Hey Toonces
Well I'm back earlier than I thought I would be - and that's because I can say, without a doubt, that you shouldn't put your money here.
So I'm racing Daytona. It's probably one of the easiest tracks because there's no speeding up and slowing down like at short circuits like Bristol...so it should be easier to drive (maybe not in real life, but I would think at least in a game) because all you have to do is hold your line.
My initial outing at Daytona was fair enough. I pretty much had a quiet race...as I did for the most part in this other Daytona race. That is until you get in traffic. When you get in traffic, you will fail because the AI will simply force it's way into the line it wants...and if you are there, which I invariably was, you'll get spun. This last Daytona race I was having a fine race. I was in 41st...but it was quiet and I caught the odd car for a bit of drafting. It was when I got to 38th...and by that time the main pack caught me - and everything went to hell in a hand basket.
Spin number 1 saw 4 abreast before there just wasn't room...as I moved away from the wall, to which I was being pushed against, the AI decided it simply wasn't budging...spin 1 and caution
Spin 2...
Spin 3...
All at the start of the lap...when you are in traffic.
There were more - I gave up in lap 78 out of 100.
When you are out of traffic, all is well. But in traffic it's just god awful. And having said that, remember that this is on Daytona. A nice, wide, open, sweeping track. Imagine what carnage is going to befall you at Bristol - a short gear changer of a circuit.
There's a few other minor things - but if you can't mix it with the AI, then the racing experience just isn't there. NASCAR is totally different from F1 in that the racing is very, very close. So racing in traffic and having sensible AI around you is vital.
No - I simply couldn't recommend this one. It's only good out of traffic and at the start of your career you won't be out of traffic.
I wish I could because I love NASCAR - but I'm shelving this until it's fixed and, more than that, I'll be doing some thorough reading before I buy the next iteration.
Thanks for sharing Judge. I was thinking about getting this game but the ai behavior in traffic per your description is unacceptable to me. Maybe next year...
NP.
It's got promise...but promise doesn't make a good racing experience.
I do hope it gets better - as the only proper NASCAR racer out there it's important they get the next one right.
^Yeah. It's funny because each year I see the new Nascar games come out and there's always something not quite right about them that convinces me to stay away. We'll keep watching though.
I'd really like to see a proper career mode and racing mechanics that don't rely on ai cheap tricks. F1 2012 did it right imho but that game requires a lot of time to master. Even if you dial it down to simple mode.
Thanks for the info. I've read that the AI has issues so with your confirmation I believe I'll just wait on this one.