, rather than trying to ram everyone else off the road. The damage does decrease the car's performance realistically; Engine damage will affect your top speed, tire damage will affect your traction, steering damage will affect... well, I think you can guess that last one... and so on and so forth.

The beauty of this game is that, unlike so many other racers both arcade and realistic alike, there is variety in your goals. Instead of trying to finish first in every race (which can be damn near impossible on some of them), you are given varied objectives. You may have to finish within a certain number of spots of a certain driver, or you may have to achieve a podium finish in a tournament. Another wonderful touch of realism is you don't always start in last or first; your position at the start of the race is randomly selected for each different race.

The AI varies in difficulty from easy to insane, and some of the courses in the story mode will require you to try them many, many, many times. Aside from the story mode, there is also a free race mode or a tournament mode, either of which can be played against other players.

In terms of cars, there is a huge variety of vehicles. You have hot rods, antique cars, stock cars, GT cars, rally cars, pickup trucks and even some strange vehicles like big rigs or monster trucks. Each one handles very differently and you will rapidly be able to tell which cars are good and which deserve to be scrapped (though, regrettably, you're still stuck racing with them anyways).

Overall: 9/10

I may not be the biggest racing fan, particularly when it comes to Driving Simulators, but Race Driver 2 was an all around great experience that I quite enjoyed. I highly recommend any race enthusiast pick this title up and give it a spin. If nothing else, the story mode will keep you entertained for a good 10 hours or so. Be sure to say hello to Rick for me when you see him!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/18/07

Game Release: TOCA Race Driver 2: The Ultimate Racing Simulator (US, 04/15/04)