SOUNDS

So starting up the engine of my 360 ooo nice , HIGH FIVE! I love the sounds Simbin do, yes, yes, I know they are not dynamic however they have so much depth to them, I remember firing up GTR2002 and having the same thoughts, beautiful sounds and immersive, that�s what were all looking for right, immersion!

GRAPHICS

I also noticed immediately the graphics have had a make over big time over GTR, GTR2 is a feast graphically and has everything a modern sim needs, night driving, rain, transitions etc�this all stems from the new graphics engine licensed from ISI, it�s a huge difference for the old engine with dynamic lighting and special features on the agenda, these effects were also shown in GTL which is a graphical feast and in my opinion better than GTR 2. The graphics run well on my system also, from the back of the filed at Donington I was getting 24-42 fps on a P4 2.4 6800GT, this was surprising considering the detail of the models and textures, the cockpits were vastly improved over GTR also, the windscreen dirt is not gradual enough like N2003, it just looks like you have crashed into a gif at 100 mph lol. We are still miles behind consoles in the graphics department however this is a step in the right direction.

The tracks are beautiful, nuff said.

GAMEPLAY

Starting from the back of the grid in my trusty 360 I knew things would be difficult and they were! The walkthrough at the start seemed lifeless and just had pit sounds? Anyway I skipped this as it didn�t give me any information and went straight into the race! The excitement really builds well on the warm-up lap and I was salivating in anticipation! Green light GO! after overtaking 10 cars at the start (will any developer ever get this right lol) I found my self pressured by a couple of Porsches who didn�t give a damn! Slowly but steadily I managed to keep the gap at between 0.5 to 2 seconds, but this is my gripe with the AI, in some parts of the track they are very very quick but others you can catch them up so easily, it belittles the actual racing when the AI drive differently to a human. Despite this the racing was fun and would provide a challenge for all sim racers and normal racers alike. There are a number of aids to get you going on track, like traction control, steering and braking help etc and most important invulnerability!! You will need this for you first forays into the game.

It nice to see a range of stats about the cars you are racing, like seeing sector times and viewing the competitors via the TV option, Simbin pioneered this in GTR2002 straight from the GPL idea and it�s a good one! Once your race or test session is over you can watch the replays of your exploits, which is usually entertaining to say the least! However as many of you know the replays in ISI are poor in comparison to all other sims lol�it�s a pity Simbin couldn�t fix this and make them look like you are on track instead of floating!

Let move to the online side of things!