NASCAR 08

"Congratulations, you just lost your sponsors"

Being a traditional racing connoisseur that I am, I've been saturated to the ears with the same-old, same old: Gran Turismo, Forza, Project Gotham Racing, Enthusia, Need for Speed, Test Drive, etc. I already get that you gotta win three races in an Skyline, then you unlock the next car that you use to buy the next car that you use to get the next. Blahblahblah, you know that. Give me something different. And because Sega has yet to release their mid-90's arcade classics for home release, I pick up NASCAR 08 (I LOVE caps, do you?).

NASCAR 08 is a pure stock car simulation at heart. In an essence, you will get behind the wheel of an extravagantly painted car and drive around an oval at high speeds, while overtaking other drivers and not getting into precarious wrecks. You can pick from a full roster of drivers from four series: Craftsman Truck, NEXTEL Cup, Car of Tomorrow, and Busch Series. Basically, you can drive cars from all your favorite drivers, such as Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. The only NEXTEL Cup driver that appears to be missing is Carl Johnson, so fans will be extremely bummed out by this.

Anyway, you can participate in races on just about every track in a real Cup season, from Daytona to Bristol to Pocono to Watkins Glen. You can modify the number of opponent cars, the laps, damage options, and flags. Granted, there doesn't seem like a lot to do other than drive in circles, but each course, in practice, feels remarkably different than each other in terms of length and in turn/banking angles. Daytona and Talladega are superspeedways with the pedal to the floor, while Indianapolis and Darlington are more challenging and requiring liberal use of the brake on turns. You can participate in a free race or compete in a season and try to get the highest number of points over a variable amount of races.

Once you actually hit the race weekend, you can practice (and make necessary adjustments to your ride), qualify, then race for the checkered flag. This is where the game becomes increasingly awkward. This isn't just a “racing sim” where you need to use the brakes here and there and you win easily. This is a sim of a sim—this game is exceedingly difficult to newcomers. Even on the easiest sliders, you can't just turn without worrying about the repercussions of burning your tires, plowing into nearby traffic, or risking a spin-out. Heck, your car will veer inwards naturally on straightaways like a poorly-calibrated remote-controlled car, though this is intentional in order to help the car ease around turns with higher grip. The best description of the game's handling would be realistically stiff. The easy settings are very hard, and the hard settings are just downright impossible. You can argue that the controls are broken because unless you're a pro, you'll just screw up over and over again.

This is certainly a tricky game to get used to, especially due to the overwhelming sensitivity of the analog stick. Jerky movements on the stick can result in a spin-out. You can turn the sensitivity way down to subdue quick responses, but even still, this game is somewhat difficult. This is a double-edged sword—this is a difficult game to get used to, but once you do, it can be very rewarding as you navigate through a pack of 43 cars to first place. However, because of the game's stiff handling, if you are not a big fan of the source material, you will absolutely loathe this game. It wouldn't hurt to make this game more accessible to the casual crowd, though, which is one of the game's huge flaws.

Thankfully, you have the choice of choosing from three cars, the typical NEXTEL/Busch Series cars, the lumbering Craftman trucks, or the new aerodynamic Car of Tomorrow rides. None of them, particularly the Car of Tomorrow which appears to be built on good grip and downforce, appear to handle any differently than each other, though.

As for the rest of the stock car experience, it follows the standard laws of the sport. Ride behind other cars to catch their draft and slingshot by. Collisions with other cars will leave dents on your frame which will lead to a loss of aerodynamics and top speed. If your fuel is running low or you need some tape slapped over that tear, drive into the pit stop. You must slow down to the pit stop speed limit (usually around 45 mph) before you enter so it's a bit more realistic than just letting the computer take over automatically. If a yellow flag comes out, you can opt to pit or continue racing and gain potential restart positions. You can also be black-flagged for exceeding the pit speed limit or by driving recklessly and causing havoc. In this regard, the game does well.

You can become antiquated with the car handling in some exhibition races or you can participate in the game's “Career” mode known as “Chase For the Cup.” No, you aren't creating your own car, getting sponsors, and winning races to earn cash. Instead, you start by getting licenses by completing tasks such as “Finish a lap without dropping below this speed” or “Get past the pile-up without getting hit.” Think Gran Turismo except with stock cars. Once you get these licenses, you unlock access to specific cars that you must use to unlock contracts by winning actual races on just about every course in the game. Then once you get all your contracts, you participate in the actual NEXTEL Cup. Not really that spectacular, but you are required to go through the whole strenuous process to unlock a few achievements.

When you're done racing against the AI, you can take your game online against up to 11 other players. Having tried this several times, I actually quite enjoyed it and found some of the races to be quite competitive. When you enter a lobby, you choose your driver and run practice runs and tune your car until it's time to qualify, then race. However, there's one seemingly unavoidable problem, and that is the presence of downloadable setups. These setups, made by other players, adjust the car in order to shave seconds off lap times, and if you didn't do your research and download these things before the race, you can't win, simply put. I was hoping for more of an arcade-like approach where there's only two or three settings you can change on your car to make it more fair, but instead, if you aren't adjusting your spring rebound and tire pressure, you're doing something wrong.

Visually, NASCAR 08 has that “screenshot factor” going for it, but there's not a whole lot of detail elsewhere. Car models are quite good and you can pick out little details, such as the sponsors on the side of the car. Tracks look identical to their real-life counter-parts. Night races show off some neat lighting effects as you speed by a line of bright lights, creating an ever-moving shadow. Crowds consist of the same generic “Madden fans” who don't look that great for some reason. The biggest flaw is in the car damage, particularly due to a few glitches. Car damage and wrecks are rather tame, but if you get bumped a few times, the frame become warped in abstract ways, as usual. However, car damage can recede or return sporadically—taking some damage to the hood may result in some missing pieces suddenly “returning,” or after a pit stop, the dented hood will suddenly disappear altogether, revealing the car engine. Thankfully, graphical glitches to the damage don't appear to affect the car's performance unnaturally. The game also lacks a bit of contrast, so the game doesn't seem as "vibrant" as it should.

Good news. If you like the infamous “hhhrrrrrrrmmmmm” of traditional stock car races, you'll like the game's sound since it's quite fitting for this game. You'll hear a lot of revved engines, as well as the occasional tire squeal and crunch of metal. You get a pit chief who will report your position in the race, but he tends to give out useless information at times and also underrates any kind of wrecks whatsoever (“Hey buddy, take car of the car.” *yawn*). You can switch him out with the game's menu music, which consists of a lot of rock and country. Imagine someone like Garth Brooks singing “Do a little stomp kick” and that's the soundtrack. Pretty good soundtrack that's one of the game's more positive points.

Overall, if you cut through all the crap in NASCAR 08, then you could argue that the game deserves an 8 or a 9. However, by nature, a stock car simulator can only be so acceptable with the general public. And stuff like extremely challenging controls, mandatory setups to compete in online races, and silly little glitches cause this game to coast across the finish line in average position. It's decent in its own right, but to compete with games like Forza and Gran Turismo, you're going to need to offer more to the mainstream drivers.

Presentation: 7/10 – NASCAR, yeehaw!! What's this? The same generic black/white menus from Madden? Eh?
Gameplay: 6/10 – Driving is certainly difficult, but unless you own a steering wheel, your enjoyment of the package is limited. Not a whole lot of single-player value except single races.
Graphics: 6/10 – Good from a standpoint perspective, but several graphical glitches get in the way. Textures could use more contrast.
Sound: 7/10 – Engine sounds are dead-on and the soundtrack is suitable for racing. Pit chief is asleep at the wheel...computer, whatever.
Replay Value: 7/10 – Take your game online, but that's not so hot because of the setups.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 07/28/08, Updated 07/29/08

Game Release: NASCAR 08 (US, 07/23/07)