Written By Shaun McCracken
What can we say about R: Racing Evolution? What was once thought to be the next
installment of the Ridge Racer series turns out to be anything but. Perhaps Namco
wanted try something new, perhaps give their take on the Gran Turismo style of racing.
But it's not Gran Turismo, given that the handling characteristics are less simulation
and a little more arcade-like, and also given the fact that there are not nearly
as many cars or customization options as GT. But for some reason, that really didn't
matter much with me. I pretty much went into R with the mentallity of this being the
"appetizer" before the buffet that is GT4, and to me, it succeeded on that level.
But R does some other things different from GT, some good and maybe bad for some.
Let's get this straight, and let this be known through the entire review: THIS
IS NOT GRAN TURISMO. It doesn't have the fine-tuned mechanics, it doesn't have the
myriad of car options or selection of cars to choose from. That being said, what
does make this (RRE) different is the way it presents itself. The game plays a lot
like Codemaster's Pro Race Driver, in which there is a story involved within the
racing. Although the story mode here is a shorter affair than PRD's, it's actually
a little more interesting, and dare I say, sexier? The "story mode" in R is actually
called "Racing Life", a 14 chapter (stage) mode in which you play as Rena, an
ambulance driver-turned-racecar driver making her way to the top, only to find out
the organization she works for are total a-holes. The "Racing Life", like I've mentioned,
is not terribly long. All races are different, and range from road racing to rally
racing and even drag racing. I'm sure that Namco could have stretched this out
across 20 chapters, but why go the extra mile, huh? But to make up for that, there
is the Event Challenge mode, with 100+ racing competitions and challenges.
Another difference between R and the GT series is that Namco made racing a less
lonely affair. During the race, you'll get advice, compliments and reprimands from
the pit crew, as well as (limited) feedback from other people you're racing against.
In the GT series, you never hear anything from anyone. You would think that if you
caused someone to spin out, you'd hear how pissed off that opponent was. Well, in
R, you can. In fact, they have a few choice words for you sometimes. Even though
the dialouge is limited, it's actually more expanded than what was done in Pro
Race Driver, and made racing a little more exciting.
There are varied courses to drive on in R, but I sure wish there were more of
them. For the road courses, you have Suzuka East and Suzuka Circuit, Yokahama Street
Course, Phillip Island, Green Field, Twin Motegi Speedway and Monaco. There are three rally courses,
Waterbridge, Windmill Falls and a SS Rally Arena. Then there's the Surfside drag
strip. That's only 10 courses, but the rally and drag courses are reversed. Why
the road courses couldn't have been reversed is a mystery, as that would have
given a little more variety. But even if Namco did, it's still anemic compared to
other racing games. I'm sure the developers could have crammed Laguna Seca, as
well as some other locales in here. Why they didn't is a mystery, probably due
to a lack of development time, I suppose.
The racing in the game is not so bad, especially if you've read what other
critics have said about this game. If you've read the reviews for this game on
IGN, Gamespot and a few other places, the reviewers have said that RRE "lacks
a sensation of speed ... it feels slow". Yeah, the game doesn't fly like Burnout 2,
Need For Speed Underground or F-Zero GX. But then again, the racers this game is
compared against are arcade in nature. IGN was comparing this game to the GT4 Prolouge
Disc, claiming how much better that was than this. But not everybody (including
myself) has a modded or Japaneese PS2 to play the Prolouge disc on. In fact, I
would say that a major whole of the gaming commuinty has not had a chance to play
an early version of GT4 and compare it to everything else. I'm pretty damn sure
that GT4 will handle better, move faster and look nicer than RRE. But we'll have to wait
months until GT is released. We have RRE now. So, after that whole rant being said,
RRE does move a little slower than other racing games, but does keep and admirable
pace. In fact, it reminded me of Ridge Racer Type 4. That game never really matched
the speed displayed on the speedometer, but no-one complained. RRE's handling is
not exactally rperesentative of simulation racing. The handling is a little more
relaxed than the GT series. Also, it seems like Namco is still kind of holding on
to the grip/drift system for the car's handling. Some road cars have really good grip,
while others (notably, 4WD cars and Rally Cars) will be more prone to sliding.
Technique also plays a part to your success in RRE. Drafting plays a very important
role in how well you do on the track. If you do not know what "drafting" is, it's
a technique of gaining speed by hanging around behind the opponent in front of
you. Something to do with the aerodynamics of the car and wind-resistance. Anyway,
not only does drafting give you speed, but it also applies "pressure" on the driver.
As you approach the opponent in front of you, you will see a meter with the driver's
name on top of it. The closer you get to the driver, the faster the meter fills.
When that meter flashes, that driver is more prone to screwing up, such as suddenly
sliding out of control, or overshooting a turn and drive into the dirt. It's actually
a useful and fun technique, almost like an attack you can use on an opponent, like
in a kart racer. But instead of turtle shells, you use psychology.
One final point I want to talk about of RRE is the Racing Points feature. Racing
Points in RRE is pretty much used like money in the game. You can buy competitions
in the Event Challenge, buy new cars or buy upgrades for the cars you already own.
But I like how the RP system is done. It basically rips off the Kudos system from
the Project Gotham series, which is about damn time someone has done so. During the
race, you can earn points for drfiting, good braking and cornering, not going
out of bounds, maintaining top speed and even not braking (which you can only
really pull off on the Twin Motegi Speedway). On top of that, you can earn RP's
for the overall rank you place. It's a nice feature, and is done the right way,
as opposed to the point system devised in Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2.
Well, with all of the gameplay details out of the way, let's get into graphics.
Again, this is something quite a few critics got on. Some have said that RRE looks
like a first-generation PS2 game. I must have been playing a different version,
because I really do not think that RRE looks like a first-gen PS2 game. There is
some aliasing, and some odd shimmering in the textures. But the textures are also
pretty sharp. The course design and layout is done very well. The cars look fantastic,
almost Gran Turismo in quality. The lighting effects are done very well. The framerate
is running at a constant 60 FPS. I think for the most part, RRE doesn't look so
bad. I bet it would have looked a lot better had the game had some more development
time, but this is not a dog in terms of graphics.
The sound is pretty good, except most of the cars all sound the same. Plus the cars
really don't sound like cars, but more like dirtbikes and motorcycles. I can get
over that, I'm sure you could too. The music is well done, almost on the level
of R4, but some tracks hold it back from reacing that level. There are a couple of
music tracks that sound broken, as if the disc were skipping. I'm pretty sure that
decision was intentional, but the sound that I'm hearing is less coherent than
a Beck song (Nicotene and Gravy, anyone?). The voice acting is acceptable, but
predictable.
Final Thought
I'm suprised by R: Racing Evolution. I thought I may have gotten myself into
an everage racing experience, but I found myself enjoying this game and playing it
a lot. I would say I've put in at least 15-18 hours in this game, and that's not
too bad. It does have it's shortcomings, such as the lack of courses, the lack of
refined handling and not nearly as many cars as the competition. But seeing how
GT4 keeps getting pushed further and further down the calendar, I would say that
RRE is a pretty good appetizer until the main course (GT4). I also have to note
that this is the ONLY game of this type on the Gamecube, and for GC only owners,
this is not such a bad pick if you want to a little more realism to your racing.
I'm sure the racing enthusiast (like myself) will get the most out of this game,
but then again, that's just me.
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R: Racing Evolution
