Screenshots :.
NASCAR 2006
Xbox
Matt
26-04-2007
"As they say, rubbing's racing. Or something."
"These things are wicked fun."
"Yeah, I'll have fries, a coke, a double cheeseburger...."
"You're not going to win going that way, are you?"
If I were a betting man (or, if I could afford to be a betting man), I’d wager a hefty slice of cash that most of you out there probably haven’t heard of such folks as Kyle Busch, Elliot Sadler and Kenny Irwin. Likewise, I suspect the mention of Bristol Motor Speedway will have plenty of you scratching your head and wondering why you hadn’t come across such a thing whilst out and about in everyone’s favourite West Country seaside spot.
For those of you still puzzled, all of the above are regular staples of the NASCAR series, which is to the United States what Formula One is to Europe. Featuring a schedule primarily made up of oval circuits and a selection of vivid stock cars plastered with sponsorship, NASCAR is a sponsor’s dream and a hot license to pick up if you want to sell a few million copies of your latest video game. Does it provide an entertaining slice of racing action, though?
Being an EA game, the first thing to get right out the way at the very start of this is that the game is lavishly produced and presented, with a selection of NASCAR stars giving the classic EA slogan during the intro and a range of endorsements dotted around. The menu system is slick and uncomplicated, offering the player the choice of game modes to delve into.
Along with the standard quick race and championship offerings, the foremost of these is Fight to the Top, in which the budding racer starts his career in small midget racing and has to build themselves up through a number of support series events before hitting the big time. This mode not only introduces the concept of forging your own way through a career, but also the team control from which the game gains its subtitle. In initial races and particularly in the lower echelons of the ladder, this mode seems a little unnecessary. Reach the heady heights of the Nextel Cup though and soon you’ll realise that team play is crucial to your success.
Briefly introduced during an interactive introduction, team control sees the player having the other cars running in his squad mapped to the D-pad, with a tap of the appropriate button changing his own car to being automatically controlled and jumping forward or backward into the driver’s seat of his team-mate. This allows a range of tactics to be carried out, be it gaining extra speed by ‘bump drafting’ (i.e. nudging the back of your team-mate to give him a little boost), or holding the lead pack up to enable your stable runners to catch up if they’re a little on the tardy side.
This is made all the more crucial by the very nature of stock car racing itself. Whereas seasoned Formula One gaming veterans will be used to concentrating on the circuit and occasionally battling for position with opposition, NASCAR sees you pitted straight into a never-ending crocodile of intelligent vehicles all jostling for position at speeds up to 200mph. Keeping your line is crucial during all of this, and one slight slip left or right could end in a catastrophic accident involving dozens of cars, so concentration is the name of the game. Certainly, anyone breezing into the action thinking that it’ll be easy just going round in circles is in for a nasty shock indeed.
To add depth to the team tactics nature, the mode also offers the player the chance to purchase his own team and deal with a whole range of sponsorship and merchandising options. Whilst jumping into someone else’s team and performing well leaves you with a good sense of achievement, seeing you and your entire crew of your own team climbing up the leaderboard adds a whole extra level of satisfaction and will act as a great incentive for players to keep plugging away to earn the amount of cash needed to live the dream.
It all becomes second nature very quickly too. Even someone like myself who spends most days racing around Silverstone and Spa in my favourite Formula One cars quickly adjusted to the techniques and tactics needed to make it big over the pond. Finding your way into the correct train of cars in order to zoom your way to the front of the pack and blocking certain opponents – at risk of angering them and causing them to return such favours later – will all add themselves intuitively to your racing armoury, leaving you to absorb yourself fully in the range of circuits thrown your way.
In terms of handling, the game does a good job to convey the heavier nature of stock cars, whilst also making sure it lets you know that the cars will step out of line if you do the wrong things. Maintaining a smooth racing line requires precision and silky skill with the steering wheel, whilst dodging in and out of traffic requires you to listen carefully to your spotter who informs you if anyone is alongside. It certainly feels authentic enough, and whilst not offering an experience as in-depth or pinpoint as PC NASCAR simulations developed by Papyrus the racing still excites just as much as anything.
Visually the game doesn’t break too much ground, especially when compared to titles such as Forza. One could argue that the amount of vehicles and closeness of circuit scenery means that NASCAR 06 has a lot more polygons to push through, but it’s still a little disappointing when the framerate judders a little during some hectic moments and causes you to nudge into someone. In terms of cars and circuits everything seems present and correct, with a whole range of luridly liveried vehicles jostling for position.
If you’re not a fan of NASCAR but had been considering giving it a go, this game will probably serve as a better introduction that sitting down and watching a race on television. Cleverly catering for newcomers with a range of tutorials and explanations and gradually building them up through a selection of different series and disciplines, you’ll learn a heck of a lot from sitting down for a few hours in front of your TV with this playing out in front of you.
For people already well ingrained with the ins and outs of the Nextel Cup, this is also a great game to get if you’re up for a challenge. It might not be a hard-as-nails simulation of the sport, but as a tricky racing game that offers a great career and team franchise mode it’ll give you more than enough reasons to keep playing for months.
For those of you still puzzled, all of the above are regular staples of the NASCAR series, which is to the United States what Formula One is to Europe. Featuring a schedule primarily made up of oval circuits and a selection of vivid stock cars plastered with sponsorship, NASCAR is a sponsor’s dream and a hot license to pick up if you want to sell a few million copies of your latest video game. Does it provide an entertaining slice of racing action, though?
Being an EA game, the first thing to get right out the way at the very start of this is that the game is lavishly produced and presented, with a selection of NASCAR stars giving the classic EA slogan during the intro and a range of endorsements dotted around. The menu system is slick and uncomplicated, offering the player the choice of game modes to delve into.
Along with the standard quick race and championship offerings, the foremost of these is Fight to the Top, in which the budding racer starts his career in small midget racing and has to build themselves up through a number of support series events before hitting the big time. This mode not only introduces the concept of forging your own way through a career, but also the team control from which the game gains its subtitle. In initial races and particularly in the lower echelons of the ladder, this mode seems a little unnecessary. Reach the heady heights of the Nextel Cup though and soon you’ll realise that team play is crucial to your success.
Briefly introduced during an interactive introduction, team control sees the player having the other cars running in his squad mapped to the D-pad, with a tap of the appropriate button changing his own car to being automatically controlled and jumping forward or backward into the driver’s seat of his team-mate. This allows a range of tactics to be carried out, be it gaining extra speed by ‘bump drafting’ (i.e. nudging the back of your team-mate to give him a little boost), or holding the lead pack up to enable your stable runners to catch up if they’re a little on the tardy side.
This is made all the more crucial by the very nature of stock car racing itself. Whereas seasoned Formula One gaming veterans will be used to concentrating on the circuit and occasionally battling for position with opposition, NASCAR sees you pitted straight into a never-ending crocodile of intelligent vehicles all jostling for position at speeds up to 200mph. Keeping your line is crucial during all of this, and one slight slip left or right could end in a catastrophic accident involving dozens of cars, so concentration is the name of the game. Certainly, anyone breezing into the action thinking that it’ll be easy just going round in circles is in for a nasty shock indeed.
To add depth to the team tactics nature, the mode also offers the player the chance to purchase his own team and deal with a whole range of sponsorship and merchandising options. Whilst jumping into someone else’s team and performing well leaves you with a good sense of achievement, seeing you and your entire crew of your own team climbing up the leaderboard adds a whole extra level of satisfaction and will act as a great incentive for players to keep plugging away to earn the amount of cash needed to live the dream.
It all becomes second nature very quickly too. Even someone like myself who spends most days racing around Silverstone and Spa in my favourite Formula One cars quickly adjusted to the techniques and tactics needed to make it big over the pond. Finding your way into the correct train of cars in order to zoom your way to the front of the pack and blocking certain opponents – at risk of angering them and causing them to return such favours later – will all add themselves intuitively to your racing armoury, leaving you to absorb yourself fully in the range of circuits thrown your way.
In terms of handling, the game does a good job to convey the heavier nature of stock cars, whilst also making sure it lets you know that the cars will step out of line if you do the wrong things. Maintaining a smooth racing line requires precision and silky skill with the steering wheel, whilst dodging in and out of traffic requires you to listen carefully to your spotter who informs you if anyone is alongside. It certainly feels authentic enough, and whilst not offering an experience as in-depth or pinpoint as PC NASCAR simulations developed by Papyrus the racing still excites just as much as anything.
Visually the game doesn’t break too much ground, especially when compared to titles such as Forza. One could argue that the amount of vehicles and closeness of circuit scenery means that NASCAR 06 has a lot more polygons to push through, but it’s still a little disappointing when the framerate judders a little during some hectic moments and causes you to nudge into someone. In terms of cars and circuits everything seems present and correct, with a whole range of luridly liveried vehicles jostling for position.
If you’re not a fan of NASCAR but had been considering giving it a go, this game will probably serve as a better introduction that sitting down and watching a race on television. Cleverly catering for newcomers with a range of tutorials and explanations and gradually building them up through a selection of different series and disciplines, you’ll learn a heck of a lot from sitting down for a few hours in front of your TV with this playing out in front of you.
For people already well ingrained with the ins and outs of the Nextel Cup, this is also a great game to get if you’re up for a challenge. It might not be a hard-as-nails simulation of the sport, but as a tricky racing game that offers a great career and team franchise mode it’ll give you more than enough reasons to keep playing for months.
7/10
