Ford vs. Chevy Impressions

During a recent meeting with 2K Games, we had an opportunity to get our first look at Ford vs. Chevy Racing, which is scheduled for release on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox later this month. The game, which will sell for a budget price of around 20 dollars, will give you a chance to become embroiled in the oldest rivalry in American motorsports--Ford vs. Chevy. The rivalry dates back to a historic race between a Ford Model T and a Chevy 490 through the streets of Westington, which is where you'll be competing in Ford vs. Chevy.

You'll race through city streets, on freeways, and across the countryside in Ford vs. Chevy, which features circuit and point-to-point events, as well as drag races and performance tests. Both versions of the game will support online play for up to six racers, and you'll also be able to race against a friend in a head-to-head split-screen mode. Races will generally be contested by a field of six cars, including three from each manufacturer, and one of the game's most amusing features at this point is that the two race commentators make no secret of their allegiances with the two manufacturers and can often be heard having digs at each other.

When you're not taking part in Westington Cup races or competing against friends, you'll be putting your driving skills to the test in Ford vs. Chevy's mission-based challenge mode. The mission that we got to see being played involved driving a photographer around a rural location and stopping the car at locations that he wanted to take photos of, which were indicated by large yellow boxes on the road. We were also told about another mission, which will task you with destroying billboards that have been covered with graffiti.

You won't get to choose which car you drive in challenge mode, but when you're racing you'll have no fewer than 48 different sets of wheels from Ford and Chevy at your disposal, including classic muscle cars, modern muscle cars, off-road vehicles, and trucks. All of the vehicles in Ford vs. Chevy can be customized using more than 150 different parts from licensed manufacturers, and you'll also need to spend money on repairs after races, because damage will have an adverse effect on handling and performance.

Since we didn't actually get to play Ford vs. Chevy on this occasion, it's impossible for us to comment on how the game handles. We can tell you that realism doesn't appear to be too high on the developer's goal list, though, since skids and powerslides were not only commonplace but also earned bonus points. Burnout-style messages will flash up on the screen whenever you do something particularly cool, such as a "power slide," "drafting" an opponent, or getting your vehicle up onto "two wheels" momentarily.

Expect a full review of Ford vs. Chevy in the not-too-distant future.