On Friday I noticed a certian Kotaku article of “what are you playing this weekend”. Which brought a game via steam to my attention. “RACE: The WTCC Game”, a realistic racer for PC that was free for this weekend. I was originally excited to play a realistic racing game on my new budget-yet-capable PC, but it didn’t quite live up to what I wanted it to be.
My impressions started off good by just looking at the graphics, but that ended as soon as I realized a huge problem: I didn’t have a wheel or a controller. I would like to blame the experience of wonky physics on that alone, but I felt the cars were still a bit off. My biggest complaint being the slow braking, and this game is what IGN.UK nails(actually, quotes some random guy) perfectly as: “hurry up and wait”. In other words, to play the game right with these physics you have to go as quick as you can on the strait away(duh) but almost always have to come to a complete halt to make the turns. In this case some of the turns have to be made as slow as 30M/H. After one day of playing I finally decided to give it “the treatment”, which refers to me playing Eurobeat while playing racing games. For games that are not good but still solid, Eurobeat can save them. A good example is Asphalt: Urban GT(one and two) for Nintendo DS. It did tend to give the game some life, but still felt too repetitive. Referring to the IGN.UK review again, I apparently missed the best track by not playing Macau…which I have no reply for. I guess I should have read reviews before the end of Sunday(?). But the free trial tells you something about this game overall: It’s not worth your money. For the most part I think IGN.UK’s review sums it up pretty well besides their one-track-makes-the-game opinion. Getting specific one last time, what’s up with the sand? You might as well program some ice in there, because it acts pretty much the same way. Once you hit the sand, you’re toast.
Enough of that random racing game though, after much reading and downloading I got something I’ve always wanted on my PC…
I’ll give you a hint, I’m a treasure fan…
Ikaruga!
Yes, Ikaruga is the other game I’ve been playing…quite obsessively too. Having a Dreamcast on my PC is almost hard for my brain to comprehend. Having been a Sega fan without one, I’ve come close to buying one many times. In fact, I still may buy one one of these days just so I won’t have to deal with a lousy emulator. Actually, Chankast runs better than I thought I would – Especially since my Sega fanboy brain thinks it really is “the ultimate gaming system“(that’s a spoof-joke on the system box BTW) and that it would take a million computers to process the sheer “fun” that comes from the Dreamcast. Chankast does have some emulation flaws, and buying original hardware would mean no worries of bad emulation…and not to mention a better controller.
I plan to get around to downloading REZ sometime soon and my friend also recommended me an actual PC game; Deus Ex. But then I remembered all those GBA RPG’s… I need a new DS/lite. Maybe I should settle for a GBAsp? But then I also have my network card to replace… that’s a long story, I have to go. It’s 2:15AM!!! Why do I always insist on posting these things so late?!?!!!
