The World Touring Car Championship is organized by FIA. It was first held in 1987 concurrent with the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC). Due to the high costs, the championship was not considered successful and it was abandoned a year later. At the request of the manufacturers, the ETCC was changed into WTCC and started again under this name in 2005. In just 2 years with the help of FIA and Eurosport, the championship became very popular, being considered the third most important championship after Formula One and World Rally Championship. This year there will be 11 tracks and six manufacturers who will battle again for the cup.

R.A.C.E. is the game that wants to highlight once again (if it's necessary) how spectacular this championship is. Using the same concept from GTR 2, the game is another simulation masterpiece. You will encounter all the official tracks and manufacturers plus all the drivers that race here. Compared to GTR 2 or TOCA 3, here there are not so many car models. So you will have to access also other support championships. The '87 WTCC where you can drive an Alf Romeo 75 Turbo and a BMW e30 M3 and the Mini Challenge which features only the Mini Cooper S.

This lack of diversity, is the cause of the official content, which here seems to be not enough. WTCC is still a young championship and there are not many manufacturers. But the fun is not necessarily the number of cars, but the way you drive them. And this is the main point where R.A.C.E. overtakes the competition.

The Handling

The handling of the car is different from what you have seen in other games. First because this is a simulation and second because all the cars (except the BMW) have front wheel drive. Actually I think this is the only simulation game where you can drive cars with front wheel drive. Because of this, the physics of the car are different from what you have seen before. You don't have to push so hard the brakes, otherwise you will end up blocking the wheels and the car will become out of control. When you exit the curves, you can accelerate very hard. The front wheel drive helps you do this. After the first rounds I was a little bit confused how the car was handling, although I am not new to racing simulation games. But these front-wheel racing cars are somehow unusual to drive.

Menu

One of the biggest problems in GTR series was the menu. But the problem ends up in R.A.C.E.. SimBin recreated the whole menu, so you don't have to search anymore the options. They quit the old concept used in GTR series (inter laid tabs), and came with a very easy one. Even the setup car option is much more easy to use and to understand. Coming to this point I have to admit that I used this option much more than in previously SimBin games. First because it's much more easy to use and because you need to create a gap between you and the other opponents. And this can be achieved only by a good setup.

Regulations and Limitations

WTCC has a lot of mechanical limitations, which are also included in the game. The cars should not have more than 2.0 liters capacity, and a rev limit to 8500 rpm. This means you have to squeeze every drop of power out of your engine to become more and more faster. The first results will be seen if you begin to change the gear ratios. Another important setting is the toe-in angle which makes the steering much more responsive. The game seems to be not so fast as GTR series and this is true because these cars don't run with more than 156 mph. But at the same time the game becomes more challenging because there are not so many differences between your car and the others. The A.I. is not necessarily more aggressive but is much more advanced than in other so-called racing games. For somebody that things Need for Speed and Ridge Racer are the best racing games, should not play this one! The opponents won't miss any chance to overtake you if they will find any way to do it.

Damage

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Gameplay: 76

A good game for racing fans, especially for the ones that know what WTCC is. Every WTCC rule is implemented in the game, including the weight penalty, yellow flags, and technical limitations. The main difference from other SimBin games is that almost every car in the game has front wheel drive and this fact changes entirely the driving technique. The tracks are 100% copies of the real ones. Tracks like the ones from Istanbul or Macao will make you feel your drive for pleasure. There are only the official tracks, but some of them The meteorological events (rain or heavy rain), will make your car become a sledge if you don't know how to handle it.

Graphics: 82

The graphics look fine. Especially the cars. There was a huge amount of work put in the reproductions of every detail of the car. You can use even the wipers if you play from inside the car and want to clear the windshield from dust or from water. Like in reality there will be an amount of water that will always remain on the windshield. This will make the driving more frustrating but at the same time more realistic.

Unfortunately if you play from an outside camera, the image is clear and your driving skills won't be influenced by the meteorological events. The graphical engine can display also the dismembered parts from your car if you were engaged in an accident, but nothing spectacular like in TOCA 3 for example.

Multiplayer: 84

Up to 25 players are supported in LAN and online game modes. Being a simulation, many events are private so you have to obtain a decent level of experience to receive access to such an event. First try to find one that is not private. You will be surprised how good are these players, sometimes better than the game A.I. If you play online, you should definitely have a wheel controller, otherwise the chances to get in top 10 will decrease exponential.

Sound: 81

The same good quality as in GTR 2. In the menu you will here a single song which prepares you for the battle. The rest is just engine sound and wheels squeaks. If you really want to enjoy the sound of your car, you should play from outside the car. The sound is much louder and much more clearly.

Hardware: 76

Long loading times even on a 2GB RAM machine. The game remains a hog resources, like all the other SimBin games.