Pro Race Driver

"These things are fast!"

This isn't your basic racing game... well I guess it is a little. Let's get on with the review shall we?

Gameplay [9] :
Very good, even though the handling is completely unrealistic. The AI is very odd, if not extremely frustrating. Especially when sometimes you can spin them out, cause them to wreck, or hit them and they will be right back up on your bumper. The AI was the only thing keeping this part from getting a 10. Other than the screwy AI this gameplay is near perfect (near being the key word).

Story [3] :
There's a story there somewhere but it took me a long time to fully see it. Basically the main character (Ryan McKane) is trying to show that he's actually a good driver and not trying to get a ride off of his dad's name. His dad dies in the intro movie which I thought sparked Ryan's intrest in racing kind of. You meet up with different racing teams looking for a ride to the big's throughout the whole game.

Graphics [8] :
The graphics are very good, not even close to GT3's but they get the job done. The best part of the graphics is when you hit something. If you run your rear-end into something the spoiler is the first to go, then the rear bumper, and the muffler. Hitting a wall with your side will cause all of the glass to shatter, or a door to open. The front is almost the same as the back except it skips the spoiler part.

Sound [6]:
The sound FX is great but the music isn't the best, considering you rarely hear one in a race. The menu music is good. You also have a spotter you sometimes hear him yelling at you when you do something wrong or hit something.

Game time [9] :
You'll be playing this game for weeks. If you don't get enough points in one series to move on to the next tier, you go to another series, until you get enough points to go on. After you unlock all the cars (which I doubt anyone has been able to do yet without cheats) you've got multiplayer to use them in.

Recommendations :
Rent it first and if it's not too frustrating, buy it. This game is undoubtedly worthy of a rent.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/11/03, Updated 02/11/03