NASCAR is a racing discipline predominantly involving oval shaped tracks and two road courses at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. Over time, this motorsport has rapidly become a national sport in the United States and attracts crowds of over 90,000 people for any given race. There has been a number of nobel attempts to expand the sport’s appeal throughout Europe. However, these efforts were in vain as most people disliked the notion of oval designed tracks without corners. NASCAR is often ridiculed in the United Kingdom, with comments such as, “don’t forget to turn left”. More specifically, petrolheads in the UK have grown up with memories of Senna and Prost dueling at Suzuka and other iconic race tracks.
Publishers have taken this data on board and targeted NASCAR games only at the American market for financial reasons. Boxed releases have been replaced by low cost digital distribution which allows keen NASCAR fans to play the game without importing it with a hefty tax charge. Last year, Eutechnyx created NASCAR: The Game 2013. Unfortunately, this entry was plagued by bugs, poor AI and aggrieved NASCAR sim players. The developer had a chance to redeem themselves with this latest version and win back the hearts of players who were resentful after playing last year’s offering. It’s a crying shame because NASCAR 14 still behaves like a primitive, ancient game which is marred by the exact same issues as NASCAR: The Game 2013.
The physics engine adopts a simcade approach which rarely feels like an authentic recreation of the sport. As you would expect from stock cars, they feel heavy and have a tight turning circle. This in theory is fairly realistic, but the implementation is diabolical meaning you never have a sense that your input is being properly reflected in real time. The steering is unbelievably imprecise and sometimes veers to the right. Positioning your vehicle is a challenge because you have no confidence in terms of maneuverability to make slight adjustments. I found it difficult to gauge the amount of steering needed in order to avoid other racers and major accidents. There is a lack of tactile feedback that makes the races appear bland. If you’re looking for a vastly improved physics engine, or a realistic experience, NASCAR 14 is bound to disappoint.
Another important aspect to NASCAR 14’s physics model is the amount of grip you have under light and heavy acceleration. Throttle control is key if you wish to maintain a constant speed and avoid sliding off the racing line. You must gradually apply the accelerator and feather the gas gently on mid speed sections. This adds a level of complexity as you can’t just slam on the accelerator without repercussions. Doing so will either spin your car out or massively slow you down. This concept would be perfect if the AI conformed to a similar driving style. Annoyingly, your opponents have a major advantage as their grip levels seem to be much higher. It is alarming that you can enter a corner side by side with a rival who breaks later and makes the bend, while you head straight into the wall. This results in a situation where you try to match AI breaking points and end up in a different part of the track. The disparity in traction levels makes you push harder and eventually into more mistakes. You become more aware of this situation and distracted by the low grip levels. It is unfortunate that this attribute of the physics has been marred by its AI.
NASCAR 14’s AI is woeful and completely unrealistic with drivers acting in a reckless way. Your rivals don’t seem to appreciate how dangerous NASCAR is and love to ram against you at every opportunity. They have a driving style which is absurd and often causes mass pile ups due to their aggression. NASCAR events aren’t 2 or 3 lap races so you would think that the AI would use their intelligence and drive sensibly. Drivers target your rear axle and spin you out into the field. Obviously, this is not a clever move and makes you feel extremely vulnerable when a car is tailgating you. They weave from the opposite side too much and suddenly cut across onto your side of the track. Every race is scattered with incidents that slow down the racing and disrupt you flow during long stints. Eutechnyx hasn’t quite found the correct balance in selecting a fair difficulty which tests your abilities. On the easier settings, I could win a race by at least 30 seconds with only 10% race distance. Racing on the hardest option is frankly impossible and I struggled to keep up with the field. I performed almost perfect laps and was still 2-3 seconds per lap slower. I couldn’t help shift a niggling suspicion that the AI was artificially matching my pace.
The damage modelling system is tame and doesn’t deter clumsy driving. There are two types of damage on offer which are mechanical and cosmetic. Mechanical damage severely impacts on your performance and can inhibit a vehicle’s top speed and shifting ability. The cosmetic damage shows the bumps and bruises a car has collected throughout a full race distance. Both forms of damage are massively underutilized and scaled back. For example, you can slam into a wall at 160mph and repair the mechanical problems by pitting. This is ridiculous as a strong impact should decimate the car into pieces. Pretty much any collision can be rectified with a pit stop which removes the feeling you are moments from disaster. The cosmetic damage is passable with cars showing a few scratches as the race unfolds. I would have preferred to see bumpers hanging on by a thread and cars completely mangled somehow careering around the circuit.
On the bright side, NASCAR 14’s Career Mode has undergone a major revamp and been dramatically improved. You begin as a unknown rookie driver trying to rise through the ranks and build up a solid reputation. Your driver must compete in a full NASCAR season alongside the greats on fully licensed courses. The tracks themselves are not laser-scanned but appear to be fairly accurate. In addition, you have to manage your team and select which areas of Research and Development to invest. For instance, you can hire an Engine Specialist or focus your research on improving body weight distribution. Allocating where the team’s funds go to vastly enhances the career and adds a layer of complexity. Finishing in top tier positions will attract sponsors and greater funds to scalp the best technicians within a specialist field
There is a Highlights mode which contains scenarios to rewrite history or recreate memorable moments. One notable example occurs at the Watkins Glen International Circuit and sets you the task of “After the final restart, Kyle Busch maintained his lead over the final two laps to win the race. Can you rewrite history as Brad Keselowski and steal the victory?” There are gold, silver and bronze target times to beat which require repeat runs to perfect each challenge.
The objectives are exceptionally varied and enjoyable but this mode is albeit too brief. You can only compete in 11 highlight events at this time. I would imagine that future moments in the current NASCAR season will be added as DLC. I do find it frustrating that this mode has been underused as it is undoubtedly the most fun I experienced throughout the entire game.
NASCAR 14’s Multiplayer features up to 16 players in a single race. There are Custom Matches, Quick Matches, Private Matches and the option to create your own Online League. This is an impressive selection which creates an arena for competitive racing. Like many other niche games, NASCAR 14 is plagued by a non-existent player base. I did attempt to host 5 matches and wait until someone entered the lobby. To my amazement, no one joined even after 45 minutes. The multiplayer is completely dead and I can’t see this changing anytime soon.
This latest entry in the NASCAR franchise is a multiplatform release alongside last generation consoles. Contrary to what you would expect, the PC version is technically fairly solid with a wide selection of options. There are settings for AA, AF, Model Quality, Texture Quality, Draw Distance, PhysX and many others. You can also run the game in Windowed Mode without any issues. Initially, I set everything on Ultra at 2560×1440 using a AMD 290 OC and experienced some frame drops from 60 to 43 during race starts. However, I noticed the cause of this was PhysX which I had accidentally turned on. Disabling this smoothed the frame rate out and gave me a solid 60fps.
From a graphical standpoint, NASCAR 14 is spectacular considering the amount of cars on screen at one time. There are excellent particle effects and the cars are modelled expertly. One small criticism has to be the sharpness of certain textures as they look washed out at higher resolutions. The greatest problem with this port is bugs which abruptly froze the screen and caused various CTDs. NASCAR 14 often freezes when watching replays, pitting during cautions and sometimes doesn’t even detect when you complete a highlight challenge. The port in general is well optimized but extremely unstable.
Conclusion – Is It Worth Your Money?
NASCAR 14 is a slightly tweaked version of last year’s game. The major issues that plagued NASCAR: The Game 2013 have not been addressed which is inexcusable. There are bugs littered throughout the game designed to annoy you at every opportunity. The AI is still erratic and unrealistic which makes the racing phenomenally dull. NASCAR 14’s physics model feels outdated and contained by last generation console development. This sequel is completely iterative and devoid of any notable improvements. Releases such as this show Eutechnyx are currently happy with releasing a licensed game that has a revised team line up and nothing more. I would avoid this game at all costs, and try to find a copy of NASCAR Racing Season 2003 instead.
