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IT'S
ACTUALLY NOT THAT BAD
R:
RACING EVOLUTION
Written By Shaun McCracken
What can we say about R: Racing Evolution? What was once thought to be
the next installment of the Ridge Racer series turns out to be anything
but. Perhaps Namco wanted try something new, perhaps give their take on
the Gran Turismo style of racing. But it's not Gran Turismo, given that
the handling characteristics are less simulation and a little more
arcade-like, and also given the fact that there are not nearly as many
cars or customization options as GT. But for some reason, that really
didn't matter much with me. I pretty much went into R with the
mentality of this being the "appetizer" before the buffet that is GT4,
and to me, it succeeded on that level. But R does some other things
different from GT, some good and maybe bad for some.
Let's get this straight, and let this be known through the entire
review: THIS IS NOT GRAN TURISMO. It doesn't have the fine-tuned
mechanics, it doesn't have the myriad of car options or selection of
cars to choose from. That being said, what does make this (RRE)
different is the way it presents itself. The game plays a lot like
Codemaster's Pro Race Driver, in which there is a story involved within
the racing. Although the story mode here is a shorter affair than
PRD's, it's actually a little more interesting, and dare I say, sexier?
The "story mode" in R is actually called "Racing Life", a 14 chapter
(stage) mode in which you play as Rena, an ambulance driver-turned-race
car driver making her way to the top, only to find out the organization
she works for are total a-holes. The "Racing Life", like I've
mentioned, is not terribly long. All races are different, and range
from road racing to rally racing and even drag racing. I'm sure that
Namco could have stretched this out across 20 chapters, but why go the
extra mile, huh? But to make up for that, there is the Event Challenge
mode, with 100+ racing competitions and challenges.
Another difference between R and the GT series is that Namco made
racing a less lonely affair. During the race, you'll get advice,
compliments and reprimands from the pit crew, as well as (limited)
feedback from other people you're racing against. In the GT series, you
never hear anything from anyone. You would think that if you caused
someone to spin out, you'd hear how pissed off that opponent was. Well,
in R, you can. In fact, they have a few choice words for you sometimes.
Even though the dialouge is limited, it's actually more expanded than
what was done in Pro Race Driver, and made racing a little more
exciting.
There are varied courses to drive on in R, but I sure wish there were
more of them. For the road courses, you have Suzuka East and Suzuka
Circuit, Yokahama Street Course, Phillip Island, Green Field, Twin
Motegi Speedway and Monaco. There are three rally courses, Waterbridge,
Windmill Falls and a SS Rally Arena. Then there's the Surfside drag
strip. That's only 10 courses, but the rally and drag courses are
reversed. Why the road courses couldn't have been reversed is a
mystery, as that would have given a little more variety. But even if
Namco did, it's still anemic compared to other racing games. I'm sure
the developers could have crammed Laguna Seca, as well as some other
locales in here. Why they didn't is a mystery, probably due to a lack
of development time, I suppose.
The racing in the game is not so bad, especially if you've read what
other critics have said about this game. If you've read the reviews for
this game on IGN, Gamespot and a few other places, the reviewers have
said that RRE "lacks a sensation of speed ... it feels slow". Yeah, the
game doesn't fly like Burnout 2, Need For Speed Underground or F-Zero
GX. But then again, the racers this game is compared against are arcade
in nature. IGN was comparing this game to the GT4 Prologue Disc,
claiming how much better that was than this. But not everybody
(including myself) has a modded or Japanese PS2 to play the Prologue
disc on. In fact, I would say that a major whole of the gaming
community has not had a chance to play an early version of GT4 and
compare it to everything else. I'm pretty damn sure that GT4 will
handle better, move faster and look nicer than RRE. But we'll have to
wait months until GT is released. We have RRE now. So, after that whole
rant being said, RRE does move a little slower than other racing games,
but does keep and admirable pace. In fact, it reminded me of Ridge
Racer Type 4. That game never really matched the speed displayed on the
speedometer, but no-one complained. RRE's handling is not exact ally
representative of simulation racing. The handling is a little more
relaxed than the GT series. Also, it seems like Namco is still kind of
holding on to the grip/drift system for the car's handling. Some road
cars have really good grip, while others (notably, 4WD cars and Rally
Cars) will be more prone to sliding.
Technique also plays a part to your success in RRE. Drafting plays a
very important role in how well you do on the track. If you do not know
what "drafting" is, it's a technique of gaining speed by hanging around
behind the opponent in front of you. Something to do with the
aerodynamics of the car and wind-resistance. Anyway, not only does
drafting give you speed, but it also applies "pressure" on the driver.
As you approach the opponent in front of you, you will see a meter with
the driver's name on top of it. The closer you get to the driver, the
faster the meter fills. When that meter flashes, that driver is more
prone to screwing up, such as suddenly sliding out of control, or
overshooting a turn and drive into the dirt. It's actually a useful and
fun technique, almost like an attack you can use on an opponent, like
in a kart racer. But instead of turtle shells, you use psychology.
One final point I want to talk about of RRE is the Racing Points
feature. Racing Points in RRE is pretty much used like money in the
game. You can buy competitions in the Event Challenge, buy new cars or
buy upgrades for the cars you already own. But I like how the RP system
is done. It basically rips off the Kudos system from the Project Gotham
series, which is about damn time someone has done so. During the race,
you can earn points for drifting, good braking and cornering, not going
out of bounds, maintaining top speed and even not braking (which you
can only really pull off on the Twin Motegi Speedway). On top of that,
you can earn RP's for the overall rank you place. It's a nice feature,
and is done the right way, as opposed to the point system devised in
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2.
Well, with all of the game play details out of the way, let's get into
graphics. Again, this is something quite a few critics got on. Some
have said that RRE looks like a first-generation PS2 game. Granted,
there is some aliasing, and some odd shimmering in the textures, but
then something like textures look pretty sharp. The course design and
layout is done very well. The cars look fantastic, almost Gran Turismo
in quality. The lighting effects are done very well. The frame rate is
running at a constant 60 FPS. I think for the most part, RRE doesn't
look so bad. I bet it would have looked a lot better had the game had
some more development time, but this is not a dog in terms of graphics.
The sound is pretty good, except most of the cars all sound the same.
Plus the cars really don't sound like cars, but more like dirt bikes
and motorcycles. I can get over that, I'm sure you could too. The music
is well done, almost on the level of R4, but some tracks hold it back
from reaching that level. There are a couple of music tracks that sound
broken, as if the disc were skipping. I'm pretty sure that decision was
intentional, but the sound that I'm hearing is less coherent than a
Beck song (Nicotine and Gravy, anyone?). The voice acting is
acceptable, but predictable.
Final Thought
I'm surprised by R: Racing Evolution. I thought I may have gotten
myself into an leverage racing experience, but I found myself enjoying
this game and playing it a lot. I would say I've put in at least 15-18
hours in this game, and that's not too bad. It does have it's
shortcomings, such as the lack of courses, the lack of refined handling
and not nearly as many cars as the competition. But seeing how GT4
keeps getting pushed further and further down the calendar, I would say
that RRE is a pretty good appetizer until the main course (GT4). I also
have to note that this is the ONLY game of this type on the Gamecube,
and for GC only owners, this is not such a bad pick if you want to a
little more realism to your racing. I'm sure the racing enthusiast
(like myself) will get the most out of this game, but then again,
that's just me.
.
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Published
By :
NAMCO
Developed
By:
NAMCO
Year Published :
2003
Players :
1-2
ESRB Rating:
TEEN
OVERALL
SCORE
8.6
VISUALS |
8.0 |
AUDIO |
8.7 |
GAMEPLAY |
8.5 |
REPLAY
VALUE |
8.6 |
INNOVATION |
8.6 |
In terms of GT-style racing, this is your only real option on the
Gamecube. Luckily, it's pretty good.
Pro
Rally
Group S Challenge
Pro Race Driver
Gran
Turismo 3 and 4
Forza Motorsport
TOCA Race Driver 2 and 3
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