SimHQ.com - Motorsports Zone

This ends our multi-part review of GTR2. Hopefully you found it comprehensive, detailed, balanced, honest and a pleasure to read. The SimHQ Motorsports staff like GTR2 a lot, and I am now enthusiastically awaiting the imminent release of SimBin's WTCC a month or so down the road!

US Packaging We still like rFactor, and GTL, and GPL, and RBR, and netKar and LFS and all the others. Now we have GTR2 to add to the list. We like the diversity, and we like the selection we have when we want to drive a racing sim. These titles all have strong points and weaknesses.

GTR2 is a worthy successor to GTR and GTL, an improvement in so many areas, and many problems from the original GTR have been satisfactorily solved.

GTR2 is a massive step-up over GTR in terms of graphics and driving physics. These driving physics are realistic, fun, engaging and immersive. Above all they are drivable. I can hot lap in GTR2 for pleasure. I never could in GTR (okay, so I'm a mediocre driver).

Our testing in multiplayer indicates that SimBin's multiplayer code is now good enough you can trust it with your league races using the dedicated server, even if it is still not at the level of rFactor in terms of ruggedness, functionality and ease of use.

Personally I've experienced some stability problems, as reported earlier. Reports from some users also indicate instability if you alt + tab in and out of the game.

Some complaints however still remain unaddressed.

The AI is in my opinion a bit two-dimensional, and in fact I find that they have regressed to a lower driving standard than in the original GTR. In fact, they upset me so much that I would really appreciate this issue being addressed in a patch.

This does not preclude the fact that I think GTR2 is a ”must-buy” for anyone who is even remotely interested in sim racing and that I enjoy it tremendously. It will offer unlimited hours of enjoyment.

It offers an out-of-the-box complete, high-fidelity, high-quality sim with real-life cars, championships and tracks, with input from real life telemetry, and so it becomes very easy to "plug-and-play". No need to download anything extra, save the odd patch.

The Driving School, in spite of some repetitive moments, is a great addition ensuring hours of great fun (or frustration depending on your perspective).

All in all GTR2 is a great all-round package. Well done SimBin!

GTR2 is Go!

Reviewer’s System Specs

Windows XP Home SP2
AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 2.8 GHz
Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe
2GB RAM (Kingston and Danelec)
Western Digital External 300 GB hard disk
Geforce 7300 GS PCI - 512MB RAM - v81.21 drivers
SoundBlaster Live External Soundcard
Logitech Driving for Pro - v4.60 drivers

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