Pro Race Driver

"The most realistic console racer yet...almost"

TOCA Race Driver is a continued evolution of the TOCA series and forms the forth title in the series. Like the previous sequels, this expands on earlier versions to include more tracks from more countries and includes a wider selection of cars than before.
The actual game basics (graphics, handling, computer A.I. etc) is an evolution and not a radical departure from what's been seen before. Anyone who has played any of the earlier games will instantly be familiar with what's on offer.

Just like the all the earlier versions, the graphics are not cutting edge compared with GT3, but, and this is an important note, what TOCA is doing is actually far more complicated than anything GT3 attempts to achieve. People seem to get hung up on the fact that the graphics in GT3 are extremely polished and nothing else has come close to matching that quality and TOCA is no exception. However, the reason GT3 graphics are so polished can be explained quite simply; The tracks are very enclosed meaning that the graphics engine doesn't have to deal with wide draw distances. There are only ever six cars on the track, further reducing the amount of effort required by the PS2. Also the cars cannot be damaged which again cuts down on the number of textures and models required. Finally, the A.I. in GT3 is still extremely simplistic. At no point do you ever feel like you are racing an intelligent entity. Instead you are fully aware that the computer cars are doggedly sticking to the pre-programmed path. At the end of the day, GT3 (which is an excellent game) is not really a true racing game. It's really Pokemon with cars. The excellent car handling model is actually slightly wasted.

TOCA on the other hand suffers no such problems. Make no mistake, if you enjoy racing and by this I mean 'racing' not just coming first because you've stacked the odds in your favour, then you will love the game mechanics of TOCA.

The handling really is the best yet in any racing game. By that, I mean it is the most realistic. If you don't know how to drive quickly in real life and/or you're a heavy handed arcade racer, you may find TOCA more than a tad unforgiving. However, if you do know how a car handles when driven quickly in real life or are prepared to be smoother with your controls then TOCA will reward you like you no other driving game. It's pleasing to see that codemasters have finally made the handling work properly on a controller. The previous games worked fine with a force feed back steering wheel on the PC, but were a bit twitchy and unpredictable when using a game controller (both on PC and PSX). I think codemasters have been studying the Grand Tourismo series and have finally got a gamepad friendly handling model.

The real star of the show as with all the TOCA games is the computer A.I. It really is top of the line. You feel like you are racing real people. They make mistakes trying to out break you on corners, if you bash into an opponent on one corner they will try an take you out on the next ! The races manage to be unpredictable but always winnable just like real life.

The real departure from previous games in the series is the structure of the now story driven main game. Here you take control of Ryan Mckane a self obsessed racer and generally all round unlikeable guy. Cut scenes appear sporadically throughout the game and all the lines are lifted directly from films such as the Fast And The Furious and Days Of Thunder. They don't really add anything to the game and are watchable enough but can be skipped if required. They are also a bit disjointed in the way they start and stop inbetween level loads. You get the impression it's one longer movie that been not particularly efficiently chopped into smaller chunks, with each chunk slotted in at varying points. To be honest it's a bit wooden and detracts from the racing. You can see what Codemasters were trying to achieve (i.e. try and add a bit of warmth and personality to a genre that is very cold and clinical), but they've not quite pulled it off.
The game is broken into three tiers (four if you include the bonus level unlocked at the end of the game). Each tier is made up of race championships consisting of eight races. Each championship is set in a particular area of the world and in particular types of cars. For example, the first championship is set on UK tracks driving standard UK touring cars. Other championships in the first tier include Alpha GTV championship (a one make series racing on European tracks) whilst others take in Australia and America with cars appropriate to the area.
Moving onto tier two ups the ante to take in races such as the German touring car series and Australian V8 series etc.
The final tier is basically Le-Man level cars. On completing the game two further championships are unlocked. These championships can only be entered using cars you have unlocked whilst playing the earlier levels.

After completing various championships in the game, you will receive a challange for a one on one duel. If you win, then you keep the car. Thus you are able to win cars such as TVR, Marcos and even a Dodge Charger (remember Bullit and The Dukes Of Hazzard ?). It's only these unlocked cars that can be used in the two bonus championships unlocked at the end of the game.

Away from the story mode you are free to create your own championships consisting of tracks and cars of your choice, which helps extend the life of the game but probably will be most useful for multiplayer gaming.

So is this the best racing game money can buy ?.... Almost, but it does manage to shoot itself in the foot slightly. As mentioned, the story mode does grate a bit and gets a bit annoying, but the single biggest problem is the inability to qualify. Once again, I can see why Codemasters have done this, but once again it detracts from the game. Your grid position is determine by the computer. Thus you can be the best driver on the planet and win every race every time, but you will never be able to start on pole because the game won't let you. As an avid racer I feel this was a huge mistake by Codemasters and I hope it's one they don't make again as it really does detract from the game. It also makes a mockery of the story mode, you have been signed as the best thing sliced bread but you can never qualify on pole, hmm, something doesn't quite gel there. Even in none story mode you are not allowed to qualify and this is criminal in a game which majors on realistic car physics and computer A.I.
Next time Codemasters, let those of us who want to qualify do so and provide a randomiser for those who don't.
Another slight foible is that the game is just a might easy. I feel that the computer cars don't race as well as they could and I feel this is directly related to the randomised grid position. Because you can't start on pole, the computer cars break way too early for the corners and I think this has been done to allow you to catch up and overtake in a short space of time (most races are only two or three laps). The longer races (involving pitstops) really ram this home, when you tend to finish by a country mile.

TOCA manages to snatch merely good from the jaws of greatness by a couple of silly oversights which should have been picked up in playtesting.

Overall though it's still an extremely good game that any racing fan should enjoy. Just don't expect it to last quite as long as you had hoped.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/05/02, Updated 09/05/02