With titles like Forza 4 and Gran Turismo 5 dominating the landscape of automotive video gaming, other games are being pushed into niche segments?like what the Dirt series has done with rally racing?in order to survive. The Test Drive series, which has been a part of the gaming industry for 25 years, has excelled in producing games with storylines that involve racing ?ber-desirable cars in real-world environments, often in exotic locales. These games don?t have the physics engines of the big boys, but they can be fun and diverting in their own way. The niche for the newly released Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends, developed by Slightly Mad Studios is, of course, the prancing horse and its racing heritage.
Gameplay Modes
The game splits Ferrari?s history and cars into three eras: the Golden Era (1947?1973), the Silver Era (1974?1990), and the Modern Era (1990?2011). Users have a choice in playing in Career mode, Free Play, and Online.
Career mode has you compete in a number of different types of races. There is a standard time trial; a checkered flag race that requires you to finish above a certain position; head-to-head races; Overtake, which requires you to pass a certain amount of cars; Follow, where you have to, well, follow a car within a set window of time; and One, where every 30 seconds, the car in last place is eliminated.
In Free Play, you can pick any unlocked car you want, choose which type of race you want to compete in, and on which track. There is a hot lap option, called Phantom Time Trial, where you set a base lap, then race your phantom time. The neat aspect of Phantom Time Trial is that it sets out the line of your best lap, allowing you to see where you can make up time. Online mode?unavailable to us during our pre-release gameplay?will behave just as any Free Play race, but with other users as competitors rather than AI.
Career mode starts you out driving cars like the 125 S, the 166 Inter, and the 212 Export Vigale Spyder in races such as the 1959 Silverstone Grand Prix and the 1958 Monza GP. As you work your way through the races, you unlock new cars to use in Free Play mode.
Progress through the eras of Career mode unlocks newer cars. Of course, the game includes the icons, like the Testarossa and the F50, but what makes this game so interesting is all of the obscure cars that you can?t get in other games, like a 308 GTB Quattrovalvole and a 275 GTB. There are more than 50 cars and 20 tracks to choose from.
The AI in this game is, unfortunately, not very realistic. The drivers make mistakes now and again, but for the most part they drive like they?re on rails, and they don?t deviate from their line for anything?including you. It?s a major turnoff.
Gameplay Options
Test Drive has a very limited number of pre-set drive settings. You can choose from Novice, Normal, and Pro, but customization of settings is not available like in other games. The novice setting has all of the driving assists on: traction and stability control, steering and braking assist, and ABS. Normal takes away the steering and braking help, along with the stability control; traction control is set to low, and ABS is left on. Pro, which in our opinion is the only way to drive, turns everything off. The difficulty settings on the races also are frustratingly obtuse. Some races were so challenging that they required the easiest settings to beat, while others were a breeze on the most-difficult setting.
Graphics
Visually, the game isn?t anything to get too excited about, either. The cars have enough detail to please the weekend (video game) warrior, but when put side by side with Forza 4, Test Drive?s shortcomings are apparent. Cars? details seem to get lost and shapes are somewhat flattened.
Physics Engine
This new Test Drive is a track-based game, unlike the public-road locales of Test Drive Unlimited and Unlimited 2. While Test Drive?s physics engine makes it much more realistic than its predecessors, it still is geared to the plug-and-play audience. This isn?t a Gran Turismo?esque simulator; most anyone will be able to keep their ride rubber side down.
This is evident when driving at what would be considered a real car?s limits. The tires make a lot of noise but never show the slightest sign of understeer. Once the nanny aids are turned off, oversteer prevails corner after corner. As pleasurable as it is to navigate a track while looking through through a car?s side window, the artificial nature dampens the excitement of such an act. Like most games, damage is purely cosmetic. Smash into the barriers surrounding Eau Rouge? Calmly rejoin the race, because even though you just hit a wall at 180 mph, the damage is limited to minor abrasions to your front bumper.
Verdict
Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends will not revolutionize racing video games, but that wasn?t its aim. Ferrari fans shouldn?t miss it, but hard-core racing-game aficionados looking for realism should stick to playing GT5 and Forza. The unique car collection is exciting, and progressing through different eras of race and road cars is a great idea, but the schizophrenic difficulty settings, the poor AI, and the game?s second-tier physics engine make this title a bit of a letdown.
Source: http://blog.caranddriver.com/test-drive-ferrari-racing-legends-video-game-review/
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