I've always thought that one of the most interesting parts of any 'top' list is what was left off, especially if you know the person who made it. I thought I would count down to the upcoming podcast this weekend by putting out some games that I didn't even put into consideration for making our 'top 10 of the decade' list. As a couple people pointed out to me on twitter, there are no racing games at all in contention.
I love racing games, always have. As far back as RC Pro-Am or even Top Gear 2 (the SNES game, not the awesome BBC TV show) all the way up to my current favorites. The past 10 years has seen the rise of some amazing simulations and some great 'arcade' style attempts, yet I just couldn't find a way to justify putting any of them on my all-decade list. Here is a quick run down of my top racing games/series of the past decade, why they were great, and why they just didn't make the cut. In no particular order, today begins with the Forza series:
Forza 2/3
I love these games. In fact, when I am done writing this I will probably get in a race or two in Forza 3. They took what Gran Turismo had established and took it to the next level, making a game that is both realistic and well structured. Opponents actually race instead of following a set line, and car damage prevents bumper cars around the corners. The problem is that both games have some glaring flaws that hold them back.
Forza 2 had a dirty little secret. Even though there were 300+ cars, if you ever kept more than 100 or so in your garage and tried to scroll through it, the game would lock up. If you didn't scroll but joined an open class online race, same thing. Forza 3 so far seems to have fixed this, but they decided to not allow hosting a public lobby, essentially ruining online racing unless you always have 7 others to invite. Why is this important? Searching for a race leaves you locked into their default settings, including allowing lame assists (AUTO BRAKING??? SERIOUSLY???) and having no damage. If I were to combine the two games with the first and have a series entry, it would probably crack the top 10, but as individual efforts both fall short.
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The only racing games I played this year were an old-ish one (the still stellar Burnout: Paradise) and an OK-ish newer one (Motorsport: Pacific Rift). Burnout impressed me with it's seamless online components and DLC updates (albeit, expensive if you were to buy everything released). Motorsport was fun at first, pretty to look at, and great for local multiplayer, but beyond that it didn't push many boundaries.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing what 2010 has to offer in the racing genre though. Split Second MIGHT be just what it needs. And ID's Rage may merge the shooter and racer into a pseudo-genre, like Borderlands did for the RPG-Shooter.
Some would say that Borderlands had some racing in there too, even though it controlled like Halo rather than Gran Turismo. I actually will be posting about Burnout Paradise later this week, as I did put a lot of time into that one as well.
ReplyDeleteI see Split Second as a mix of Mario Kart and Burnout, so it should be interesting.
Mario Kart is the only racing game I can play. Sad but true. I take that back, I played a lot of Super Sprint back in the 80s (arcade and NES).
ReplyDeleteYes, Borderlands has driving elements, but I wouldn't say racing is really a part of it. I would say, however, that the control scheme for driving sucked and would've been much more intuitive has they given it a similar control scheme to Burnout.
ReplyDeleteLaurance: It's funny you should mention Mario Kart, as I started thinking about it immediately when I was putting together the top 10. To be honest though, Mario Kart SNES and Mario Kart 64 are the only ones I have enjoyed.
ReplyDeleteBombtrak: Yeah, it was lifted straight from the Warthog in Halo. I hated it then, and I hated it in Borderlands. The driving was hyped before the game came out, but it ended up being quite secondary. I actually think they planned on having the vehicles being customizable as well.