Every now and then I find a game that's just right in its approach and execution to an extent where a mental benchmark is set against which everything else is judged. Live for Speed is one such game.
Live for Speed is an online racing sim that's been developed over a number of years by a small dev team, distributed online through a number of installments (a free demo and then 2 content packs S1 and S2). You can check out the 100MB demo from the official website www.lfs.net the demo doesn't need to be installed and the required specs are very modest, so it should run on most windows boxes.
The game has no licensed cars (bar the BMW Sauber F1) or tracks, no career mode, no points, no cash, no cups, no leagues, no acheivements and no nitros. What it does have in spades is playability, customisability (is that even a word?), online racing, hot lapping, training modes and the most fantastically realistic handling model I've ever felt. And I mean felt. The way the game combines the visuals and sounds, the way it models the grip of each tyre and the suspension of the vehicles puts you firmly in the driving seat. It employs the now commonplace virtual cockpit technique, but this time you're inside the helmet and the view bobbles and reacts to the acceleration and braking forces to relay this information to the player.
Then there's the tracks, we have changes of surface, autocross, street circuits, drag strips, skid pans, the works. There's something for everyone in here if you pay for the full S2 license with more content muted for a future S3 release. Vehicle wise there's some fairly close approximations to real world vehicles there are obvious mini and caterham clones, an FC-a-like for drift heads and a bunch of more track inspired GT style cars. There's a couple of single seat jobbies too and the licensed BMW F1 which is just brutal.
I've yet to take this baby online yet, I'm kind of scared to actually without a proper FF wheel as this is a game where wreckless driving will not be tolerated. Every online player is registered and as such can be kicked or banned on request of the driving community. The AI offline though is ample challenge for me at the moment. I'm tweaking throught the AI levels at the moment and the AI itself learns the tracks as they gain experience so they get faster and faster
. Racing against the AI is for once eventful and a thrill packed experience (I'm looking at you Gran Turismo).
Since the demo is free I hope some of you will give it a shot and let me know what you think, I can predict that some people won't get on with the functional graphics and the visually unrealistic, but exceptionally good damage model. Look beneath the skin though and there's a hell of a lot of fun to be had with this one.
Live for Speed is an online racing sim that's been developed over a number of years by a small dev team, distributed online through a number of installments (a free demo and then 2 content packs S1 and S2). You can check out the 100MB demo from the official website www.lfs.net the demo doesn't need to be installed and the required specs are very modest, so it should run on most windows boxes.
The game has no licensed cars (bar the BMW Sauber F1) or tracks, no career mode, no points, no cash, no cups, no leagues, no acheivements and no nitros. What it does have in spades is playability, customisability (is that even a word?), online racing, hot lapping, training modes and the most fantastically realistic handling model I've ever felt. And I mean felt. The way the game combines the visuals and sounds, the way it models the grip of each tyre and the suspension of the vehicles puts you firmly in the driving seat. It employs the now commonplace virtual cockpit technique, but this time you're inside the helmet and the view bobbles and reacts to the acceleration and braking forces to relay this information to the player.
Then there's the tracks, we have changes of surface, autocross, street circuits, drag strips, skid pans, the works. There's something for everyone in here if you pay for the full S2 license with more content muted for a future S3 release. Vehicle wise there's some fairly close approximations to real world vehicles there are obvious mini and caterham clones, an FC-a-like for drift heads and a bunch of more track inspired GT style cars. There's a couple of single seat jobbies too and the licensed BMW F1 which is just brutal.
I've yet to take this baby online yet, I'm kind of scared to actually without a proper FF wheel as this is a game where wreckless driving will not be tolerated. Every online player is registered and as such can be kicked or banned on request of the driving community. The AI offline though is ample challenge for me at the moment. I'm tweaking throught the AI levels at the moment and the AI itself learns the tracks as they gain experience so they get faster and faster
. Racing against the AI is for once eventful and a thrill packed experience (I'm looking at you Gran Turismo).Since the demo is free I hope some of you will give it a shot and let me know what you think, I can predict that some people won't get on with the functional graphics and the visually unrealistic, but exceptionally good damage model. Look beneath the skin though and there's a hell of a lot of fun to be had with this one.