Ferrari Challenge (PS3)

[Anpanman]

You said you were little lost/confused with the way the races are setup, still the case or you a bit more at home with them now? I read in a few articles that the way the races are setup is a bit awkward, sounds weird.

That's how Challenge works in real life apparently, quite easy really.

You race around until the timer goes down to zero then you have another lap to race to the line.

Been doing 15 minute ones myself.

[Darwock]

How's the opposition AI?

[merf]

guess my question is does this have any unique selling point or reason to buy over any other racer other than the fact you can drive Ferrari's ?

seems the comments are its a decent solid racer but nothing really new or different ?

[hudson]

Yeah, there's nothing really new here, the graphics are average and you have to make time to play it because campaign type races can take a while to get through. They are my main problems with it. Well, the graphics aren't too bad.

I am enjoying the racing though and I think it could be a laugh online with a few from here.

So far the AI has been pretty easy to beat. They don't do anything special. Spend most of the time slowly working my way to pole position. Not all the time, mind. I've only played a few campaign races and I've read that the difficulty gets harder along the way, so maybe I'll see some fighting AI then?

[jim g]

I have completed one weekend challenge (Monza) and the Tutorial I did have one game on-line with 1 player and he logged out at the first bend!

Ok, so grahics whores, this is isn't a clinically sharp as GT. It is however very good.

Gameplay. I don't have a wheel, but with DUAL SHOCK pad it is good (the virbation works well with the game, compliments, doesn't get in the way) . You really have to learn the braking points and how to brake well to get the quickest lap times. Miss a braking pint and you will screw up the corner (just like real life). I have found the handing to be responsive, it is a great sensation to get a corner just right, especilly chicanes. And, fi I screw it up, it is me, notthe game causing it. I did changed one setting, 'toe in' and noticed the difference immediatley.

It does require a good deal of concentration and I think as time goes on and more is unlocked it will get better (especially on line where you can race against 15 others). I play with bunper cam view.

So for me a thumbs up so far. I also prefer it to Grid.

[Anpanman]

I play with bumper too.

Like the sound with this which of course is dependant on your view (bumper/in-car etc), in particular the gear changes and the over revving sound.

Also like the smal nuances like when you get to a quiet part of the circuit (ie no crowd noise) you can hear the PA!

Best of the sounds though are the tire sqeals, one thing that grinds me about GT is the same sound they use and it seems have used since v1. In Ferrari you really get feedback on how your car is behaving with the noise from the tyres.

Only played one weekend and finished 15/16 in the first then 01/16 in the second, like the way you can see in seconds how far in front the car is - not just at checkpoints.
The AI did seem easy but I'm sure it will get tough later. Anyway it's hard enough as it is controlling the thing under power to be worrying about AI cars - great stuff.

[Super Monkey Balls]

Very interesting game

I like the presentation. Its a tifosi wet dream basically. Pretty polished.

Graphically its pretty average for "next-gen" and the framerate aint brilliant.

It sounds fantastic if you tweak the settings and turn the god-awful music off. If Grid worked without it this sure could.

Controls work well but steer clear of the unresponsive face buttons.

The handling isn't at all what I expected. Sim usually means twitchy and by default this is actually quite forgiving in a way. The cars have serious weight to them however and its all in the braking. Its taking me some serious getting used to, but its quite satisfying. A complete contrast to Grids pick-up-and-play approach. Not an easy game at all, and for once I'm glad to see the race line indicator. Requires real concentration.

AI is another interesting one. Did I actually see a car block my race line for once? Thats a feature I've longed for for years. If it does though it seems pretty limited as to when it happens. Requires further investigation. We shall see what happens as I progress past n00b difficulty and assists.

I'm not happy about the 15 minute thing. If as I expect it doesn't save after every race this is gonna require well over an hour play at a time to get anywhere. I changed to 5 minute but I suspect this is what is making it tough.

Overall then I'm quite impressed. The developers are actually punching above their weight in terms of content and polish and its a really challenging and intense, serious racer. The amount of commitment it requires however may be its downfall, we'll see.

[Anpanman]

Good post, when doing the weekends, if you only do one race it may not save, I did a full weekend and it did save because when I went into Challenge mode again I could see my standings on the overview at the top.

One good thing about this being more of a sim is that the idiots online may not buy it coupled with the penalties for colliding it may prove to be good on multiplayer.

Going to try it out tonight.

[Super Monkey Balls]

Penalties and flags, something I forgot to mention. Brilliant feature.

[jim g]

I completed a time trial offline and it says you can upload the times, i must be going blind, but where?

Monza 1:53.14 - nothing great but OK after 1 hours play!

EDIT:

Ignore, it seems to upload itself, I am 4th at the moment BUT the first and secon place haven't got a time?! Hope it's not another leaderboard bug e.g COD4, Mario Kart

[JP]

Just spent some time with this on the time trials so I'm not in any position to talk about the actual racing yet.

At first I really wasn't sure of the handling but after playing around with it a bit it really improves when you turn all the assists off. I wouldn't pretend that I'm going to be posting good times doing it this way but it just all feels so much better like this and you have far more control in the corners.

I find it far better from the driver's view with the HUD turned off completely. I've moved onto manual gears too now and I'm certainly not in the zone with them yet but really improves the game for me.

This is with just me in the time trials so I'm guessing that it'll be last place in the races for me at the moment? I don't really mind though as it's the driving rather than the racing which I'm interested in at the moment.

One of the problems with the game that it just feels so unpolished in some ways. You have three control options and none of them are how I'd set them out given a choice, unfortunately you can't define the controls which is unforgivable in a driving game these days. You can't even change the controls while in a game so while your trying to find the one that works best for you you have to quit from the game, spend a couple of minutes messing around in the menus, then load up a race again and keep doing this until you've settled on one of the 3 options.

The sound, apart from the title music is truly terrible and you're very limited in how you can set up the sound in it.

Team names only give you 8 (Possibly 9?) letters to play with so you're really limited there and the choice of nationalities is very limited too. I feel spoilt by Codemasters over the years with their numerous choices and the limited choices here are sure to piss some people off...including me.

This may be different in other modes but in time trial my laps are shown as PLAYER 1 and I can't find anywhere to enter my name yet. When I start the single player game does it give me the option to enter my name? I'm guessing the online leaderboards will show my PSN tag?

The menus to me felt really badly organised and very slow. I found myself going into the wrong sections a few time due to the length of time it took to change menus.

What are the Challenge Cards for?

I'm absolutely loving the control in this game but the rest of it feels a touch unfinished and cheap which is such a shame. I know that I'll be playing this for quite some time but the numerous small things I've mentioned stop this from being the game it could have been. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying it a lot but little annoyances like these really shouldn't be there these days.

EDIT:
Just checked the online leaderboards and it does use my tag. Looking at the Ratings section I'm surprised to see that I'm somehow 83 in the world with 90.96%!!

I'm not sue what the Ratings section is but the only person on my friends list on it is hoolak who is 105 (90.10% snigger, snigger). I'm guessing as it's only the two of us on it and we're ranked so highly that it's really nothing important?

[Super Monkey Balls]

The sound, apart from the title music is truly terrible and you're very limited in how you can set up the sound in it.

Wow, really? I'm finding the dts to be superb if you turn the in-game music off and tweak the effects up a bit.

I still quite like the way its presented too. It's very "Ferarri". Still, I agree its a very impractically structured game and the loading is a pain.

Other things that impressed me early on are a bit hit and miss too, like the AI and the penalties. And its a nightmare to see in the rain because its so dark.

HOWEVER, flaws aside, I am totally in love. Its a game about the joy of racing a great car on a great track. The skill and excitement is in the braking, the cornering, the overtaking. Nailing that perfect lap. Qualifying is just as enjoyable as racing and you know a great corner when you've driven it, and these are the hallmarks of a great track racer for me. If thats your bag, prepare to lose hours of your life.

[MonkeyWrench]

Had a couple of quick races last night and I have to say I'm loving the handling. It really reminds me of Le Mans 24 Hour on Dreamcast. Can see myself putting a lot of time into this one.

[mjbrooky]

Been in need of a driving game since GT5P, didn't like the feel of GRID - reading all the comments this looks like it should be purchased

[Dazzyman]

Just got back from unexpected respite hols and called at local Woolies with this on way back to cheer myself up with as sick of waiting for Grid patch I was sat in Scotch Corner service station in WHSmiths reading the Edge review and was none the wiser if it was any good or not so took a gamble on it anyway!