NASCAR 07

"Wait...which version am I playing again?"

EA is the only developer making new NASCAR games and past versions have been pretty good...until now.

Story: 1/10

It's your typical racing/sports storyline. Start from the bottom with the least desirable racing team and work your way up to NASCAR winner of the Nextel Cup. Your agent has the exact same name and voice as last year. It's virtually unchanged from last year's version.

Graphics: 8/10

Again, pretty much unchanged from last season, NASCAR 07 is still beautiful. The tracks look like they should, the sun can be so bright it screws up your ability to see the track, cars look nice and when you crash into the wall you can see sparks fly. You can even lose a tire and have it bounce around. The night races cast appropriate shadows all over the track. Heck, when you're driving fast enough the edges of the screen and other cars blur. It's new...but distracting and unnecessary.

Sound: 8/10

With a good sound system racing fans will be in heaven. The rev of the engine, gear shift changes and collisions all sound believable. Your spotter even sounds mechanical.

Gameplay: 7/10

NASCAR 06 changed the way the motor sport should be made. Chase for the Cup and season modes are back almost unchanged. We still have the ability to take control of team mates and it'll still go unused like last year. You can intimidate other drivers into giving up their draft and allowing you to drive on by, which will turn them into rivals. Mercifully, taking on NASCAR drivers in street races has been eliminated but in its place are 1 lap qualifiers for several tracks that determines how lucrative a contract you get depending on how well you place.

Replay Value: 8/10

Since there are 4 different levels of competition making up hundreds of races their is plenty of replay value to the game.

Rent or Buy:

Because NASCAR 07 is so similar to last year's version, if you've already played NASCAR 06 just rent this new one instead. Hopefully, next year EA will attempt to make a worthwile update to justify a purchase.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 11/13/06