Main story and controls
The main story mode takes place in Radiatar Springs, the gateway to Ornament valley, and a haven to the dozens of cutesy animated cars who race around its dusty roads.
There are set points marked on the map where you’ll be able to pick up new missions, with each one offering something different, from searching for objects littered around the landscape to competing in road races against some weak opposition.
The area is easy to navigate thanks to the map system that features small coloured dots that point you in the direction of your next objective, ensuring that you'll never get lost.
The missions in CARS often contain a great deal of humour and make up for the fact that the actually racing part of the gameplay is rather bland. For the audience it’s aimed at, the basic controls and the slow speeds of the cars won’t be an issue and will allow even the most uncoordinated of gamers to pick the game up in minutes, but anyone who has played any other racing games will quickly become bored after you realise that it takes a minimum effort in order to win any race.
Click for larger imageAs a 30 year old who's used to hurtling around the tracks of PGR3 in a Ferrari F50 it's hard to judge if the difficulty of the game is correct for the group of gamers it's intended for. Whilst seasoned racing fans will turn their nose up at the simplicity of the race, younger players may well feel that the skill level is just right.
The cars have a number of functions including power slides and tilts that give you the edge over an opponent. It’s certainly more fun using these controls than just tweaking your thumbstick in the required direction and you’ll have the added incentive of gaining points, which can be spent on bonus content, for pulling off these tricks. Disappointingly, they’re fairly unremarkable manoeuvres. The power slides work by simply tapping the shoulder button but there are no huge skids to get excited about, or much skill involved in keeping your car on the road.
Click for larger imageThe biggest issue with controlling the cars is how the camera shifts position. Whilst moving forward there isn’t a problem, switch into reverse and the camera immediately switches angles leaving you wondering which direction you were originally facing. This won't be a problem during a race as you'll rarely need to use reverse, but if you're on a mission hunting for postcards for instance, you'll often need to stop and back up in order to pick up the item.
The mini-games are far more fun than the racing aspect and include a tractor tipping game where you’ll need to avoid search lights, sneak up behind numerous tractors and tip them over using the 'X' button. Unfortunately these mini games also have camera issues, whilst you can use the right thumbstick to look around the environment, if you loose it the camera switches back to its original view. Nevertheless, the mini-games are a welcome addition to a game that wouldn't survive just on its racing prowess.