ToCA Race Driver 3: The Ultimate Racing Simulation

Added March 21st, 2006 by Sallizar

Introduction:

A while back, on a friend’s recommendation, I picked up TOCA Race Driver 2.  A mere two hours later, I was returning it to the store because I had no intention of racing all the way through the sub par story mode just to unlock the ability to drive the cars I really wanted to drive.  When news of TOCA Race Driver 3 started floating around I ignored it.  Then I heard that the story mode unlock system was gone and Codemasters had added monster trucks and go-karts!  That caught my interest so I grabbed my controller and took it out for a spin.

Gameplay:

“Uh-oh.”  That was my first thought after creating my profile and beginning the game.  Just like in TOCA 2 you’re thrown right smack into a race on the very last lap.  It appears to be rigged so that it’s impossible to win. As you are then shown a cut scene in which your crew chief chews you out.  I was starting to wonder if the rumors I had heard about the ability to race the other vehicles without playing story mode were true.  After enduring the mind numbing cut scene I was then presented with a menu that displayed options for a story mode and championships.  Phew, the championships must be the option to let you drive anything right?  Let’s fire up some monster trucks!

Wrong!  There are a wide variety of championship categories that include multiple championships, but you can only play the first one in each series.  You’ll have to finish four or five championships before you even get the chance to climb behind the wheel of a monster truck.  Well, it’s still better than the goofy story mode so I started on my quest to unlock some of the fun vehicles.  Most races in championship mode start off with a practice event.  You can run a few laps to test your custom tuning and try out the track.  Then you take a qualifying lap.  Based on your qualifying you’ll start the race.  The very, very short race.  While I certainly don’t have the time to run a four hundred lap race, trying to pass twenty cars in a three lap race is almost impossible.  It becomes even more impossible when you factor in the pathetic AI and penalty flag system.

I haven’t seen a driving game AI this lackluster in a long time.  The opponents aren’t aggressive at all and seem to be driving in a predetermined line.  Where I live the motto “rubbings racing” is used as an excuse anytime your favorite driver taps another driver.  Apparently none of the Codemasters development team have heard this before because you’ll get black flagged for the most minor bumps.  Getting rid of a black flag penalty requires a slow trip down pit road which in a three lap race means you might as well restart the race.  Its ticky-tacky “features” like penalty flags are meant for the racing simulation fans I’m sure, but it eliminates most of the fun for casual racing fans.

Graphics:

The graphics don’t appear to have changed at all from TOCA Race Driver 2.  Cars are well modeled but don’t have the polish you’ll see in other Xbox racers.  The track detail is very dated with lots of two dimensional people and trees.  Damage modeling amounts to a few dents and the occasional spoiler flying off.  Oddly enough, when you scrape a wall or obstacle you’ll generate a stream of colored polygons that match your cars paint, but upon inspection your car looks right off the showroom floor.  In the rally races, invisible walls abound and prevented me from straying even a tire width off the track.  By including so many types of vehicles and various tracks, TOCA Race Driver 3 has become the veritable jack of all trades and master of none in the graphics department.

Audio:

The box states that the game has over forty audio tracks from all over the world.  I really didn’t notice the music much at all, though.  It’s all instrumental with nothing I’d ever heard before.  It provides some ambience, but I’ve heard better music in elevators.  Engine sounds, the hallmark of any games audio, seem choppy when switching gears.  You’ll be puttering along then all of a sudden the engine sound stops then starts again as the gear changes.  I don’t know a ton about race cars, but I’ve never heard a car that completely stops making noise when you shift.  Your crew chief and your navigator in the rally cars have the same accents they had in TOCA Race Driver 2.  I like the attempt they’ve made at realism, but I grew up on NASCAR in the Southern part of the United States so I have a hard time understanding the folks from across the pond that indulge in rally and open wheel events.

Controls:

While I normally sing the praises of the Xbox controller’s analog triggers when used for gas and brake pedals in racing games, they just don’t seem sensitive enough for TOCA Race Driver 3.  In just about every other racing game for the Xbox I’ve managed to quickly find the sweet spots in the triggers that will allow for the best braking and accelerating through even the tightest chicane.  I haven’t felt like throwing a controller in a long time, but after my thirtieth spin out in what looked like an easy corner my Blue Controller S almost bit the dust.  I’m sure a wheel and pedal set and a lot of tinkering in the tuning menu screen would help out a bunch, but I’ll leave that to the folks who like racing a lot more than I do.

Replay:

There’s tons of different cars and racing styles in TOCA 3 if you’re willing to grin and bear your wear through the unlock process.  Xbox Live play is also included and includes a decent amount of modes.  There are also slot cars and RC cars that can be gained through the drudgery of the story and championship modes.  There should be enough to keep any racing fan occupied until a better racing game comes along.

Summary:

If you have a wheel and pedal set, a love for all sorts of racing and a somewhat masochistic personality then you’ve probably already purchased TOCA Race Driver 3.  For the rest of you, I have a hard time recommending more than just a rental on this “everything but the kitchen sink” racer.  The controls are spotty, all the good stuff is hidden behind a byzantine unlock structure, and the graphics are a notch below par for the Xbox.  If you absolutely must race go-karts that aren’t driven by cartoon characters and company mascots, go ahead and grab it out of a bargain bin in a few months.  In the mean time let’s start a petition to have Codemasters add lawnmower races to TOCA Race Driver 4.