RACE Pro

By Oli Welsh Published 12 December, 2008

Lapping it up.

For this veteran of console racing, SimBin's 2005 PC racing simulator GTR was a bit of an eye-opener. Taking a Ferrari 360 Challenge round Spa, I binned it in the gravel traps at every single corner on my first lap. A seasoned campaigner in the consoles' simulation hinterlands of Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo, I never suspected how wide the gulf was between these games and the PC hardcore, exemplified by the Swedish developer's work. I could thread Project Gotham's fastest cars around its hardest tracks with the graceful precision of a ballet dancer, but my performance on GTR looked more like a drunk cat walking into door posts.

This is the risk SimBin takes in bringing its performance-tuned brand of track-day specials to a console for the first time with RACE Pro - the risk that the Xbox 360's mollycoddled audience of sofa pilots just won't be ready. Fortunately, SimBin is. Over the course of six iterative games in three years - GTR, GT Legends, GTR 2, two versions of RACE: The Official WTCC Game and GTR Evolution - it has smoothly expanded the breadth and accessibility of its virtual racing without sacrificing one iota of its depth.

This is not to say that, when sitting down at a force feedback wheel to take a RACE Pro Formula 3000 for a spin at the recent Atari Live, I didn't bin it in the gravel traps on the first corner. I did. But by the end of the first lap, I'd wrestled the car into submission. By the end of the first race, I was mastering Brands Hatch's tricky dips and blind corners. By the second race, I was placing third. At the end of the third race - switching to WTCC touring cars and tougher simulation settings - I was engaged in a jostling, paint-scraping, lap-long battle for the lead.

Much of this is due to SimBin lifting Forza's stroke of genius: the racing line, a graphical overlay for the track that shows ideal lines through corners and, through fading colours, braking and acceleration points. It's an essential teaching aid that gives even better guidance than Forza's, as you might expect from a company founded by a GT racing champion. Loading screens even dispense useful, browsable cornering tips.

It's the handling model that is SimBin's true labour of love though, and even a brief playtest suggests that RACE Pro has jostled straight to the front of the console pack, alongside - perhaps even ahead of - GT and Forza. Braking, traction and stability assists can all be adjusted between low, medium and high settings. On low, handling is pliable, but more realistic than most easy modes, with the punishing understeer at speed that confounds every arcade adept making the switch to simulation.

'RACE Pro' Screenshot 1

It was in an Alfa like this one that Eurogamer scored a definitive last-corner victory over the dirty and desperate tactics of Atari PR.

Medium settings offer tremendous physical feedback, the touring cars lifting wheels and lurching into corners with tangible weight. High, and we're back to paragraph one of this article - but this time we feel like we'll get there. RACE Pro is better-calibrated for Microsoft's force-feedback wheel and less of a handful on it than Forza 2, and - here's the real surprise - it handles magnificently on the pad too.

In terms of content, you're looking at a very similar line-up of tracks and formulas to SimBin's most complete PC package to date, GTR Evolution, which we enjoyed at review. Tracks include mainstays like Laguna Seca, Monza and Road America alongside a tour of Europe's second-stringers - Brands Hatch, Brno, Zandvoort and the like - making up for the relative lack of big names with a few corners you haven't taken a hundred times before.

Car classes, on the other hand, are a comprehensive selection of real racing series, with an equivalent choice to Codemasters' recent Race Driver: GRID. Starting with Mini Coopers and Caterhams, you'll work your way through touring cars ancient (1987 WTCC) and modern, Vipers, Radicals, three GT formulae, Formula 3000 and BMW open-wheelers, to the Gumpert Apollo, Koenigsegg CCX and CCXR and Audi R8 Le Mans car.

'RACE Pro' Screenshot 2

It was in a BMW like the one on the left that Atari PR suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Eurogamer's superior skill and sportsmanship.

There's system-link and Xbox Live (player and ranked) multiplayer, of course, as well the usual single race, time attack and open practice options and a mysterious "Hot Seat" mode for two controllers (we couldn't test whether this was split-screen or not). Career mode has bland presentation, but an interesting enough structure based around team contracts. You need to spend credits to sign contracts with teams, and these often come with tryouts attached - beat a certain lap-time, say - that you can skip by spending more credits.

On the surface of it, RACE Pro's closest competitor is the wonderful GRID. It has to be said this game doesn't even begin to challenge Codies' effort in terms of slick presentation, graphical refinement, or the evocative sense of the grit and glamour of motor racing. The car models are fine, but not up to the high standards of Codemasters or Bizarre, never mind Polyphony (although the sound is great, with admirably beefy exhaust notes).

In your hands, however, SimBin's consummate pit-lane engineers really bring these beasts to life. Where it counts - moment to moment, tyre to tarmac - RACE Pro can easily dice with the glossy GRID or the detailed but somewhat dry Forza in pure handling excitement and depth, or in wheel-to-wheel multiplyaer racing. The only important question mark remains over the quality of the single-player career, which we didn't test. We look forward to doing so at review when the game is released next month.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (47) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Landmaster #1 3 years ago

    First! (:

    RACE? :S
    Edited by 1 at 12/12/08 @ 11:36

  • Altrezia #2 3 years ago

    No in-car shots?

  • kiroquai #3 3 years ago

    Is this a 360 exclusive? Would be disappointed if it was as the 360 doesn't support my Logitech G25. Experience with rFactor and an Xbox 360 pad taught me that it's bloody difficult getting a decent controller sensitivity balance for sims.

  • Oli Verified Reviews Editor, Eurogamer.net #4 3 years ago

    They haven't released in-car screens, I can confirm that it has a proper in-car view though. Saw it with my own eyes.

    It is a 360 exclusive, yes.

  • shamblemonkee #5 3 years ago

    multiplyaer!

    sounds tempting, just hope it is a bit casual friendly too.

  • miiiguel #6 3 years ago

    Sounds/looks very good, but not my cup of tea, though..., seems to crave too much to be the "real thing". "Real driving" is highly over rated, imo.
    I wish I could walk to work everyday instead of driving, it bores me.
    Edited by 1 at 12/12/08 @ 12:33

  • UncleLou #7 3 years ago

    "seems to crave too much to be the "real thing". "Real driving" is highly over rated, imo."

    It's not overrated, you don't like it. A difference not many grasp.

    /waits for someone to say arcade racers are "more fun"

  • That_Happy_Cat #8 3 years ago

    on TOCA 2, the dip and rise in the track on brands hatch after the first right hand bend always used to throw me. It just always seemed to nudge my car out of control.

  • estoo #9 3 years ago

    Forza 2 was bloody amaizing with the ms wheel, if this really is even better suited to it I can't wait. I'll have to dust off the ol' faithful now that it finally has a 2nd game that I can use it with.

  • dirk_aircool #10 3 years ago

    mmmm looks yummy . cant wait to eat the wall lots . Simbin make GREAT driving sims . on pc at least . just how you imagine a race car would drive . ( I never drove one but I got a good imagination )

  • kiroquai #11 3 years ago

    Re: real driving, the key thing with sims is that they allow us to drive things we wouldn't be normally able to (i.e. an F1 car, sports car) with a pretty genuine sense of what it'd be like, but without the £5,000,000 price tag and the nagging sense that if you crash the thing you'll lose your job. There'd be little fun in a realistic simulation of an M25 traffic jam, sure, but when you're trying to gently ease your 750BHP McLaren around the twisty infield section of Interlagos without binning the thing without traction control it's fantastically involving for those who want that kind of thing.

    For what it's worth, a mate of mine works for the Honda F1 team said that they hooked up rFactor with an F1 mod in the factory and plugged in a Logitech G25 to let Anthony Davidson have a go on it. Apart from the throttle/brake not having quite enough resistance he said it was probably as close to driving an F1 car as you'd get without getting your neck wanged by G Forces.

  • FooAtari #12 3 years ago

    RACE 2007, effectively the same game as I understand has been on the PC for a while, so it's not exclusive.

    As MS havent added support for the G25 already I can't see that happening now. Which is a shame as it craps all over MS's over priced poor excuse for a wheel from a great height

    seems to crave too much to be the "real thing". "Real driving" is highly over rated, imo.

    Being close to the real-thing is kind of the point. Being a motorsport nut, who doesn't have the disposable income to race for real I love racing sims, by far my favorite type game. GPL or rFactor or Nascar Racing 2003 Season or GTR or any other number of sims I have + a G25 cant be beat IMO

  • chris_ace #13 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • miiiguel #14 3 years ago

    yeah..., kinda my bad..., what I meant is to me, I like to keep my video-game collection as eccletic as possible, but I just can't seem to force myself to enjoy syms. It's just a matter of a very personal handicap.

  • UncleLou #15 3 years ago

    Yawn, although realistic GTR on PC was a snooze fest of massive porpotions, this will be same


    I'll never understand these comments. The driving is fantastic, the AI is excellent. In a racing game, I'll take these two over glossy presentation, "story" and car-collecting any day. If the thrill is coming from the gameplay itself, everything else is a bonus at best.

  • themorganator #16 3 years ago

    @UncleLou

    I couldn't agree more.

    It's all about the gameplay and not the shiny visuals. I played Race Pro at the Eurogamer expo and although it didn't look that good, it played really well. I can't wait to get in on my MS wheel.

    Can't believed he mentioned Grid in the company of Forza, Race Pro and GT. Absolute garbage that game.

  • FooAtari #17 3 years ago

    Agreed Uncle Lou, although each to their own of course. Personally fighting games and platformers bore the pants of me. Doesnt make the crap though :).

    But an on the limit flat out lap in something like GTR 2 is anything but boring for me.

  • seasidebaz #18 3 years ago

    Honda have an F1 team???????? Still???????????

  • Corben_Dallas #19 3 years ago

    Autobuying this.

  • seasidebaz #20 3 years ago

    @fartacus:

    What was your weapon of choice round Castle Coombe?

  • haldier #21 3 years ago

    To me these things are dangerous, I forget to breathe when driving.

  • merkdot #22 3 years ago

    interesting

  • Dop #23 3 years ago

    Sounds great!
    I wonder what the damage model is like? One of the things I love about Forza is the way it represents damage both visually and in the handling. Much better than, say, Gran 'hit the armco at 200kph and bounce off without a scratch' Turismo!

  • kiroquai #24 3 years ago

    seasidebaz: For the next months, yes, although if no buyer is found then they're gone. A shame really - I know a few people there and they're a top bunch and work bloody hard. They were looking so good for 09 as well, which is the real shame.

    Arcade racers and simultions are simply two different products aimed at different markets. Whereas my pleasure in arcade racers (Project Gotham etc) is derived from sliding around, door-banging opponents and having some great races, my pleasure from simulations come from getting out on track and perfecting my line, gearing etc. I can understand fully why people prefer one over the other as they're chalk and cheese.

    I'm the kind of person who can happily sit in a test session working on my car setup, doing some laps and gaining tenths here and there. Once I managed to peel off all of the driving aids on rFactor it made the driving so rewarding that simply doing that - just driving, not racing - became as much fun as I've had on any other game. That said, I still struggle to be consistent; I'm much more of a Takuma Sato than a Fernando Alonso.
    Edited by 1 at 12/12/08 @ 14:30

  • abcd #25 3 years ago

    Would this game be worth it if I didn't already own GTR:Evolution on the PC?

  • sinco #26 3 years ago

    Talking about GRID in a Simbin Hands on.... speaking about a racing lines and menu eye candy and what's wrong with car models??? they don't look like miniature arcade cars!!??... man... this game is just NOT FOR YOU, point.


    Edited by 2 at 12/12/08 @ 17:08

  • Corben_Dallas #27 3 years ago

    Autobuying this.

    EDIT!!!!!
    just seen its made by Atari,
    >>>>.....Unless Atari fuck this up. 2 corupted game saves and DLC that i bought and could not use in game without a restart :( :X in TDU.
    Good game but full of bugs.

    lets hope Simbin do the code and Atari just stick their stupid name on the box.
    Edited by 1 at 12/12/08 @ 17:14

  • FooAtari #28 3 years ago

    Would this game be worth it if I didn't already own GTR:Evolution on the PC?

    I'd say probably not...

  • cyber_nicco #29 3 years ago

    I hope the handling model is close to what's being said of it. I definitely want something closer to Forza than to G.R.I.D. Anyway, I'm almost assuredly getting this when it comes out.

  • cyber_nicco #30 3 years ago

    Oh, and I hope there is a setting for NO assists. I also would someday like to see an option in a racer to just have the assists that the cars now come with, but I suppose modeling each one of those would be hugely difficult...

  • secombe #31 3 years ago

    Bit worried, the PC games have the option for No Assists whatsoever, but "Low" was as far as this article got.

    Off is a must in my opinion, I've been chucking an M3 GTR around Castle Combe for about 3 years on GTR2 and you can be so much smoother and more progressive with all the driver aids switched off, even with a 360 pad.

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #32 3 years ago

    Yawn, although realistic GTR on PC was a snooze fest of massive porpotions, this will be same

    Yeah? Well shame your last post was in the GT5 for 2009 comments...

    chris_ace
    01-Dec-08 22:45:45

    hope its soon, forza is a lame knock off

    So basically any racing game on the 360 is shit compared to GT5.

    Fanboy Troll.

  • oktava #33 3 years ago

    yay, the first worthwile racer on the 360

  • citizenHUNTER #34 3 years ago

    This is what I've been waiting for. Time Trial and Xbox Live leaderboards.... oh jesus I'm gonna have fun when I buy a new Xbox.. (SOLD mine to upgrade to 60GB one, it has not died, lolz)

  • chris_ace #35 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • mainaman #36 3 years ago

    This game is great news for sim fans,but unfortunately as anybody with a decent gaming experience with wheels,consoles sims and PC sims can confirm and i am not the first person to state its importance,the Microsoft wheel simply SUCKS BALLS!

    Just enter the 'Ring on FM2 with a R1 class car and try to get bellow 7.30 with the wheel!

    And the saddest thing is that i can play the SimBin games on a PC with the DFP,but in reality only the consoles provide hustle-free big-screen experience.Unless you can afford the costs and space issues for a dedicated entertainment room with a HTPC and shit.

  • ozallez #37 3 years ago

    it looks promising, sounds more like a Toca game than Grid was. A real touring car game finally, plus all the extra classes will beef up the career mode

  • HiredMan #38 3 years ago

    mainaman: "Just enter the 'Ring on FM2 with a R1 class car and try to get bellow 7.30 with the wheel!"

    Man, you must suck at Forza 2 bigtime mate..... I can lap the Nordschleife in the 6:20 bracket in a Porsche 962 and in the high 7:30's in a bog stock Porsche 911 GT2 road car using the MS wheel ;) EDIT: with all assists switched off, natch.

    This game will be awesome. As has been said before, graphics and whatnot are of little importance in a good sim, just gimme that sweet, sweet driving model.
    Edited by 1 at 13/12/08 @ 08:05

  • darren1976 #39 3 years ago

    I have played GPL, GTR and GTL on the PC (GTR & GTL both Simbin games) and I cannot see this game being anything other than excellent, it will easily be the most realistic driving/racing game on any console by some distance. I have seen the graphics and whilst not the greatest they are decent. Anyone who finds Forza2 too difficult with the drving aids off will simply be unable to play this with the aids off but Im sure SIMBIN will cater for the arcade fans with options to dumb the handling down.

    Honestly, for those of you who have not played a SIMBIN game before but enjoy the more hardcore sim aspects/driving model of Forza/GT then you simply have to get this game. I cannot wait for this game

  • smurphs #40 3 years ago

    awww, shucks. I was saving my christmas pennies for a PS3 to play LBP on. Now I think I should finally fork out for the xbox steering wheel. Must go, got some serious thinking to do...

  • BillMurray #41 3 years ago

    This looks su-weeet.

  • metalangel #42 3 years ago

    Hooray! Something to fill the void now that I've played Forza to death. I take it "realistic" handling is the same sort of "death on every corner" as in SBK08?

  • oktava #43 3 years ago

    Sitting on the edge of your seat, tense and sweating. Almost physically feeling every bump and slippery spot on the course. Enjoying the rush when your 300+ hp monster slightly looses its tail in the last corner of a perfect lap. Being 5 sec slower than the "pros" whilst having played the game for a year.
    Thats what Simbin Games are about. Forza or GT are a totally different thing.

  • seasidebaz #44 3 years ago

    fartacus:

    Nice. Shame about the oil probs. It's always a bitch when things go wrong with cars, I don't like it.

    I've always been a fan of the Celica, Sega Rally got me into them ;)

    Althoug I did beat a 3.5l Audi out of the lights today, rather scary as he was going to ram me off the road I think. And me there in a 1.8 Focus... Never mind though!

  • JackB #45 3 years ago

    I raced the hell out of Forza 2 with the Microsoft Wheel. I bought a PS3 and Logitech G25 for GT: Prologue. GT Prologue was horrible, but the G25 was very good, so I beefed up my PC and started in on multiple PC sims. I settled first on GTR 2 and now iRacing.

    The G25 is overall better, but it's the pedals, that give it the edge. The wheel itself it a bit better, but it should be for $249 vs about $100. The Microsoft wheel is the better value, but if racing is very important then go ahead and spring for the G25.

    I tried the Nixim brake mod for the G25 and a similar homemade mod for the Microsoft pedals. Both pedal system are in need of more resistance. In the end though, I spent $650 for the CST pedals for PC based iRacing.

    I'd say if you're looking for a console sim, it's Forza 2 or maybe Simbin's new Race Pro. The Microsoft wheel and pedals are decent and well worth the $100. I'd make a brake mod though on the pedals. The wheel itself is fine.

    I use the paddle shifters on the G25. I tried the H Shifter and it sounds like a great idea, but even Dale Ernhardt Jr. uses the paddles on iRacing. The H shifter works, but it's not as good as the real thing. Very few use the H shifter, but like many I tired it straight off once I got my G25. Then switched back to the paddles like most everyone else.

  • Kengro #46 3 years ago

    I still use the H shifter on my now old G 25, i can't see why the paddles should be any better.
    This game i'll get, no matter what

  • SomaticSense #47 3 years ago

    chris_ace - " i stand by what i said gtr2 was an authentic recreation of the gtr race series, which probably many of you probably havent even heard of let alone watched, the sport is boring "

    GT, not gtr. And it's not a series either, it's a car classification which covers multiple race series all over the world. Either way, I think you may be thinking of the FIA GT Championship anyway, not "gtr race series".

    I'm willing to take a bet on the idenitity of one person on this thread who definitely doesn't watch GT racing...