TOCA Race Driver 2 Review

Codemasters returns in triumph with one of the best racing games we have ever played.

Ford GT40

TOCA Race Driver is the fifth in Codemasters' saloon car racing series that began back on the PlayStation with a recreation of the British Touring Car Championship. Several games later and the franchise has developed from a one series game to a point where nearly every major motor sport is covered. Except, ironically, the British Touring Car Championship.

Formula Ford

Last year's Pro Race Driver was a mixed bag. The selection of cars and tracks was good but crucially the handling was too simplistic, with a central pivot point being the worst element of that. Secondly, the game's storyline was awful - not only in the quality of the graphics but in terms of the dreadful hackneyed plot surround whiny brat Ryan McKane.

Thankfully for all concerned, the two major problems with the previous game have been rectified and in TOCA Race Driver 2, Codemasters serves up one of the best console racing games ever released. It's a game that oozes quality from every pore and is a great showcase for Xbox. There isn't a PlayStation 2 version. So PC and Xbox owners don't have to suffer a cut down game designed for the weakest of the mainstream consoles. Instead, they are treated to a game that aims to provide some of the best looking racing action you'll play. In effect it's the game Codemasters has been aiming to make for some time - but was previously limited by the power of the hardware.

The game begins on the track. An unusual way to start but an immediately involving one. The player suddenly finds themselves mid-race at Lacuna Seca driving a Ford GT40. Scottie, your manager, offers advice on the radio and explains the gamepad controls. Then it's back to the pits for the game's first cutscene. The twists and turns of the career mode are played out in these scenes and it's very interesting to see the change from Pro Race Driver. In RD2 the cutscenes are rendered rather than use the game engine and played out in first person with the characters talking directly to you. There's actually a good amount of humour, strong language and race atmosphere in these scenes and with the action focussed firmly on the racing career rather than a hackneyed plot about revenge, it actually works surprisingly well.

So how about that career mode then? The career is split into eight sections each representing a season. During each season there are a number of different races and championships. Often the player has a choice of two different competitions at a time - for example choosing between a single long Aston Martin DB9 race, or a five race DTM series. The ultimate goal is to make it to the Masters Grand Prix series, more of which later, and along the way money has to be earned to progress and other goals met.

Super Trucks

After a while the Shark Racing Team is introduced. Shark is seen as the best racing team and the competitions become auditions between 12 top drivers to get a place in the team. The player will often find him/herself in a championship with two Shark hopefuls and be given the task of finishing ahead of at least one of them. As the career progresses, Shark hopefuls are eliminated until the player becomes top dog.

Well that's the theory, But the game does get tough and one is often landed in a race fifteenth on the grid with the Shark team guys on the front of the grid. It's this kind of challenge that make Race Driver 2's career mode involving and exciting. It does fall down occasionally. I found the rally section very poorly implemented compared to the rest of the game, a real surprise considering Codemasters' Colin McRae heritage. But apart from that minor hiccough the career mode offers a lot of fun.