Racing fans west of the Atlantic need to understand one thing: 10Tacle Studios is your new best friend. Because without them, most of you would never experience the bliss that is Simbin’s GTR FIA GT Championship racing simulator for the PC. If your PC wheel has been collecting dust lately, you need to understand one thing - this is the game you have been waiting for.
Even if you think you have mastered driving games, you do not know what you are in for with GTR. This game was made by racing enthusiasts and tested by real drivers. "100% authentic racing guaranteed!" is a bold claim indeed, but easy to back up when you have a sim this good. Everything behaves as it should - EVERYTHING. The physics are so damn good it brings a tear to my eye. Body roll, weight transfer, instability during hard braking and accelerating, tire temperature that effects handling - it’s ALL there where it should be. And thanks to brilliant force-feedback support (the best ever, make no mistake), you will feel every bump, slipping tire, and locked brake, and be able to feel your way through a correction every time. GTR truly is a driving enthusiast’s dream come true.
One thing I was really not expecting is just how hard it is to keep these cars on the road, and as in real life, it’s going to take a lot - and I stress a LOT - of practice to be at all competitive with the game’s AI in a race. Too much pressure on the throttle coming out of a turn will almost certainly spin you out every time. Braking late will send you off into the dirt every time. It will likely take you several laps around a track before you can even complete a full lap without wrecking, and as in real life, wrecking will have some serious consequences in terms of vehicle handling. One of the more common wrecks is heading off into the dirt in a tight turn, usually resulting in a pretty good impact on the front of the car. This will almost always result in the loss of the front air dam (referred to as the "splitter"), and trying to race at high speeds without that piece makes for some seriously unstable performance. Worse yet, it’s not that hard to pop a tire hitting a wall, which makes steering a real nightmare. If you’re not careful, a race can easily be ended on the first turn of the first lap. Combining the game’s sheer sense of speed with such a feeling of danger and caution around each turn, it’s very much a white-knuckle ride.
GTR raises an interesting question: When is a racing game so "sim" that it’s no longer a game at all? Fans of the game in the multiplayer lobbies will be quick to point out your mistake when referring to GTR as a game. "It’s a SIM." Well who can argue with that? The honest truth is, GTR is such a finely tuned package that there’s no doubting its authenticity, even if you have never driven a 600 HP Saleen S7R. The feel of this game is so amazingly lifelike that it’s hard not to get completely lost within the experience. You WILL feel like a racecar driver playing this game.
If you are used to console sim racers, you will be surprised at how cut-and-dry the presentation is in Simbin’s GTR. There is no career progression; there are no race winnings; there are no purchasable parts; there is no beginning and no end to this game. What we have here is a PC replica of the FIA GT racing league - simple as that. Every car and every track is available to you from the minute you start the game, meaning you can jump directly into a race ready Lamborghini and drive off on your favorite track immediately. Does that mean GTR is a shallow racer? Hell no. In the control department, Simbin simply does donuts around the competition, and ultimately that’s the most important thing in a racing game (sorry, SIM).
While GTR may be the most authentic and difficult racer out there, that doesn’t mean that only the hardcore need apply. Accompanying the package’s "Simulation" mode are "Arcade" and "Semi-Pro" modes of play. Arcade offers a much more tame and forgiving version of the game’s physics model, with full access to all of the cars and tracks on 5 difficulty settings of play. Arcade mode is a great place for racing n00bs to start out, offering an opportunity to get familiar with the track layouts and race feel, without the punishing difficulty of the sim mode itself. Semi-Pro mode offers an in-between level for confident Arcade racers ready to take it to the next level, before jumping right into Simulation mode.
Semi-Pro and Simulation modes of play offer realistic events for which to enter. "Race Weekend" will pit you against a full field of competition on any one track with any car of your choosing. The weekend begins with two practice sessions (each 90 minutes in length), ideal for re-familiarizing yourself with the track layout and for dialing in that perfect race setup. Following your practice (and you can skip ahead to the next session at any time, mind you) are two qualifying heats. Remember to take only as much fuel as necessary for maximum speed and best starting grid position. Lastly is the race itself, preceded by a warm-up lap behind the pace car (also skippable) and ultimately the race itself. It is also possible to enter into the Championship mode, which is a recreation of the actual FIA GT Championship itself, with all races taking place in their proper real-world orders. Lastly, the Free Practice mode offers a chance to take your car for a spin on any of the tracks without the worry of a time limit or other drivers (though you can choose to have them there if you wish).
Naturally, a game such as this would not be complete without an online component, and this is where things can get a little shaky. For the most part there are few hiccups in terms of lag, but occasionally you will see cars jumping around the track, or even stop completely in their place. This spells disaster for anyone behind them, and can mean some frustrating afternoons behind the wheel. As most racing sessions consist of one or two practice sessions, a qualifying session, a warm-up, and then finally the race itself, having to undergo all of that only to run full speed into a lagged out vehicle early in a race can mean a lot of time wasted for nothing. It’s also fairly common to get a half second of lag when somebody enters a server, and if you happen to be in a fast chicane at the time, that probably means you’re going to hit that wall again. But don’t let this discourage you too much, because when it all does come together as it should, playing GTR online is one incredibly engrossing experience.
Something that takes some time getting used to is the way multiple car classes race on the same track at the same time, so while you may be in something a little slower like an NGT class Lotus Elise or Ferrari 360, you will be sharing the track with NGT and GT supercars that will make a mockery of even your best lap times. Because of this, you will need to learn to yield to cars that lap you, and telling the difference between them and your class competitors in your tiny little rear view mirrors can be pretty tricky, especially in a heated race. The good news is, the AI will pass you cleanly and efficiently nearly every time. Those guys are really good! You will notice a similar level of professionalism and courtesy when racing online, as people tend to take this game as seriously as the presentation intends (thank goodness).
Racing locales include all 10 world famous tracks such as Monza (Italy), Autodromo Do Estoril (Portugal), Circuit de Nevers Magny Cours (France), Anderstorp (Scandinavia), Circuit De Catalunya (Spain), Motopark Oschersleben (Germany), Ente Autodromo Pergusa (Italy), Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium), Automotodrom Brno (Czech Republic), and Donington Park (United Kingdom). Each of them offers unique challenges and has distinct personalities, and it will take a lot of practice to master them all. Included with the game are default track setups for every car on every track, as well as a cool option to download other players’ car setups right from the game’s interface. And for those of you that wish to dive in under the hood, every option you can think of is at your fingertips, including race strategy (how much fuel you take on in each pit). It’s very advanced stuff, and honestly, goes almost entirely over my head. However, if you happen to be a real racing enthusiast, you can even pore over data collected from your car’s computer via the MoTec Interpreter software (the very same software the pit crews use), included with GTR.
Simbin’s GTR does not employ all of today’s graphical effects and surface shaders. By contrast with some of the newer Direct X 9 stuff, it’s a little dated. Still, this is one damn fine looking game. Cars and tracks are meticulously rendered down to the smallest detail, complete with authentic replicas of the cockpits. They are easily the best I have ever witnessed (including working MoTec instrument panel), and really add a lot to the sim atmosphere. Advanced lighting effects allow for real-time day and night cycles, with beautiful and seamless transitions from one to the next. There are also some great shadows in this game, and they look lovely as they wrap across the hood of the car and into the cockpit. Engine sounds are even better than the graphics. Each car has been individually sampled for maximum realism, and let me go on the record right now saying that they are the best I have heard in any racer - these cars really scream! The front end of the package features beautifully laid out menus set to some very pleasant-sounding trance beats. However, all of the graphics and sound and physics computations add up to some pretty hefty system demands. I recommend you try out the two official demo releases before deciding to purchase the full game.
Even if GTR is or isn’t technically a "game," there’s no denying its entertainment value. Considering you can find a great force-feedback wheel for the PC at around $99, it could be the best entertainment value on the market anywhere. GTR is an incredibly good racing sim - easily the best I have ever played, and an absolute thrill. Let me put it this way: this game is so good, it inspired me to build that arcade racing setup I have wanted since I was a kid, but never had the excuse to make, until now. Those guys at Simbin, whoever they are and wherever they came from, could not have done this at a better time. In a day when the term "sim racer" is thrown at just about anything with the slightest semblance of real-world racing action, it’s nice to see somebody actually take the initiative to not only do it right, but to do it so amazingly right. This title sets a new standard in racing game excellence and will be the measuring stick for which to judge all future sim racers for a long time.
Now about that console version...
