TOCA Race Driver provides enjoyable racing action, but the quality suffers from the large quantity it tries to serve.
Gameplay: TOCA Race Driver lets you race at over 50 circuits all over the globe in more than 30 championships. Pretty much, you might think. But these championships can be roughly devided in three classes. The first one, and the best one, is the DTM championship. The handling is worked out great and I think this championship has attended the most attention from the makers. The second class consists of about twenty-five championships on world famous asphaltcourses, and lets you drive all kind of cars, from formula three and Aston Martins to high speed oval racers and 68’ Mustangs. These cars drive very well and the races can be great fun. Some championships combine cars and tracks form other championships, a very sneaky way to enlarge the number of championships. The last class offers rally and a truck racing championships. This class is a failed try to equal Gran Turismo in variety of racing action. The rallycars drive bad, and the trucks are an absolute disaster.
All these championships can be driven in career and simulator mode. The career mode tries to be original with a storyline and cutscenes. These cutscenes look great, but when you look through the career mode, it just comes down on winning races and nothing else, so it doesn’t add really much.
I haven’t played the game online, so I cant review that part.
Graphics: The game looks pretty good, although the level of detail of the cars isn’t that high. The reflections are great, especially when you choose the camera right behind the bonnet. You’ll see every tree reflected in the shiny metal. The damage model isn’t highly detailed, but it’s a very good thing the scratches and butches aren’t always at the same place. That makes the game feel a lot more realistic. The environments aren’t very detailed either, but they look good, and in some whether conditions, it looks fantastic.
Sound: The game just sounds as it should sound. The crashes could sound better, but there’s no real complaining at this point.
Value: In spite off the fact that some championships are horrible, there is still enough left to enjoy yourself for a very long time. When you’ve completed the career mode, the races in simulator mode are fun enough to keep you playing for a long time.
Tilt: When driven at the right difficulty, the races can be highly entertaining, except of course for rally- and truckracing. The AI is very good, and in combination with sometimes more than twenty cars on the track, the game offer a tense and addictive racing experience.
Conclusion: TOCA Race Driver tries to offer too much, but when disposed of unnecessary additions, it’s a great game.