henke on 31/7/2011 at 18:08
The Real Racing games have been around for the iPhone for a few years so of course I had time to salivate over youtube videos of them long before I bought my own iDevice. After I'd gotten my iPad and started shopping around for games I noticed that the latest iteration of Real Racing was 8 euros in the AppStore, so I gave it a pass, and only tried out the free Volkswagen-sponsored iPhone version instead. I was impressed by the controls but seeing the amount of cheap/free racing games for the iPad I decided not to buy the full version. Surely there must be other racing games out there that are just as good I thought. Well, turns out there aren't. I've played a bunch of em and although some are pretty good(2XL Trophylite Rally and Jet Car Stunts, for instance) none of them could quite match the driving-sensation that the RR Volkswagen game offered. So yesterday, having not much to do, I finally shelled out 8 bucks for Real Racing 2 HD.
It's pretty much perfect. Often with fast-paced iPad games the controls feel more like they're something that gets between you and the game but here they're invisible. They simply work. As for the graphics, it looks about as good as an iPad game can look. From the courses, to the scenery, to the details on the dashboard, to the particle effects like dustclouds getting kicked up when someone ahead of you strays off the track. Everything looks great and you can tell that a great deal of attention has gone into it. There's even damage-models. Panels and shit start falling off your car if you smash it into stuff too much. If the game lacks anything it's in quantity, not quality. The game features 15 tracks and 30 cars, which isn't much if you compare it with the Forza or Gran Turismo games on consoles, but it's still hours worth of content. After 3 or 4 hours I've completed 2 of the 5 divisions and bought 3 cars(two Volkswagens and a Chevy Camaro).
As I said this series has a few years behind it so I'm guessing a few of you have played it and might want to share your opinions on it and maybe even point out some other iPad racing games worth trying out. For those of you with iDevices who haven't played it yet, I urge you to try the free VW version. I'm not particularly keen on the type of racing game where you have to stick to the track, but even I loved this. The sensation you get when you nail a corner perfectly, when you get the line and the speed through it
just right, and then come out of it with enough speed to overtake your opponent feels as rewarding as the best moments of any racing game I've played.
For those of you who don't know what this is about, here's (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GPGlEsu_Xs&feature=player_detailpage#t=227s) a gameplayvideo of some limey show-off playing it on his TV.
Vernon on 1/8/2011 at 04:56
No gears and automatic acceleration? Is that the only mode available?
henke on 1/8/2011 at 05:27
You can turn off automatic acceleration as well as brake-assist and anti-skid. Check Options->Settings. I've turned them all off. The way it's configured by default the game practically does all the driving for you. Easy, but not very fun.
No manual gearbox though. I've always used automatic in games so I'm fine with it.
