V8 Supercars 2

I’ve always been a fan of the ToCA series. I bought the first two ToCA Touring Cars games on the PlayStation and extensively played the first V8 Supercars: Race Driver game on PS2. After playing V8 Supercars 2 for the greater part of the last two weeks, I’ve realized one thing, this game is one of the most diverse and enjoyable racing simulators ever. Before you get too confused, V8 Supercars 2 is the Australian and New Zealand name for the game known to the rest of the world as ToCA Race Driver 2: The Ultimate Racing Simulator. Published by Codemasters, V8 Supercars 2 will keep you occupied for hours upon hours.

One of the first things you will notice in V8 Supercars 2 is the way the game jumps straight into the story. After creating your profile, you don’t have a menu to choose whether you want to play the story, or time trials; instead you go full speed into your first race. This race is basically to get to know the controls and is the first race in your career mode. After this race you can then choose what you would like to do, such as continue with your career, play multiplayer, race some test laps or play online. If you continue with your career mode you will notice that you are no longer racing as a specific character as was the case with the original V8 Supercars game, instead the person you control is yourself. You never say anything, and your name is what you entered for your profile. As you progress through career mode, you will unlock more cars and tracks. The story is loosely held together with the main objective and target to raise money by getting on the podium with a few cutscenes here and there after each series.

As you unlock more and more cars as the game goes on, you’ll realize how much depth this game has. It boasts 15 different motor sports over 33 championships. These include vintage classics, sports cars, convertibles, off-road vehicles, rally cars, truck racing, and of course the V8 supercars. Each of these cars will handle completely differently, with the trucks feeling very heavy, the rally cars quick off the mark, and the supercars with a lot of grunt. The wide variety gives the game much more replay value, and will keep you from being bored with a certain racing style.

Speaking of racing style, V8 Supercars 2 has some of the best racing physics ever seen in a game, and it is a fine art to master them. Coming straight from playing Burnout 3: Takedown, and attempting to speed around the track in V8 Supercars 2 was probably not the best way to approach this game. You need to brake before approaching corners rather than going full throttle around them, and you can’t smash into your opponents to force them out of the race... well you can, but be prepared to also lose your hopes of a podium finish. Put a wheel onto the grass and it will slow you down, and depending on what type of car you are racing, you can spinout when taking what you thought was a shortcut. The damage is deadly serious, if you hit another car then you will start to drift sideways due to damaged wheel alignment, and if your engine gets damaged you notice you aren’t able to go as fast as once possible. You can also smash your wheel clean off, then that’s it, race over. This type of damage keeps you from smashing and bashing your way to a win.

Other than the career mode, you can always revert back to the free race, where there are plenty of options and tinkering to be done. First you choose your championship (car series) you want to compete in, choose the track, then you are presented with the race options. Aside from the usual qualifying, vehicle setup and opposition set-up you can also choose whether you want your race to be the full event or not. By choosing the full event you will take part in the normal amount of races which that event would normally have when raced in real life. Such as 3 races at Pukekohe, or 2 races in Adelaide, etc. With all these options it become very easy to recreate your favourite motor sport series, complete with the drivers competing. Time Trials are as basic as it comes, you choose the type of cars you want to race as, choose your track and then can load a ghost car for some friendly competition if wanted. Time Trial records can also be saved as can replays of your most favourite races. Multiplayer is much the same as free race, and is always fun to take on your arch nemesis with the V8’s at Bathurst.

Onto online racing, and it is handled very well. You can choose to have a quick game where you are matched with an awaiting opponent and race without having to browse through all the lobbies to find someone with ranking similar to you. You can alternatively go through the lobby and choose which game you’d like to join. The actual online experience is outstanding. No slowdown or lag was experienced at all, and the ability to have full voice support via the PS2 online headset is great. You can yell at other drivers for cutting you off, or congratulate them on their win any time you feel. What could be even better than that though is that you are able to have up to 8 people in one race, making for a very interesting and enjoyable experience. Additional features in the online mode are the global rating system, where you get points for races you win, and the friends list.

The graphics in V8 Supercars 2 are very crisp and clear. You can always see what’s going on, with no blurriness or shoddy frame rate. The graphics are very similar to that of Gran Turismo 3, meaning they constantly look good. You’ll see Australian flags waving in the crowds when racing the V8 tracks in Australia, which is a nice touch and creates a sense of interaction with the track. Speaking of the track, the detail gone into them and their surroundings is nothing short of spectacular. Expect to see exact replica’s of all your favourite tracks, complete with all the signage and sand traps to go along with it. The car models are also very good looking, with a wide variety of colours for each one. The damage is portrayed well on the cars, with lights smashing, windows cracking, wheels becoming ‘wobbly’ and bodies denting.

The small amount of sound in this game is astounding. Voice-acting in the career mode is top-notch, with the characters sounding realistic. There are no in-race tracks to listen to whilst speeding around the track, but you don’t notice this. The engine roaring and tires squealing when going around tight corners keeps your attention on the race and not the background sound. And when I say engine roaring I mean just that, all cars sound different, and some such as the Jaguar will even produce a large amount of noise just sitting still idling. Not only will different cars sound different, but as you slowly wreak havoc on your engine you’ll notice it change sound, to the point where it sounds like your vehicle is only just chugging along. It’s something that I can’t get enough in this game, and makes you feel part of the race. If you manage to smash into the wall, like we all have one time or another, be prepared to hear the dreaded sound of glass smashing, and metal colliding with concrete.

Overall V8 Supercars 2 is a really solid racing simulator. You’ll find yourself coming back to this title for some good stable racing, and will provide hours of entertaining racing via the online mode. This game is a nice improvement over the original V8 Supercars game, and if you are looking for a game to fill your time these holidays, this game would be worth it.