By – John Williamson
Real World Racing in an anomaly in the modern racing genre. Developer Playtos has abandoned high-fidelity 3D car models and zoomed in cinematic cameras for a top-down perspective with photo realistic aerial landscapes.
The demo features 3 courses based on London, Rome and Berlin in the Arcade mode. These can be accessed via Quick Race, Time Trial or even Online Quick Races. The track layouts are well thought out and their varying complexity adds a fair learning curve for novice players to hone their skills. Each race can be completed in 1,3,5,7 or 10 laps. This is a nod to the more hardcore simulation fan as the majority of modern games are built on the premise of 2-3 lap races. As such, this encourages consistent lap times and with a thriving multiplayer scene, could produce some exceptionally tense and highly professional races. Also the Beta includes 6 vehicles which are based on real cars.
As expected, due to licensing costs they are under various pseudonyms. In the grand scheme of things, the lack of actual car manufacturers adds to the charm of Real World Racing. Each car is divided into 5 performance categories and outlines important statistics such as top speed, steering and braking. Not only that, they can also be sorted by various attributes in your Garage via a superbly clean interface. There is even some customizability allowing you to change your car’s appearance. However, this is limited to only a few colour schemes and I would like to see the concept developed in the full version.
Is it an arcade or a simulation game? This is usually the most frequently asked question when discussing a racing games’ physics. The answer is both, as the game is an amalgamation of both styles and one could argue Playtos was unsure which development path to take. The AI presents itself in the form of easy, normal and hard difficulties. However, even on normal I found the CPU to be extremely quick and impossible to overtake in a straight line. In contrast to this, the cornering is very much in the arcade camp where you can approach a section with ridiculous amounts of momentum and drift round the bend reducing the huge deficit you had on the main straights.
On the other hand, the Pause Menu also demonstrates the more retro difficulty the game was aiming to attain. There is a restart function but more importantly a lack of the rewind ability. Personally, I strongly believe this is an excellent decision in the game mechanics. Usually, this feature is applied to falsely add difficulty on the basis that the player can simply keep replaying a minute section until the AI triggers a mistake. This contradiction in the core physics of the game can be slightly disorientating, but it still isn’t enough to diminish the fun factor of the actual racing.
The sound assets throughout the Beta were quite impressive. Whilst racing, the acoustics of the gear changes and ferocity of your driving style affected the engine noises to a noticeable degree. These small touches accentuate the thorough detail shown throughout the game. From a performance standpoint, the game runs incredibly smooth and is a joy to play at 60FPS. Even with additional detail that some AAA developers neglect such as swaying yachts in a harbour there was no slow down at all. The fluidity of the game is vital in accurate control navigating so close to precarious obstacles. Real World Racing is perfectly playable with a keyboard, but as with all driving games on PC, you will always get more enjoyment from a controller.
One minor criticism is the lack of dynamic replays with only the default camera. After completing a highly enjoyable and hard fought 10 lap race, I was disappointed I couldn’t re-watch the action from various angles. However, I understand multiple camera angles are not possible due to the top-down perspective, but it is something I can live with.
Real World Racing also features a myriad of on-screen credits for technically proficient driving. For instance, actions such as slipstreaming or drifting will earn you a specific amount of tokens which can be used to purchase additional cars. This is a welcome addition to the core gameplay which encourages the proper approach in overtaking via skill rather than crashing blatantly into your fellow competitors. The game also features a dynamic racing line with upcoming corner indicators. These driver aids are pivotal to your success as often due to the overhead camera aspect your field of view can be obscured by the scenery. Furthermore, they are vivid and appear quickly allowing you to position the car for the upcoming sections.
Throughout my experience in the Beta I did encounter a substantial amount of technical shortcomings. For example, Real World Racing will only run in 720p and this is such a crying shame as at lower resolutions the aerial photography can appear slightly washed out and lacks definition. Oddly, the sections with a high accumulation of trees still look stunning although more building based shots do not look great in 720p. Despite numerous attempts to connect to a multiplayer server I was also unable to access any online races due to being constantly stuck in the lobby system. On several occasions, I tried to diagnose the problem looking into my router configuration and system’s firewall settings to no avail. This was highly unfortunate as I would have liked to determine if the online component had any latency issues.
On another note, I experienced consistent crashing in the Time Trial mode when returning to the main screen. This is more forgivable as in a testing stage stability issues will be moot when it becomes patched. Possibly the most bizarre and annoying flaw is trying to maneuver around the title menu with an Xbox 360 Controller. Neither Analog stick works at all when scrolling through options and you are forced to use the D-Pad to control a cursor which is slow and infuriating. Furthermore, the B button doesn’t function as the back button and as such in it’s current state a mouse is required for smooth and quick navigation.
Real World Racing isn’t just retro for the sake of it, and doesn’t try to sell an inferior experience on the basis of it being a nostalgia trip. Along with beautiful attention to detail, and impeccable gameplay, it is a truly remarkable experience. For the time being, there are some reservations which are mainly technical, but I strongly believe these will be phased out in time for the final release. The Beta gives a brief insight into the magnitude of enjoyment on offer, and with an expansive career mode featuring 50 tracks and 80 cars, Real World Racing is a definite recommendation.
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