NASCAR game great fun, hugely realistic
By William Schiffmann
Associated Press
NASCAR racing is one of the country's fastest-growing spectator sports. Take the wheel in EA Sports' "NASCAR Thunder 2004" and you'll understand why.
Constant action. Lots of noise. Clouds of smoke. Crashing cars everywhere.
Is this a great sport, or what?
All the things that made the 2003 version excellent are back, including the 20-year Career mode.
However, EA has added something new and exciting to this year's game, which I played on Xbox.
As in real racing, you can develop on-track alliances and rivalries with other drivers.
Let's say you're coming up behind another car. An on-screen message will offer you the option of drafting. Accept, and both of you benefit as your nose-to-tail driving lets you go faster than either of you could do alone while you collect positive points based on the length of the draft.
However, bump another driver out of the way as you head for the front, and that driver will remember your perfidy as the payback points mount. Revenge is guaranteed, either in that race or in a later one.
There's an excellent tutorial, using real racers, video clips and a series of license tests to get you ready for the rigors of a long and difficult season. Don't skip it, because while it looks easy to drive around in circles, there's a lot of skill involved in varying your speed to keep from sliding up the track and into the wall.
Season and Career modes will probably be the most popular.
Season, obviously, takes you through one NASCAR season. You can adjust the number of races — pick 12, 24, 36 or build your own custom season — and the length of the race. Gluttons for punishment or purists will love full-length races.
Just keep food and water nearby.
In Career mode, you can create the car, sign sponsors, collect a team and keep them happy, then haul your car to each track for setup, practice, qualifying and the actual race.
SpeedZone challenges help train you in techniques you need for success.
And the racing continues to be terrific.
NASCAR is mostly about turning left, but there's a lot more to it than that. Car setup, when to slow and when to speed up, the delicate dance of drafting — all are re-created perfectly in the game.
Even restrictor plate racing is nicely reproduced. NASCAR forces racers to use a plate under the carburetor to limit horsepower, and thus top speeds, on its huge super speedways.
But that means each car has much the same power, and it bunches cars up into big blocks of 3,500-pound vehicles speeding inches from each other at 175 mph. It makes for impossible passing and monster wrecks.
Graphics get an A. The cars and their sponsor-laden paint jobs, the huge grandstands packed with tens of thousands of rabid fans, the 23 licensed tracks and additional fantasy track, all are lovingly produced with excellent detail.
Control gets another A. Unlike some driving games which require the touch of a surgeon, if your fingers work reasonably well you can keep your car on the track and moving forward. I didn't find any control problems in hours of playing. And, I might add, losing. This isn't a perfect simulation, but it sure is fun.
"NASCAR Thunder 2004" deserves a solid A because it's tons of fun and very realistic.
It is rated E, for ages 6 and older.
