Back in 2006, Simbin introduced the first RACE title, bringing the World Touring Car Championship to the PC. More than three years later, the popular RACE series is being extended by its latest installment – RACE On.
Is newest RACE offspring worth its money or is the RACE-series starting to fall behind the competition? Read the review to find out.
Unlike Simbin’s earliest titles GTR, GT Legends and GTR2, the RACE series was not just the start of WTCC simulations from the Swedish studio, it also marks the start of the company’s “multi-series simulation” approach.
RACE – The WTCC Game was the first Simbin product to feature more than one series, pairing the Mini Challenge alongside the WTCC series. RACE 07 further extended this strategy, combining open wheel racing and touring cars in one title.
The following titles, GTR Evolution and STCC – The Game, were all released as addons for RACE07, extending the simulation with a different theme. While GTR Evolution focused on the Nordschleife and GT racing, STCC – The Game brought sim racers the Swedish Touring Car championship.
And now RACE On, a title that once more tries to please everyone, adding touring cars, open-wheelers, street cars and GT-like cars to the mix.
The Cars
RACE On adds another WTCC season to the mix by introducing the 2008 season of the series. That includes two brand-new car models, the SEAT Leon TDI and the Lada 110.
Open-wheel fans will be pleased to see the sim racing debut of the International Formula Master, a series that was launched in 2007 to support the WTCC, giving young drivers the chance to prove themselves in open-wheelers built by Tatuus, using a 250hp Honda engine.
One of RACE On’s cornerstones are the muscle-cars, modern versions of popular American muscle cars like the Dodge Charger, the Chevrolet Camaro and the Cadillac CTS-V. The cars are included both as street version and in fictional race-trim.
Furthermore, the full version of RACE On also includes all content of STCC – The Game. Since I have reviewed that title in-depth already, please visit the STCC review to read more about this part of RACE On.
The Tracks
RACE On includes three brand-new tracks as as 2008 updates for popular WTCC venues.
New tracks in RACE On include Okayama, better known as the TI Aida circuit. The Japanese track first hosted a WTCC round in 2008, making it the first Japanese track to be included in a Simbin title.
First introduced in Simbin’s RACE Pro for Xbox 360, Road America and Laguna Seca are making their PC debut in RACE On, giving the US muscle cars some proven ground to race on. Adding to these new tracks are 2008 updates for the WTCC tracks, including the recently-changed Imola layout.
The full version also includes seven Scandinavian tracks used by the Swedish Touring Car Series, giving touring car racers some excellent tight and twisty tracks to compete on.
Graphics
Like all other Simbin titles, RACE On uses Image Space Incorporated’s gMotor 2 graphics engine. The result is a solid graphical experience as you would expect from Simbin, featuring good-looking car models and tracks.
The new WTCC cars fit right in with the existing touring car bunch and the muscle cars come with very detailed cockpits. One of Simbin’s strong suits has always been track modeling and the studio once again delivers in RACE On.
Both the American tracks and Okayama come with lots of details, sadly spoiled by fictional advertising boards. While the WTCC tracks are mostly clean of fictional track-side objects, the American tracks use fictional advertising boards to promote various products.
Aside from this annoyance, the graphics in RACE On are a solid job despite some graphical bugs and low-resolution textures here and there. All in all, the graphics engine is starting to show its age though as RACE On fails to really impress in terms of graphics
Sounds
Most of the new sounds in RACE On are absolutely spot-on. The muscle cars offer a nice V8 rumble that will make your headphones shake and the Diesel engine of SEAT’s Leon TDI WTCC car sounds just as dull as it does in real life.
A little annoyance is the menu music, featuring Tom Coronel’s happy outburst after winning his first WTCC race at Okayama last year. While Major Tom is certainly a very sympathetic driver, his screaming on the radio gets dull very quickly while browsing the menus.
Physics
Simbin’s touring car physics have received lots of praise from various touring car drivers and RACE On is no exception.
The two new WTCC cars blend in right with the existing bunch with the SEAT Leon TDI being the new top-tier car. Just as in real life, SEAT’s Diesel challenger is the dominant car in the WTCC and will probably become a very popular car in online races despite its Diesel sound.
The absolute highlight in RACE On are without a doubt the Formula Master cars. If you liked the F3000s in RACE07, you??ll love the IFM cars. Fairly powerful and with lots of grip, these Formula cars are very rewarding to drive, offering close wheel-to-wheel racing.
The muscle-cars are a different kind of animal. Powerful but heavy, the cars love to drift through corners. The racing- versions are made for tough paint-trading racing as these cars can take quite a beating. The street cars are a nice addition, being even more drift-happy than their racing counterparts.
Conclusion
When thinking about how to describe RACE On, one word quickly comes to mind: Solid.
RACE On is a solid title through and through, offering solid content with solid graphics and neat physics. What RACE On completely lacks is innovation, after three years of RACE addons it becomes harder and harder to get excited about this type of title.
While some simulations keep on pushing the envelope in terms of brilliant physics and other titles keep raising the bar in terms of graphics, Simbin keeps on delivering more of the same. This is by no means bad as RACE On is a worthwhile title, it just feels that the time has come for the Studio to deliver something new.
Whether or not the title is worth it’s price is hard to judge. If you don’t own STCC – The Game yet and have a soft spot for touring cars, the full bundle is great value, including 10 new tracks and lots of new cars from various types of racing.
The RACE On expansion alone is good value if you??re looking forward to another WTCC season, some excellent open-wheelers or American race cars. Even though three new tracks are also included, the price for the expansion is kind of steep considering it sells for ???25 – More than any other RACE expansion before.
Screenshots
