More Articles on TOCA Race Driver 3
TOCA Race Driver 3TOCA Race Driver 3 - Hands OnTOCA Race Driver 3 Q&AMiles Of Track For TOCATOCA Race Driver 3 Ups The AnteLatest Reviews
UK Online Exclusive: Saints Row 2FIFA 09Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhoodde Blob Brothers In Arms: Hell's HighwayUser Reviews
There are currently 0 User Reviews for TOCA Race Driver 3Write your own review for this game today and you will receive 100 Gamer Points.
Click here to register
TOCA Race Driver 3 Review
Jon Wilcox
07/03/2006
Codies driving franchise returns for a third iteration on the current-gen platforms...
A refreshing mix of solid racing gameplay and access to a variety of vehicles that's second to none, Codemasters' TOCA Race Driver series has always provided an enjoyable experience in recent years. Now in its third instalment the series has undergone a slight structural revamp, but can it hope to stand out from the crowd when attention is slowly beginning to look towards the next-generation platforms in this transitional year for the videogames industry?
Two main modes take centre stage in TOCA 3's gameplay: World Tour, and Pro Career. Following the traditional route of TOCA the World Tour has a ladder-like structure that continues to give a feeling of progression. Thirty-two tiers of championships beginning with a choice between racing in Renault Clios or GT Lights, the choice only gets faster and more competitive, rising through championship types not seen outside of the franchise including Motorcross series, Off-Road Buggy series, and Monster Truck racing. If that's one thing that the TOCA franchise has by the bucket load, it's variety. Not only that, but it also means that the player gets to experience the difference in terms of driving different vehicles within different circumstances. Driving a Monster Truck around a bumpy gravel track requires a totally different skill to belting it around Brands Hatch in a Williams F1 car. It means that like its predecessors in the series, TOCA 3 never gets boring from a lack of variety.
As if racing through a 32-step ladder of championships wasn't enough, TOCA 3 also features a Pro Career option, allowing players to work their way through numerous series of events from the 1930s through to Williams F1 challenges. Unlocked according to player progression through the World Tour mode, the Pro Career offers an astounding amount of race types just when you thought TOCA 3 couldn't possibly couldn't deliver any more. These specialist events such as Touring Car championships, Oval Track Championships, and the TMS series of course offer sub-championships in themselves, so gamers will find themselves occupied by TOCA 3 for quite some time. There's certainly a long lifespan on offer here, and that's before you even consider the online racing that TOCA 3 has.
One addition that may raise eyebrows in certain quarters is the Honda themed Championship, which can be unlocked in two different ways. The more traditional gamer will be able to access the series by completing all 32-tiers in the World Tour mode, whilst those rather lacking in patience can go to the Honda UK website and complete a form that will unlock a code. Whether this will end up being a strategy used by other brands for in-game marketing/advertising will have to be seen.
Also featured is a Simulation mode, which as well as housing Free Race and Time Trial options includes the multiplayer modes such as LAN and Network Play/Xbox Live/WAN. This may not be the first option to sink your teeth into however since it relies of tracks and championships to be unlocked via the World Tour/Pro Career modes first.
Taking to the track, the game continues to perform as smoothly as ever, with the control system as solid and responsive as it's always been. As with the range of vehicles that the gamer has to adapt to, the variation of tracks will also have to be learnt over time. For instance, Monster Truck tracks, which feature gravel and dirt by the bucket load, also have bumps and mounds for the players to contend with making it a very different experience to racing around Laguna Seca in a Renault Clio Sport. Of course the game doesn't look quite as nice as the screenshots for TOCA 3 would have you believe (perhaps a TOCA 4 on Xbox 360/PS3 will), but it's still a very decent looking current-gen title. The sheer number of competitors on the track at one time (up to 21) continues to be an impressive figure, and the AI of the other competitors is such that they will fight for their place, and fight to take yours.
Aside from the range of championships on offer, TOCA has also become synonymous with high quality damage modelling, and TOCA 3 is no exception. Shattering a vehicle against a track barrier produces a mass of shrapnel, but this is very much for effect; if you continue to wallop your car into a wall the shards continue to appear with the same magnitude - surely a car doesn't spray the same quantity time after time? Not only do the cars get progressively battered with great subtlety and effect visually, but the nuances in the sound of the engine and some of the other audio layers really help to increase believability of the situation. Hearing an exhaust pipe scrape along the track, or the scraping of tarmac against bare metal really helps in the immersion of the game, and certainly puts some other racing titles to shame. In fact during Codemasters' build up to the release of TOCA 3 they announced that each car enjoyed over forty times the number of audio assets of the game's predecessor; whilst we weren't marking down every little sound during a race the depth of the sound was unmistakable.
The HUD has a small raft of information that details everything from the expected (speedometer/gear number) to the more unusual like a visual representation of the positive and negative g-forces being put upon the driver. The tracks included in the game are pretty much expected, with some of them seen in countless other racers recently including Laguna Seca, the F1 Nurburgring, and Silverstone to name a small selection. Besides optioning to drive using manual or automatic transmissions, players can also choose to turn on a range of rules and restrictions that certainly boost the challenge on offer. A full selection of racing flags can be turned on, from restricting overtaking if a yellow is shown through to penalty flags that force players to drive through a rev-capped pitlane, further increasing the level of realism in the game. Players who prefer to be a bit more forceful in their driving may find it somewhat annoying every time a penalty is awarded against them for running into opposition or cutting lines, but at least it's finally a way to remove potential cheaters.
One of the disappointments of the game has to be the relegation of Scottish racing manager Rick to nothing more than an advisor. Whilst the previous TOCA had a narrative thread running through it that made it a more human experience, TOCA 3 focuses more on the vehicles themselves and as such it does feel like there's a gap missing. Having said that the character continues to have an enthusiasm for his role, and he's certainly not afraid to tell you when you've done a bad job. However it just seems that the game is a bit more serious than it once was, which is a pity.
