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TOCA Race Driver 2

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    TOCA Race Driver 2

    Or should I say V8 Supercars 2 as its called here in Australia.

    Bought this yesterday and gave it a major run out last night. First impressions are that it is much improved over the first installment. In singleplayer the main Car-pg elements they had before have all been removed, you still play a driver trying to hit the big time but it plays through some fairly decent cutscenes in between races.

    As you progress through career mode you race in various types of race genres and vehicles from Formula Ford to Truck Rig racing etc... and at some points you have the choice of which you prefer to enter. Its all fairly straightforward and throws you straight into the racing without much hassle up front.

    The actual racing is where this sequel has updated the most. The handling is now alot better, depending on the class of vehicle. The weight of the vehicles is pretty accurate with some classes more prone to sliding out on bends etc... AI of opponents is pretty good this far as well, I am about 35% through career at this stage.

    Last night I got onto a GT lightning class which look like miniature Le Mans cars and they handle incredible... everything just seemed to fit and it was very smooth and fast.

    Graphically its no slouch. Its alot crisper looking than PGR2 for sure but not sure whether it looks better overall. Widescreen is supported and although there is only one outside 3rd person view you get internal dashboard views, bonnet cam and bumper cam... which are all very impressive.

    Suffice to say given the speed and nature of the game playing in the 3rd person perspective is for wimps, the adrenaline rush of playing in bonnet or bumper cam is amazing, especially in the better class vehicles.

    Online this game is definitely going to make a community for itself, probably several based on all the different classes available because they are so diverse. Last night I was able to host the full healthy 12 players on my 512/512 connection, NO LAG... not sure if its 60fps but man does it shift along at a nice pace.

    Highly reccomended anyway.

    Only negatives :

    Well it looks like taking shortcuts is possible given some of the chicanes on certain tracks even though the grass will make you slide out alot... I did find some people cutting corners. Only time will tell.

    Also crash damage plays a big part in this game, supposedly it would make other players more weary of simply bumping each other to overtake or get round corners.. BUT at the moment people are just wiping out and wrecking their cars... again time will tell. I believe you can turn off the crash damage online anyway but its so much fun having it on.

    #2
    Cheers for that. My US copy is winging its way to me as I type. Look forward to getting online with this ASAP .

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      #3
      Good review, I've seen quite a few reviews by USA gamers and not really heard a bad word about the game except that career mode can be completed in a 2 or 3 evenings, nice to hear (elsewhere) that you get points deducted from you rankings, if you quit out of an online game (similar to SC:PT I guess) roll on next Friday ....

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        #4
        Been playing this for a few days, not been able to go online yet as my pucker copy is in the post, honest.

        Its a big step up from the first one, as has already been posted, it is a little short (forgetting about live play for a moment) - but I don't see that as a bad thing.

        One really nice touch is that in career mode it tells you how long the series is going to roughly be in minutes before starting it.

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          #5
          Ok I am at 60% on the career mode now and yes it seems it is rather short but the later races get very competitive because the AI ramps up a little bit.

          Im finding the sheer diverseness of the cars/races on offer are both this games huge draw and yet its achilles heel. Whilst you can drive practically every kind of car based sport in this game some of the types are implemented all that well... one in particular is the rallying, its just not what it should be, especially when this is from the same stable as CMR.

          That said it only makes up a small portion of the career mode and so it becomes a minor niggle. On the flipside its a sheer joy moving from Big Rigs to Street racing to DTM class all in a few small steps meaning the learning curve changes constantly.

          So far my favourite classes have to be Formula Ford, DTM, V8s and the GT lights...

          Simply put this is a great racing game and even though the career mode is going to be over too quickly for some, online there is enough there to keep interest high for weeks to come. We were all playing cat and mouse in PGR2, I reckon we could all be playing Destruction Derby in this game...

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            #6
            The GT racing/challenges are 'ard as rock!

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              #7
              Argh, the handling is still broke; no where near as good as the original TOCA races, but at least its better than PRD

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                #8
                no btcc tho

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                  #9
                  Wait till you get to 97%....

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                    #10
                    Do you have to unlock cars for the online modes, or does the game give you all the goods without any hassle???

                    The one thing I hate about MotoGP2 and PGR2 is the fact that the developers force people to play offline. I think they should of realised by now that most people buy these games to play online and find it a major hassle to have to go through tests for days trying to get some decent cars.

                    At the end of the day people just want fun competitive races. To deny someone the top-end cars is just bringing the game down. How many dodgy drivers have the TVR12 just because of the ActionReplay, too many and it spoils the game for me. If some guys want to race the BMW`s and one guy says he hasn`t got it, then it causes problems, these situations just shouldn`t exist.

                    Back to RD2, Im glad to hear its a top game. I will be ordering my copy from Amazon today, cant wait to get on Live with it, cya on the track.

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                      #11
                      Does anyone know if the UK, US and Australian version can play with each other online?

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                        #12
                        You can only race whatever the host has unlocked.

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by jtorry
                          Does anyone know if the UK, US and Australian version can play with each other online?
                          Thats what Live is all about mate. Im 99% sure it does, Codemasters aren`t loopy.

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                            #14
                            Is it just me or does the handling feel a bit 'floaty'. Like the cars aren't quite glued to the road?

                            (I've not played a TOCA game since 2 on the PC so am a bit out of touch with the series)

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                              #15
                              I can only play the game in the lowest camera view possible, all racing games feel better like that.

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