Ford Racing 2

Racing fans on a budget can find some entertaining racing action courtesy of Razorworks with Ford Racing 2. It's a homage to some of the most famous post war Ford vehicles - but where's the Capri Ghia?

Razorworks, the development team behind Total Immersion Racing and the incredible helicopter flight simulation Enemy Engaged: Comanche Hokum develop Ford Racing 2. Here we have a racing game that, although not in the same league as Gran Turismo or Project Gotham Racing, provides some good-looking racing thrills for a budget price. Ford Racing 2 offers players the opportunity to enjoy a classic racing game with over 30 different Ford vehicles.



So, you can look forward to racing around in a Capri, Sierra 2.0 Ghia, RS200 or one of the many Cosworth variants? Well no. Sadly, despite the game coming from a UK publisher and developer the game is very much US centred. But don't let that put you off as it features many great vehicles such as the Mustang Fastback, Focus Rally and the wonderful GT40.

Gameplay centres around a system of unlockable events organized into car classes. Within each car class, there are a couple of unlocked events and further races open up as more events are won. Along the way, the player unlocks different game modes that can then be used to create their own racing events.



It's these various game modes that provide the variety to keep the player interested. There are the usual plain vanilla races on offer but some thought has gone into providing other ways to play. There are two types of time trials, one simply requires racing around a course in a set time, and the other also requires the player to pass between cone gates. Time is added for passing the gates, but it is removed from the countdown for missing gates. An elimination race removes the rearmost two cars at the end of each lap until there are only two cars competing over the final lap.

And there's also a drafting mode where the player has to eliminate cars ahead by slipstreaming them until a countdown bar is depleted. Racing line mode requires the player to complete a lap in a set time while trying to stay on a line on the road. It remains green while the player is over it but turns red and adds a time penalty if the player drifts too far from it.



The races aren't just a matter of tearing around some tarmac roads at full chat. Offroad races feature rally models and 4x4s. Even American stock-car oval racing gets a look in with three distinctly different banked ovals. It's a shame that these oval races don't have a full field of 20+ cars rather than the game's usual field of six vehicles, but these races are entertaining none the less.

The physics models for the cars are pretty good even for an arcade style game. Razorworks cut its teeth on superb PC helicopter sims Apache/Havoc and Comanche/Hokum, so it's no surprise the developer knows a thing or two about the movement of heavy metal objects at speed. The controls are easy to pick up and its just one of those games that seems comfortable right away. The only downside the physics models it that many of the cars wallow around the track as though sprung on jelly – but that's no surprise where Detroit's 50s/60s output is concerned.

The sound is functional if nothing amazing. There's a choice of dance or rock soundtracks and Xbox owners can take advantage of custom soundtracks.

Graphically the game is pretty good, with the PC and Xbox versions being the prettiest, obviously. The car models are detailed without being overly flashy and display some nice lighting and environmental mapping effects. The tracks are something of a mixed bag. The racetracks and the Florida-style courses look good, while some of the earlier courses seem a little bland. However, the quality of the graphics across the courses remains pretty high even if some circuits can be driven with hardly a touch on the brakes. There's no visual damage but that's par for the course in these kind of manufacturer themed games. The racing is smooth even with plenty of action on screen but it's a shame we don't get to race in fields of over six cars.

[Harry]

So, is the game worth buying? Well it's not the longest game in the world; it's possible to unlock all the courses and cars within a few hours. But the fun then comes from setting up one's own races. The most obvious rival to this game is Mercedes Benz World Racing, which is by far the better game – especially for PC and Xbox owners. However at the time of writing Game were selling Ford Racing 2 for a very generous £9.99. It's a fun game and with a price like that, you would be mad not to snap it up. Definitely a recommended budget buy.

[Jen]

This is a fun little game that you'd be mad to miss for under a tenner. It's no Gran Turismo, but with some attractive graphics and great variety in gameplay modes, it's well worth a few of your beer vouchers. The split screen multiplayer is a bit of a giggle too. It's just a shame there are no UK vehicles such as the Capri, Cortina or a decent Cosworth.