SimHQ.com - Motorsports Zone - Review: GTR: FIA GT Racing

GTR certainly looks good. It doesn't have the sparkly, shiny, overglossy graphics of titles often described as arcade games. Instead GTR is more "understated" in its looks, and it strikes me as looking very very real watching either replays, or cars zooming past me (yes, I'm afraid I get passed a lot). A shot like the following of the Vertigo at Spa-Francorchamps certainly looks good and I think it has the right kind of foggy mist, so often encountered in the Ardennes and in other parts of the world where you meet these cold, damp foggy conditions. If a shot like this doesn't please you, I fear nothing will.

Occasionally the trackside scenery seems to look a bit too monotonous to me, in the sense that the leaves on trees more or less are the same green color. I'd have liked a bit variation as Mother nature herself has a lot more colors in the palette. This, to some extent is nit-picking, but it is the little details that make us go "wow, they even thought of that".

Game Modes

The arcade and semipro modes will probably not appeal to the simulation aficionado, whether they will provide a good experience for casual gamers is hard to say, especially considering that the damage model is so-so for a simulation, but certainly not the best we've seen. I'll come back to the damage model a bit later.

The arcade mode consists of challenges in different cars on different circuits, the races are very short and the driver has to meet an objective like racing from last to first. The driving model is completely lost due to the many assists: Floor the throttle and let the game brake and steer for you.

Semi-pro covers a lot of ground between arcade and simulation modes, gradually reducing the driving aids, and gradually increasing the challenge until it is close to simulation level.

I will admit to not spending much time on arcade and semi-pro modes, as I went straight for the true simulation mode.

Will the arcade and semi-pro modes bring us new sim racers? I suspect that these modes were included in GTR in the hope that someone starting off on arcade mode might eventually look for more challenge and graduate to the true simulation mode. I don't think that one single game will accomplish that objective all by itself. Perhaps if more games attempt to span the gulf between arcade and simulation we will start to see more drivers crossing from one game to another, and from arcade mode to simulation. I do wonder though, if new simmers aren't more likely to start with advancing to the most simulation oriented game mode in a traditional arcade type of game, rather than buy a simulation and start out with the arcade game mode. For hardcore sim fans, the simulation mode is recommended, and for someone like me, all aids like traction control and anti-lock brakes can be turned completely off. Good!

Simulation Mode

SimBin have taken GTR to different racing venues across Europe, notably the 2004 24 hour GT race at Spa-Francorchamps, and in a terrific and friendly gesture towards their neighboring country, they also crossed the channel between Sweden and Denmark to present GTR to the elite in Danish Motorsports at the Danish Touring Car Championship (almost the same regulations as in the WTCC) in the fall of 2004.

Real racers reportedly have had a tough time leaving their simulation seat for their real racing cars, so good and close to reality did it feel to them.

It is very hard to argue with such testimonials and there is no question that GTR provides a very fine simulation experience.

On the SimHQ staff, the motoring department have driven GTR for some time now and several have had a hard time releasing their grip on the wheel to turn to the keyboard and work on this review.

Discussing GTR with Chunx, he sums up his GTR impressions like this: "I find myself doing laps in the Saleen and Vette and Ferrari 360 just to hear the engine and tire noises. Very exhilarating! Some of the best sound so far, I think (until GTL comes out)."

According to Chunx; "This game comes much closer to the mark in many of the weight transfer/inertia/suspension physics and tire modeling areas to where we want to see a sim. It's not perfect — tire wear is a bit kind (considering how abusive I am on the tires right now), and the damage model lacks suspension and aero degradation — but the game is closer to the mark than most of the other stuff out there." Chunx likes the tire chatter/hopping if you accelerate or brake too hard, and how that impacts your grip as well as the curb effects, etc. And the cockpits are nice, the view zoom is nice, etc. Not perfect mind you, but nice. The AI is also pretty good. (Both Jens and Chunx set them on "clean" and still get bumped, and still get revenge when you tap them), but it might be a bit too hard to spin out an AI car or yourself when you trade paint. Cars are recoverable at the limit if you catch it in time. Chunx concludes; "The chassis slip angles look and feel very good, and I like what I am seeing in the power-on oversteer dept. It looks like what I see from my real car when driving at the limit (autocross).

Jens' take on the GTR experience is this: "I think GTR is one of those titles you either fall completely in love with, or you just respect it for what it achieves. I must be in the latter category, but I feel it is important to let the readers of this review know that ultimately you have to decide for yourself. We try to give you as much input as possible to help you in making that decision, and hopefully that input is based on objective argumentation. Sometimes objective argumentation is very difficult to obtain, because the ultimate measuring instrument is sitting about 40 cms in front of your screen, and no human measuring instrument is calibrated the same. These cars seem to be governed to a great extent by the very narrow slip-angle of the rear tires. If you exceed the maximum slip-angle, the rear-end of the car says goodbye to you, perhaps we'll meet again after a 360 degree spin, and you will have to be very quick, in fact having anticipated the trouble in advance, in order to save it from a spin."

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