However, your success will depend on more than just your competitive
driving skills. You must also keep in close contact with your
team of experts. Your R&D manager will propose new concepts
with different designs and driving characteristics. Some concepts
will be more suitable for certain tracks than others, so the
choice of car to develop will influence your ability to perform
well in the championships.
The production manager will give you feedback
on how your driving is influencing sales and the expansion
of your factory. This is part of the original and innovative
reward system that has been designed for RE. Finally your
secretary will inform you of in-coming opportunities that,
if successful, will get your brand into the headlines of the
press.
Infogrames has licensed the real brands
of 40 of today's cars for you to race against. In some cases
you will even get an exclusive look at future cars, such as
the Dodge Viper RT10, which will not be on the market until
2003.
The car prototype designs were created by
students at leading automotive design schools, giving the
player the possibility to build a total of unique and beautiful
45 cars. Each car is rendered with around 10,000 polygons
and will take visible damage.
The automobile and racing physics have been
inspired by the best racing products on the market and the
experience of Infogrames and Milestone in this field is a
guarantee of a solid racing experience. The AI will also push
the limits and create opponents who make snap judgments based
on the race at hand as well as mistakes. The sounds for the
cars have also been handled with the same attention to detail
and, as with real world sports cars, just the engine sound
will be an experience on its own.
The different championships will take you
all over the world. There are several variations in track
style, with some taking place in cities, some in the mountains,
some on racetracks and others in stadiums. There are over
fifty courses in all, each with its own feel, while the type
of track you are on will greatly affect the handling of your
car. These tracks have been created with special attention
to the architectural feel of each location and an astounding
feel of realism. Up to half a million polygon sceneries have
breathtaking depth, with moving billboards, trees with individually
rendered branches and trunks, moving traffic on secondary
roads, huge mountains to drive up, etc. The game engine, specially
designed for the Xbox, will be the first to fully exploit
the console's technology in a racing game.
The main mode will deliver over 30 hours
of gameplay with arcade and multiplayer modes added for replay
value.
Overall RE is pretty strong in all departments.
Granted, the commercial elements of RE (like developing your
brand) are not going to be everybody's cup of tea. Although;
the racing will instantly hook any closet speed freak.
Graphically RE is no less than stunning.
Every aspect of the look and feel has been painstakingly perfected
(even the traditionally woody looking spectator's are great).
Sound-wise things are a little disappointing but you can easily
rectify the situation with your own personal soundtracks.
RE is not as much of a stunning new concept
as the developers would like you to think, but never-the-less
RE is an extremely competent racing package with a bit more
to offer than most.
8 out
of 10
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