Nascar 08 Hands-on Preview

BY Nicholas Rego | POSTED: 09 August 2007

A game that doesn’t seem destined for the finish line.



What is it about racing games that makes you want to hop into your car after playing them and race around at 160kmph? Nearly ever other racing game on the market tries its best to stand out from the crowd, offering everything from custom vehicle design and paint jobs to an actual car seat with the game. But pulling away from the standard motto of ‘drive around at the speed of light’ that appeals to most racing games, NASCAR 08 for the PS2 concentrates instead on skill rather than on how much nitrous you burn. But sad to say, when I sat down to preview NASCAR 08, the game proved to be a bit of a disappointment.

NASCAR in itself is a niche sport, gearing away from twisting tracks and opting instead for a larger, single-loop track. And unlike other racing games where nearly anything goes and there is always a shortcut you can take, NASCAR really tests a driver’s skills and responses by pitting them against 21 other cars, all vying for first place. The game is straightforward enough – all you have to do is select a box car and choose your track. There is a good variety of cars and tracks available, with each car handling slightly differently from the previous one. The game features a ‘Test and Tune’ mode, which is great for both beginners and expert drivers. Pick a car and a track, and race to get the best lap possible. This is a good way to learn both the track and car handling at the same time. The mode also features a ‘ghost lap’,  so you can try to beat the track’s current record. This mode is more for learning the ropes than anything else.

The ‘Earn your Stripes’ mode is NASCAR’s career mode – you start out driving with the lowest of the low, and as you win races you get to move up the ranks. Winning races and doing well also helps you earn skill points, which you can spend in various ways to help tweak your car’s attributes as well as your driving skills. You can also earn medallions for each race you finish in first place, which helps to unlock tracks and future cars. As an aspiring racer, you can also sign various lucrative contracts with sponsors, and most sponsors are just happy for you to finish the race in a decent position, while others demand better lap times etc.

While this all sounds well and good, the racing itself is far from enjoyable. Cars seems to handle a bit too shakily at times, and you will often find yourself grazing against other cars or the track’s walls. Driving alongside 21 other cars doesn’t help either – the game is quick to prove that if your driving skills aren’t up to par, you’re going to stay in position 22 for the entire 18 laps. Did I mention that you do 18 laps? At the end of the  11th lap, you’re bound to get a neck ache from the repetitive 45 degree camera tilt as you drive endlessly to the left. The game does give you the option to do a mid-race save, so you can resume longer races, but I would strongly recommend running on the Short lap sessions. A somewhat quirky feature of the game is the ability to ‘rewind’ time, so if you take a bad turn or crash, you can zip back a few seconds and get it right, though you have limited charge of this feature and are awarded extra points for not using it.

Graphically, the game looks like it was lifted off NASCAR 07 - everything looks grained out, and even the cars don’t look too great. There are some good skidding effects as you tear around the tracks, and there is some minimal car damage, but otherwise nothing spectacular. One of the worst part of the graphics is the game’s feeble attempts to recreate small clouds of smoke on the track, created when the cars skid on the track. The resulting effect looks like there are large blobs of cotton wool on the track – the smoke doesn’t move or fade away at all. The game provides an in-game pit crew commentary, but they are hardly of any use, and can barely be heard over the whine and noise of your car’s engine. - you can of course opt to have the sound effects replaced by the game’s grungy rock soundtrack.

As it stands, NASCAR 08 doesn’t look like much of an improvement from the previous version. Only real fans of this genre of racing will enjoy the experience, as there is nothing really there to draw new players to the game. There is still room for improvement for this game, so let’s just hope that EA can get it right before the game hits stores.