Simbin Studios is a company located in Sweden and it is focused on developing racing simulators for PC and recently for XBOX 360. GTR Evolution is not the sequel to GTR series but an add-on for RACE 07 - Official WTCC Game which adds beside the WTCC Championship also GT car models and the Nordschleife track also known as "Green Hell". Although we had the bundle package at our disposal, I decided in the next few paragraphs to talk only about the additional content, and not about the entire package. If you want to know more about the WTCC Championship including in the game please refer to our review about RACE 07 - Official WTCC Game.

Formerly SimBin games were concentrated on a single Championship type in general due to licensing problems. But with Evolution they combine all the licenses they have acquired along their history bringing altogether the WTCC, GT FIA, single manufacturer championships (Catterham, Radical, BMW formula, Mini), and also some road sport cars (Audi R8, Koenigsegg, Gumpert Apollo, Dodge Viper). But the most important addition is the new cars class called WTCC Extreme. This is for the first time when SimBin includes completely fictional cars based on the WTCC cars along with their liveries. So the fictional cars look totally realistic and their physics based on rear-wheel traction and 600 hp engines might give the organizers of WTCC new ideas. Unfortunately you will get only four models for this class with only the official liveries which is not enough for a full online racing session.

Going back to the GT classes, SimBin brings you most of the official manufacturers with their cars, but with fictional liveries and three fictional championships. Two big manufacturers are missing: Porsche and Ferrarri due to licensing problems. The only true official package is included in the WTCC class, but no private teams are available.

Fictional or not, the classes are well balanced meaning that you can reach same lap times with different cars based on realistic and unique physics. This means not that all the cars are handling the same. In contrary, the differences between them are huge, everyone forcing you to use another style of driving. But while a car has a power deficit, it certainly balances the situation by having a much better handling behavior. On a medium-length track the Mosler can be much more effective than the Corvette C6 GT2, which at the same time can be much more reliable on fast tracks. These cause the online races to be much more competitive and eliminates situations in which the players choose only a specific car just because it's the best.

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Every track from RACE 07 is available in any other championship along with the bonus one: Nurburgring and its additional layouts. Probably the most spectacular track is the legendary Nordschleife layout with its 16 miles per lap.

I assume that this addition comes after the mod scene released several versions of this track on older games such GT Legends, GTR 2, or rFactor. Definitely Simbin's version of this track is the best and comes with all its realistic surroundings. While driving you can actually feel how this track is flowing compared to other versions, every bend, curve, hill or bump being realistic simulated. A race on this game, even if it is a virtual one, is the pick of what any other sim-racing game can offer. Is a thrill of 8-9 minutes per lap in which the chances to do mistakes is very high. Using the same old graphics engine (gMotor), the draw distance is missing on this track, so hills, trees or even shadows, are not displayed reducing the atmosphere of this circuit, which is known as a claustrophobic beauty, with a lot of blind curves and angles. With this track SimBim pushed the envelope to the maximum exploiting the graphical engine's limited potential. I think in the near future a new graphical engine is a must for SimBin, either it is acquired or developed in-house.

On the other hand, the sound is at its best quality. Every car has different engine sound tones, with volume variations depending on the angle of the camera. But I think that the most prominent sound is the sound of tires rubbing the asphalt in every curve. You can actually feel the tires and understand their status in different situations. Depending on the speed and how much you steer, the tires will create different sounds, giving you a good feedback if the car will begin to slide or not.

Besides the rain, there are no other weather changes and the game does not support day/night cycle. But don't despair as SimBim made a good job in recreating detailed car models and tracks. Except some issues regarding low-textures in some cockpits and environmental objects, the game looks admirable. Even the main menu looks modern and easy to use with enough customization options to choose from. Probably some of you will disapprove my opinion, as the menu tends to be a lot more commercial and lack of some of customizations present in older games. I personally admire the new look and some of the options like choosing between GT and WTCC rules before a race. Of course this reduced list of options causes limitations: only 25 opponents in a race, only 120 minutes a race, one slick and one wet compound available for each car, etc. This is a proof that everything was made around RACE 07 game which was thought as a sprint racing game.

For all the SimBin fans, this additional package doesn't bring too much, but definitely will satisfy any sim-racing fan. At a price of 20 dollars for the full version, this game is a truly bargain that offers much more than most of other games of the same genre.

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Gameplay: 90

Every SimBin's product can be considered a masterpiece in the sim-racing genre. Except rFactor there are no other game to overtake the quality of GTR Evolution and its extended content. The game offers almost everything in terms of Touring Cars championships. The minus factor is that the series begin to suffer from licensing problems, and many of the liveries or teams have to be made virtually. WTCC Extreme proves the technical knowledge and the years of experience in the racing domain that SimBin has. They have actually created prototypes based on WTCC cars that can be created in reality. Nordschleife makes Evolution a must have for all the racing fans, even for those that play only arcade games. That's because Nordschleife is a legend that can create thrills even in a virtual environment such as our computer. Taking in consideration that this game is a simulation, it is still quite easy to be mastered if you own a wheel (preferable Logitech products). This doesn't mean that it lacks complexity, but probably it's not a hard-core anymore. I will classify it somewhere between.

Graphics: 82

The glorious days of gMotor graphical engine have gone. Evolution is a true proof that SimBin exploited this engine to the maximum. Another one is necessary. There are some issues regarding framerate especially on Nordschleife with 25 opponents at the same time. Forget about next-gen effects , draw distance, dynamic shadows, or other things like this. Its graphics are almost pure with a big emphasize on model details.

Multiplayer: 92

Supported LAN and online races. This type of game has always achieved a long gameplay life because of the multiplayer which attracts a lot of hardcore fans to compete against each other. Now you can even import or export recorded times on your local drive to beat them, or even ghost cars from other opponents.

Sound: 87

Sound is the only factor that has received a huge improvement compared to previous releases. Forget about loop wav's based on three or four sounds to recreate a whole spectral of engine noises. Here you can actually feel the sound of the car and its side effects. Excellent tire sounds that helps a lot in a race especially if you will drive an open-wheeler.

Hardware: 83

Same requirements as RACE 07. The game runs smoothly even on graphics card with 256 MB memory.