TOCA Race Driver 3

[sharky_ob]

Can't see a thread for this, which I find very surprising.

This game is amazing, I'm finding it quite hard to get my thoughts in order!

1. Handling - very much like Forza. Cars feel as though they have lots of weight to them. Off road cars handle really well, which I know was a criticism of the last game (didn't play Race Driver 2, by the way). All the series feel really different, as you'd expect.

2. Damage - the modelling works well and has an impact on the car. When racing open wheelers it's quite easy to lose wheels, so you do have to be careful at times - especially when driving the psychotic Lotus 49's!

3. AI - seems really good to me. The other cars overtake each other and try to block the racing line if you're berhind them. No Gran Turismo style AI here!

4. Offline racing - this is split so you can either do a world tour (going through racing tiers allowing you to sample different driving disciplines) or you can concentrate on a specific discipline (open wheel, offroad, ovals etc). As you complete the championships, they are unlocked for use in free races, timetrials and for you to select if you are hosting a live game.

5. Online - I suppose this is where most of the play is going to be and it definately doesn't disappoint. The amount of options looks amazing, once you've unlocked the series. I spent most of yesterday racing in online championships in various different series - had a great time racing Junior Formula 1000 cars in 6 lap races with mandatory pit stops. Seems very easy to set up these championships, but I've not hosted a game yet.

Only critisism of the online aspect so far is the anti-cheating penalties can be severe, penalising you for going off the outside of the track when you make a mistake. This can result in exclusion from the race results, but this only happened once to me yesterday, on a track I was completely unfamilier with (wasn't just me either!). I think you'd have to be very bad at this for it to happen regularly!

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. IMO if your into driving games this is essential - go get it now and add me to your friends list!!

One thing, I'm waiting for my 360 to come back from repair and I don't know if this runs in it. Anyone know?

[analog dog]

Had some great fun with this at the weekend!
The open wheel category is excellent,raced a lot of different stuff but the FW16 experience was outstanding.
10 laps of silverstone,all settings on PRO,mandatory pit stops and all flags was just awesome.Had some sublime racing with other likeminded drivers,everyone was mindful of collisions and adhered to race conditions,slowing and not passing under yellows,moving politely aside under waved blues,great stuff!
Was a refreshing change to the circus-like PGR3.
With regards to the off track penalties,they are very harsh but can be turned off.I fail to see how going off into the gravel trap then coming back onto the track with dirty tires constitutes 'gaining an advantage'.The 20sec penalty you recieve can basically put you out of the race in the more competative environments.
The physics are really well implemented especially the tire wear,its a very good game overall,the single player game was a little dull,but online is class.
See you on the track!

[Matt KB]

One thing, I'm waiting for my 360 to come back from repair and I don't know if this runs in it. Anyone know?

It doesn't I'm afraid.

I quite like this, some of the classes do seem a bit poor, not so much in they're badly done, they're not, but racing Monster Trucks seems a bit smash and bash and not as good as say DTMs.

Not sure about online though, at times it seems brilliant, other times it seems a bit.... odd. I can't place it really, it's like the latency isn't always 100% stable which can make it pretty annoying at times.

[arcnas]

No it dosent work on the 360, no new games will work until the next update which is due, well hopefully soon, but it wont support toca 3 even then.

[sharky_ob]

No it dosent work on the 360, no new games will work until the next update which is due, well hopefully soon, but it wont support toca 3 even then.

Why not? Will this game be suported at all? Please quote sources if you've read this somewhere.

Ta

[arcnas]

Well from what i am hearing from sources with the update being due soon, no games released in the last couple 2 or 3 months will be emulated until a further update in the summer possibly, so no Black, No Toca and no Fifa street2 this time , if any one cares about that one.

[MonkeyWrench]

Just when I'm thinking about flogging my Xbox something comes out that I want to play.

How's the story elements? I've always hated that aspect of the series. Also what about fictional tracks? PRD2 had quite a few stinkers.

[Matt KB]

What story elements? It's the same Scottish bloke making absolutely no news, with little to no story that I can tell, worst story ever, I just push start and get on with the racing. Waste of time and resources them cutscenes.

[Mr Ono]

Got this for the PC and it runs at 1600x1200 with full detail really well on my A64 3500+ with 6800GT. Smooth as silk

Really enjoying this, more so than TOCA 2. Playing with a Logitech Driving Force wheel at the moment but have just ordered a PC Logitech MOMO. Love the variety right from driving the small hatch on the Plamer test track right through to the dune buggies on the dirt.

The online aspect is much improved on TOCA 2 for PC and is no longer a clunky. 12 players online in races and pretty much lag free as usual for PC gaming.

Great game.

[Jashin]

Can anyone confirm whether the PS2 version has a 60hz option?

[MartyG]

Have been playing the online mode on the PC version for the last couple of hours. It was superb, totally shoots the online mode of PGR3 in the head. With a force feedback steering wheel it's sensational. Racing on Oulton Park with the 60's GP Cars, and getting air, making the wheel light, it's really well done. All the different series do feel very different too; even the oval stuff which I normally groan at wasn't that bad.

Not tried much of the off road stuff, but the touring cars, driving the Mercs, it was blindingly fast, especially after the NSX cup before hand.

I like all the customisable options on it, so it can be as easy or difficult as you like - but this above all, and why I like it. It's so much fun.

If I was only able to purchase one racing game this year, this would be it, even against the superb PGR3. Great stuff.

[Bassman]

I must say I rather like this from the one time I played it. Quite a commitment though as each race can take up to 20 minutes or more when take into account Practice and Qualifying and the time it takes to organise the next part of the session.

[sharky_ob]

I must say I rather like this from the one time I played it. Quite a commitment though as each race can take up to 20 minutes or more when take into account Practice and Qualifying and the time it takes to organise the next part of the session.

I think this would be the exception rather than the rule. The races I entered online (I'm assuming that's what you're referring to) didn't take that long. We did have qualifying but no practice sessions. The host had set up a multi-race championship too, so there was very little messing around between sessions.

Raced the Can-Am cars for the first time offline last night. These things are seriously fast - taking the Adelaide straight at over 200mph was quality!!

Just can't get enough of this game - could be my favourite driving game ever.

[Bassman]

Having Practive proved to be quite useful on tracks I had not seen before. I assumed this was down to settings but have only played online with another host so have not experimented.

[powerslide]

Thanks for the tip off. I shall pick up a copy on my way home!