Conclusion, right2reply and where2buy
Time to bring TOCA Race Driver 3 into the pits then, pop the bonnet and check the lap times to see if it can keep up with the opposition. So what have we got? Well, overall, this is probably the most comprehensive racing game we’ve ever seen with more cars, disciplines and championships than any other game out there. This makes TOCA Race Driver 3 ideal for petrolheads who just love driving anything they can get their hands on.
The World Tour is a perfect place to start for those who just want to have a crack at any sort of racing whilst the Pro Career caters for those who have more specialist tastes. The Pro Career gives an excellent insight into a real racing career, with F1 drivers starting out on go-karts whilst GT drivers will be in min GT cars with 1000cc Yamaha motorbike engines.
Car handling is just about spot on, though some of the cars do feel a bit too ‘floaty’. This could be down to my lack of experience in the real things but some cars have appalling turn-in that makes you wonder how anyone can drive them at speed. A wheel and pedals go a long way to alleviating this though, so much so that I’d have to recommend that this is the only way to play the game. You’ve simply got to have some sort of proportional input to make any decent progress, especially if you play the game on the ‘Hard’ setting.
Click for larger imageLong term, TOCA Race Driver 3 has plenty in here to keep you racing, provided you don’t mind racing in all sorts of different disciplines. As with all the best racers, practise is the key if you want to win without turning a race into a destruction derby smash fest in the hope your car will last longer than other competitor’s cars. The grudge system goes some way to giving a more realistic race feel, especially on the Hard setting.
All in all, TOCA Race Driver 3 perfectly strikes the balance between difficulty and fun, giving the casual racer plenty to get to grips with whilst offering hard core sim racers a challenge in a vast array of racing styles and disciplines. It has to be said that there’s not really much else on the market that has such a wide appeal as TOCA Race Driver 3, which should earn it a place on everyone’s shelf.
Pros
Two different progression trees
Loads of different races
Loads of different cars
Tons of variety
Perfect balance between fun and simulation
Cons
Trackside crowds are rubbish
Graphics a bit of a mixed bag
Rick’s in-race advice becomes repetitive
HEXUS Awards
TOCA Race Driver 3
HEXUS Right2Reply
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HEXUS Where2Buy
TOCA Race Driver 3 is available now, click the following links to order:Play.com
