Much better than NASCAR 08.
Deep career mode
Excellent graphics
Great surround sound
Driver personalities
Two distinct control settings
Smart AI
Import paint jobs from Photoshop
Better use of ESPN license
THE BAD:
Rep system isn't implemented well
Jeff Gordon can get annoying with constant tutorials
Odd design choices for online play
No unlockables
Key features from past games still missing
Generic cars
What a difference a year makes. This time last year, I was ranting about how NASCAR 08 was one of the worst racing games I have ever played. It took a lot of excellent elements from past games, and threw them out the window. It was just the bare minimum of a NASCAR game and it showed. Now that NASCAR 09 has been released, it's clear that EA Sports took a lot of the complaints about last year's game to heart.
The biggest difference you'll notice is the choice between two difference gameplay styles: normal and pro. Normal has more of an arcade feel. This mode is designed with NASCAR newbie's in mind. You still need to know a fair amount about how to drive a stock-car, but overall it's much more forgiving.
Pro on the other hand is for hardcore NASCAR racers. Although not as challenging or as sim-realistic as the Papyrus games on the PC, it will still test the skills of NASCAR veterans. You have to be especially careful when entering and exiting pit-road to not spin your car, and avoid hitting the apron of the track. Both control types allow you to adjust the assists, but only pro lets you adjust them individually.
Because the controls are greatly improved from 08, this also means that your car setup actually matters now. Adjusting the settings can have a dramatic impact on how your car handles. Although the very detailed setup system was in 08, because the controls sucked so bad nothing you did seemed to really matter. A lot of NASCAR gear heads will be debating on what is the best setup for a given track.
The AI is actually, well, intelligent this time around. Other drivers on the track are aware of your presence, and will try to avoid you if they can. They'll still run you off the track if you're both going for the low racing line, but that's to be expected. Most of the time if you go low they'll avoid you and go high. You'll also see AI drivers racing each other for position, and will race you harder to avoid going a lap down. Drivers have actual rankings now for certain tracks, and will race better on some tracks as opposed to others.
New to 09 is the reputation system, or rep for short. This is basically a dumbed down version of the hero/villain system that was seen in past games. As you run races you'll earn more rep, which lets you unlock new contracts in the career mode. However, that's as far as the system goes. It's never really explained how rep affects your overall career, and how rep is earned in a race. If I drive aggressively, do I lose rep? It's never really explained, so I'm assuming not. Therefore, rep seems more like a one-way gradual progression system. To compound this problem, you only earn rep when you're racing as yourself in your own custom car. Want to race as Dale Jr? No problem, but you wont earn any rep for doing so.
There's an actual career mode in 09 now. 08 had a terrible "career" mode that was basically just a series of individual Cup races and mini-games for different teams. The end result being that you can own your team. NASCAR 09 fixes this by including a much more in-depth career mode, and removing the mini-games to a different mode called the "Sprint Driver Challenge."
Although the career mode isn't as deep as past games like 2005's calendar based mode, it still provides enough depth to make you feel like you're working your way up the racing ladder. You'll start out in the Truck series, and eventually work your way up to Cup level competition. You can sign individual sponsors as you fulfill your contract obligations.
The Sprint Driver challenge is a new mode that is comprised of a series of mini-games. It plays out on a board-game like map. As you complete challenges, you'll unlock new ones. You'll eventually be able to challenge actual NASCAR drivers to various tests of skill. These challenges range from avoiding wreaks to passing a certain number of cars within a time limit. In past NASCAR games, these challenges were presented with real-world scenarios. You were required to met certain goals that happened at actual races, or to change history by doing something that didn't happen. Although the challenges in 09 are fun, they lack this real-world quality from past games.
Four time champion Jeff Gordon is not only on the cover of the game, but he also acts as your "mentor" in the game. However, he's really nothing more than a tutorial guide early in the game. He can actually get annoying, and some of his comments are just downright cheesy. This can be especially true if you're a Gordon-hater.
In addition to Gordon, all the drivers from Cup series, and the major ones from the Truck and Nationwide series are in the game with actual driver portraits this time. Rusty Wallace is also featured as an ESPN announcer. Although he won't comment during the race, when you're selecting a track he gives you a brief overview of the track, and shows you a sample lap of how to get around the track. This is a much better use of ESPN license than last year, but I still miss the days when there were actual announcers commenting on the pre-race.
Visually, NASCAR 09 has greatly improved since last year's title. Full screen anti-aliasing is now in full effect, and it makes everything look that much better. The game runs at an incredible 60fps with 43 cars on the track. Details on the cars like reflections, bloom lighting, and damage modeling are nice touches and very realistic.
The environments are also improved. Although the crowds are still static and 2D, the actual tracks look much better. The day-to-night transitions are back, and still look great. They actually have an impact on the race as some tracks will have blind spots as the sun goes down and creates glare. One minor complaint is that there are no manufacturer logos on any of the cars. Meaning that they're all generic looking. Not a big deal, but when so much of NASCAR revolves around manufacturer identity, it's a sore spot.
The sound department is also greatly improved. EA Sports used actual sounds captured from events, and the quality shows. Especially in surround sound. You can hear cars around you and can tell if they're high or low. The spotter still needs some work though. He'll often tell you about cars trying to pass you too late, or won't always tell you when you're clear.
The music has finally started to move away from the traditional country that's heard in NASCAR games. The song selection is much better and includes songs from several different genres including rock, country, and metal.
The lasting value in NASCAR 09 is found the in afore mentioned career mode, and online racing. There's still no online team, league, or clan support. You're also limited to running a single race instead of planning out a season ahead of time. But you'll still find a lot of the same options from last year's game. Which is a good thing.
However, one design problem is that only the pro driving style can be used in online races. Which basically means that unless you're a NASCAR pro, you can't race online. I could see making pro racing mandatory for ranked matches, but it's a little much to make it a must for private matches. The host should at least be given the option to choose what racing style is used, or let it be up to the player.
As you complete driver challenges, you're given upgrade points that can be used to improve your overall performance at certain tracks. However, there is still no unlockable content. No legend drivers. No fantasy tracks. This greatly reduces the single-player value to just running career and driver challenges. It would have been nice to have a long-term goal like unlocking Dale Earnhardt Sr or fantasy tracks.
A lot of players will likely spend a lot of time in Photoshop making custom paint jobs for their cars. Although NASCAR 09 includes the same clunky and limited paint mode from past games, it now supports uploads from your PC. You can download a car template for anyone of the racing series, do whatever you wish to it in Photoshop, and upload it into the game to use. It's really an excellent idea, and sure to offer a lot more depth than the paint tools found in Forza 2.
The achievements haven't improved much from last year. Most are still very easy, but a couple others will take some time. I unlocked about 30% of the achievements in my first 2 hours of play. However, I'm sure the 201 wins achievement will take me a lot longer to get.
NASCAR 09 is a step in the right direction for the series. Although it's still a long way from the nearly perfect NASCAR 2005, it's still a huge improvement over last year's title. Significant gameplay and visual improvements were really what the series needed. Now if they can add in some missing features from past games, add some unlockables, and better online league support it would be on par with some of the best NASCAR games EA Sports has made.
PRESENTATION – 8.0
GAMEPLAY – 8.5
GRAPHICS – 9.0
SOUND – 8.5
VALUE – 8.5
OVERALL – 8.5