Race 07: The Official WTCC Game PC Review Manassas VA

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The realistic racing genre on the PC is really flourishing these days. While titles like rFactor and Live for Speed may not be familiar with every PC gamer out there, chances are if you're a racing fan titles like these are apart of your daily gaming regiment. However perhaps the biggest name behind many of this recent PC racing sim success is SimBin Studios, who are responsible for the GTR series that, despite being in all intents and purposes a niche title, managed toreally get its name out there as a top end racing experience not just in the PC world but in all of the videogame lands. SimBin are back again with a new title in Race 07: The Official WTCC Game, and fans can expect the same quality and depth we've come to expect from this talented developing house.

As the game title suggests, Race 07: Official WTCC Game is not just a collection of random cars and events but rather a fully licensed title featuring the official drivers, cars, and tracks from not only the 2007 World Touring Car Championship, but also the 2006 season as well. It doesn't stop there though, as gamers can also enjoy the 1987 WTCC class, Formula 3000 International Masters, Formula BMW, Mini Cooper Challenge, as well as Caterham and Radical events that each have multiple horse powercategories to choose from. Most of the cars all look the part as well with their sponsoring decals and the likes adding to the game's authenticity.

The actual modes you will be racing these cars and classes around in are basically run of the mill when it comes to racing games - you have a one off quick event mode, time attack, practice, multiplayer for both LAN and Online, and a championship mode. In the championship mode you will only be able to conduct the 2007 WTCC season by default although there is a "customize championship" option allowing you to choose any of the other car classes as well as the track list from the game's 30+ included tracks. Unfortunately, I'm not an experton track authenticity so I can't really comment on how accurate all of these tracks are, but from a pure gameplay standpoint the variation and selection on offer is great, ranging from fast US style Puebla Oval to the technical street circuit in Macau. Unfortunately, while the championship mode is quite powerful in its ability to allow user customization during initial setup, the actual bulk of the mode is little more than a series of basic events with a point ladder. It would have been nice to see a littlemore attention to this mode, perhaps with a 'career' style take on things that gives it a bit more race to race, season to season meaning.

The racing in this game is, of course, modeled to reflect the dynamics of real life racing, but it doesn't have to be an ultra simulation if you so choose. Whilst setting up races or events, the game will allow you to define your skill level in one of three groups - starter, semi-pro, and pro - each of which have a 'profile' regarding the game's range of skill related options, which not only include the usual stuff like AI difficulty, auto gearbox and damage probability, but also more advanced stuff liketyre wear, traction control, and even the possibility of mechanical failures. If you find that your perfect difficulty level is a mixture of two of even all of these preset skill levels the game still has you covered with its 'custom' setting, allowing you to mix and match any value for any setting as you wish. Despite its niche and expert appeal, Race 07 can be just as easily tweaked for casual more arcade driven gamers as well.