TOCA Race Driver 2

[PeteJ]

So how good is the single player? I'm tempted to buy the game as it does look quite good and I'm in need of a new driving game, but I won't bother if the game has been designed with Live in mind - as I don't have it (and can't get it...).

[Brats]

It's definately not as dependent on Live as PGR2. The single player and two player split screen modes are quite seperate from the online modes.

However, I'm racing (ahem) though the story mode fairly quickly. It's a quality racing title, more simulation than PGR2 (there is even an option to have a button set to clutch), but with floaty handling which I really like.

I'm guessing I'll complete the story mode soon and Live will prolong the life of the title for a good few months. I haven't really dabbled with the simulation mode where you get to re-race the various different classes in longer tournaments, but I'm guessing this is where you would go once the story mode has finished for single player larks.

[Matt KB]

Can you have online tournaments? Like Moto GP2 with the scores continueing to the next race. And anyone - can you have mandatory pit stops on live?

Also - what exaclty is the benefit of having a button assigned to "clutch"? thanks

[Fuddle]

got back from workj and thought i'd give this another go online ...3 hours later, its good.
although i'm really not convinced by the one player part of the game.

online you can have championships where you get points for the races just like moto gp2.
not sure about pit stops yet, as most people seem to be doing 3-4 lap races.

whats very annoying though is the ranking system. i'm trying hard not to care about it. but seeing somebody who rammed you off the track 5 times gain points, and you lose them its difficult to understand the thinking behind this system.
ft:

[nonny]

Having no XBL for 24hrs I am now 90% of the way through the career mode. Its gotten harder in the past few races but still nothing out of the ordinary which has pleased me to be honest, I just want to mill through the last few races now.

That said there hasnt been one race I havent enjoyed but as Brats said you can choose what class to compete in at certain points and one is usually alot more fun than the other.

As for simulation mode. I am about 10% on that right now as I completed the classes I like most, namely the Rallycross and GT Lights ones. I noticed near the end of the simulation listing there are about 5 championships that only open after completing others so basically there is still more singeplayer stuff to be done here outside of career.

I dont mind the ranking system either. Well more the point is I dont care about it at all, just the racing and fun. Ive been in a few aussie races in the past week as well where we raced V8s for 20 laps with a mandatory 1 pitstop rule and that worked pretty well. It helps alot though if people know the track and have a bit of etiquette because otherwise you'll get the usual pile up in the 1st lap unless your lucky enough to get through unscathed.

[rylee]

Just want to mention that I have serious problems with the bloody average rally cars. Feels like an early PS rally title!

[jcee]

I've read on another forum that you cannot have a guest play splitscreen with you on Live, can anyone confirm this?

[Hodge]

Just got it for the xbox, had a quick bash online and off and first impressions are the handling is quite dissapointing. It feels way to floaty and has no weight to the cars and where is the traction with the wheels gripping the road? The wheels go full lock at any speed Then theres the bashing which takes you way of track and have no chance of catching up then and takes all the fun out of the race. Out of all the races i had there wasn`t a race i didnt get taken out on. Have to see if abit more play will change my mind but can`t see it taking me away from pgr2 for to long.

[revisedgenocide]

Spent the best part of 4 hours on it today and im pleasantly surprised. The cars do feel floaty in some classes but less so in others. Racing can be a mixed bag with certain cars much much better than others.
The only races ive felt aggreived at are the oval ones. There exciting but one nick can send you flying.
The Rover Rallycross class is superb, but can they really get that high?

[VR46]

I've read on another forum that you cannot have a guest play splitscreen with you on Live, can anyone confirm this?

your right, no guests on Live ft:

[mid]

In a serious dilemma over this.

On the one hand, I fancy the XBox version. My PC is quite slow, and even with low details has occasional slowdown during the demo. Plus no Live play (I won't let Gamespy Arcade on my box, having been annoyed that you can't stop it acting like advert and spyware despite the fact that I bought a Gamespy license for the main FPS game product) on the PC.

On the other hand, the PC works with my force-feedback wheel, rather than a little pad.

So, do I buy the XBox one or not?

[Dragon2k4]

I'd say definitely go with Xbox version, as your PC aint up to it, Xbox is way to go to enjoy it fully!

[Hodge]

Played it abit furthur now and i still haven`t changed my mind about, it`s still not very good no matter how much i try to like it. Online racing have basically consist of me leading, me getting rammed, take me 15 seconds to get back on track and it`s race over. To be fair some of the ramming is down to lag as its not displaying the vehicles true position properly and makes overtaking or trying not to hit people a pain. Main gripe is still the handling and the way the wheels aren`t gripping the road surface properly. Perfect example is just go down a straight and move your analogue stick left to right, right to left and you can clearly see the turning radius of the steering is far more than it should be. Perhaps i`ve been spoiled by gothams sublime handling and near perfect physics and this just comes of feeling floaty and slidey and you can never really put the car where you want it half the time. Upsides to this game are the graphics are really nice but its a shame they didn`t pay as much attention to the car physics.

[Balou]

Played it abit furthur now and i still haven`t changed my mind about, it`s still not very good no matter how much i try to like it. Online racing have basically consist of me leading, me getting rammed, take me 15 seconds to get back on track and it`s race over. To be fair some of the ramming is down to lag as its not displaying the vehicles true position properly and makes overtaking or trying not to hit people a pain. Main gripe is still the handling and the way the wheels aren`t gripping the road surface properly. Perfect example is just go down a straight and move your analogue stick left to right, right to left and you can clearly see the turning radius of the steering is far more than it should be. Perhaps i`ve been spoiled by gothams sublime handling and near perfect physics and this just comes of feeling floaty and slidey and you can never really put the car where you want it half the time. Upsides to this game are the graphics are really nice but its a shame they didn`t pay as much attention to the car physics.

So, according to you the cars do not have enough traction - that?s sounds good to me, because I always felt that the cars in first game had too much traction.
(just when you thought the car goes off the road the tires still have enough grip to turn back in - at least that?s the impression I got from it and also one reason why I sold it again)

The 'clutch' feature also sounds really promising.
But, is it just <push button to change gears>, or is there more to it?
(maybe it?s a bit like in MGS2, where you could lower the gun by slowly releasing the 'shoot' button?)
Has someone tried this with a wheel and pedals?

Concerning the handling, can someone compare 'Race Driver 2' to GT3 or other dedicated "simulation" driving games?

[gooner]

My copy arrived this morning and i cant say im too impressed by it either its just not at all forgiving, the cars dont grip to the road at all, and the slightest mistake and your out of the race, this is fine for late levels on stupid hard mode, but it isnt, its the first few races in normal mode.

Those Formula Fords are naff in it too, try over taking someone and they will cut you up and you lose your wheels and be out of the race, thats the AI i assume people on live are just as bad (if not worse).

No ABS, wtf is that about? its meant to be a simulation, cars should be accurate imo. its nice to know you have to get a good start though, sitting holding in the accelerator means you can lose places, having to think about it is nice though, this feature should be good online.

For me ill prolly get into it and like it, but for your casual gamer its going to be too hard and not going to hold there interest for long, making this a flop on live and only the hardcore will play it imo.

Overall, its too early for me tell if i like it, but i dont think most people will.