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Test Drive V-Rally
Game over, yeah! - Review By Holy Hand Grenade
Page 2/2
The Bad
With the ridiculous physics, you tend to end up on your back more often than you should. |
I can't go one step further without rambling about the car physics. While the idea of allowing the player's car to flip over can have a positive effect on gameplay (as mentioned above), if implemented incorrectly, it can also deeply hamper the gameplay. I can't tell you the number of times I sputtered obscenities at the screen as my car flipped over time and time again under the most unrealistic circumstances. For instance, no matter how perfectly you prepare for an up coming jump, there's still a possibility of landing on your roof after FORWARD flipping (rear over front) over it! Besides the fact that it looks utterly ridiculous, it's also incredibly frustrating, as there's absolutely no indication when it's going to happen! There are numerous other instances of physics problems similar to the one I've just described and while no others are quite as annoying, they're all still bothersome. The overall problem could be that the cars are just too light (you can fling them into the air much too easily) but I think the problem is more likely firmly rooted in a flawed physics engine. In addition, I find it hard to believe that the engines in the real life vehicles that this game tries to recreate are able to accelerate like on/off switches - the instant you hit the gas, the engine is at full RPM and as soon as you let off it's back at idle. This just feels awkward and does nothing to help create the illusion of actually throttling up an automobile. It's obvious that the developers decided to take a more "arcadey" approach when they created the physics/gameplay engine (which is fine), but instead of making non-realistic yet still fun dynamics, they only succeeded in the non-realistic part. This game doesn't possess that magical Sega style of what I like to refer to as "arcade gameplay in simulation's clothing" (i.e. Sega Rally, Daytona) in which you can tell that it's not real, but somehow it still feels right. This somewhat poor execution in the critical area of gameplay cannot be down played because it directly affects the most important factor of the game (or any game for that matter): fun.
While the graphics overall are rather nice, there are some issues here as well. First, clipping: you know, when a certain object's geometry isn't supposed to be able to pass through other geometry (like for instance cars vs. environmental objects)? Well, it doesn't work too well here. I guess Eden Studios doesn't want all you in-car-view drivers to miss out on just how pretty they think the trackside barriers are, so they decided to let them flow freely through the majority of your vehicle so you can get a good look at them. When viewing from outside the car this problem is no less distracting, as it's not at all uncommon to witness entire portions of your car vanish when coming into contact with other cars or rock faces. Another issue is that although the frame rate in single player is usually very smooth, minor slowdown does plague racers who trail two or more onscreen opponents in single player modes, and major slowdown is evident when a car followed by smoke effects passes the camera during replays.
The track editor is pretty cool. Too bad you can't play your creations against friends. |
Multiplayer modes (up to 4 simultaneous players) are also marred by some sizeable frame rate hits. As a final graphical irritation distant geometry has a bad habit of popping in at visible distances.
In regards to sound, V-Rally defines mediocre. Racing tunes are comprised of rock and techno-ish tracks that are neither groundbreaking nor terrible, although it's questionable as to whether they all fit with the game's style. Probably the best I can say about them is that I really don't mind leaving them running as I play. The navigator who announces upcoming turns proves to be a valuable tool for driving purposes, although his/her help is sometimes a little too late to be useful. And, the absolute worst sound offense V-Rally makes is that all the cars have EXACTLY the same engine noise. Granted it sounds pretty realistic, but I mean, come on! With all that Eden Studios has done to provide variety in terms of track and car selection, you'd think they could have done the same for the engine sounds.
There are a number of miscellaneous omissions and oversights, too. For instance, the ability to load a game from a second controller would be nice, and how about moving the option to configure controller buttons from one of the last pages in the menu system (after selecting number of players -> driver -> car -> game mode -> country -> track) up into the general options page accessible from the first menu screen? Including the ability to adjust steering wheel and pedal travel would be super keen too! Also, as cool as the included track editor is, it would be infinitely more fun to have the opportunity to race on custom tracks against other real-time opponents in both single and multiplayer modes, instead of only being able to use them in time trail modes. Seems like kind of a no-brainer, really.
And finally, it has to be said, what's with the guys posing as the driver and navigator of your car? You'd think they would've made them look a little...uh... less gravitationally challenged. Heh.
The Final Word
While neither in the upper echelon of racing goodness or in the lower depths of Test Drive 6 hell, Test Drive V-Rally is firmly planted in the acceptable middle ground. The accurate rally racing format of the Championship mode, combined with an incredible number of tracks, some nice graphics and a great sense of speed are an inspiration for what types of racing games are possible on the Dreamcast. Unfortunately, car handling, clipping errors and some other nagging faults serve to remind you that core gameplay elements MUST be solid in order to make a great game. On V-Rally's behalf though, I must admit that after coming to terms with its faults, I did find that (at times) the redeeming qualities overshadow the problems and some good-old wholesome fun can be had. So with that in mind, if you're looking for just any type of racing game for the Dreamcast, you can do better looking elsewhere. But if you're in the mood for a mix of arcade and soft-core simulation style off-road entertainment, Test Drive V-Rally might be just what you're looking for.
Developer: Eden Studios
Publisher: Infogrames
Genre: Racing
Highs: Accurate rally racing format, huge number of tracks, good number of cars, nice graphics, great sense of speed.
Lows: Annoying physics, bad clipping errors, varying degrees of slowdown.
Other: VGA compatible, Steering Wheel compatible (although without any calibration settings), VMU compatible (7 blocks per driver data, 4 blocks per custom track design), 1-4 Players, Jump Pack compatible.
Media:
Demo Loop (MPEG) - Four cars motoring around, with lots of replay-like camera tricks. [Big (13.5M)] - [Med (6.6M)] - [Small (1.4M)]
Gameplay 1 (MPEG) - Single player, English course. [Big (11.1M)] - [Med (6M)] - [Small (1.3M)]
Gameplay 2 (MPEG) - A two player race. Methinks we were a bit too agressive out of the gates... this is not Destruction Derby. [Big (14M)] - [Med (6.9M)] - [Small (1.5M)]
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Final Score:
(out of a possible 10)
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