Driving Emotion Type S
by Rageonaleash

First off, let me say this: If you have never played a racing game, do not play Driving Emotion Type-S. If you have only played a few racing games, do not play Driving Emotion Type-S. If you have devoted your life to racing games, you may want to play Driving Emotion Type-S. But only those that are actual, high-cc race car drivers will enjoy this game, and let me tell you why. It is very, very, very realistic. Too realistic for most. The handling was so bad in the japanese version that it was completely unplayable. In this version, I can't speak much for it either. If you hit the wall more than 2 times, you're out of the race. If you overturn slightly, you're out. If you attempt a california stop, reverse pit maneuver, crazy 8, hairpin fishtail, or quadruple bootleg, well, god bless your soul.

Now, handling aside, this game is not all that bad. If I were to compare it to one game in particular it would be Sega GT. The cars are unrealistic, the tracks are very pretty, your opponents can't drive for poop, and the handling isn't great (isn't great? it doesn't even register on the scale!). I sometimes find myself trying to identify and read the sponsor messages instead of paying attention to the racing.

My favorite racing game in the world has got to be the Need For Speeds. The only thing they lacked was scenery. They had bland, repetitive scenery kinda like that of the Wile E. Cyote cartoons (where you see the same cactus 25 times in one chase). Driving Emotion's top aspect is its scenery. Its graphics are also good. The cars are reflective, but they're not great, and everything's kinda glossy, like in The Bouncer.

In fact, once you get used to the handling (it takes at least half the game), it becomes very easy to win races. The only thing that gets harder are the tracks, but you can conquer that with an array of more than 50 brand name non-production model cars, from a Civic Type R to a Ferarri 360, and 10+ tracks to choose from. Just don't expect to be able to play any other racing game from the time you get used to the handling to the time when you beat or stop playing the game. The latter is the most likely to happen.

Some people complain about the game's in-car view; I personally never play racing games any different. With a overhead or behind view, I feel like I'm driving a toy car from a helicopter, and with the bumper view it feels more like a replay than the actual race. However, one bad part of the in-car racing view in this is the fact that the driver's hands are so choppy its distracting. His hand goes from the top of the wheel to the side in one frame. Well, what do you expect from the only-average PS2 (hehe, flame me if you must)?

All in all, this game is a great thing to have, only because when (or if) a game with awesome gameplay but terrible handling comes out, you'll be ready. But this game isn't it.

Images coming soon . . .

Some information obtained from IGN.