World Racing 2

Some games will have you racing around a series of tracks within a certain style, a la off-road, and most of these offer you the opportunity to move around the world. The scenery may be nice and inviting but that is not why you play these games. You play for the racing action, the various vehicles and how they stack up on challenging courses.

World Racing 2, a PlayLogic Xbox title developed by Synetic, plops players into a variety of Mercedes-Benz vehicles (featuring that classic exterior that looks like these vehicles would have been better suited on the streets in the 1950s and 60s) and then puts them through a series of challenges en route to unlocking tracks, upgrades and even the ability to compete against friends. But while the first World Racing title focused on the Benz line of automobiles, the second edition will expand on that and offer some other vehicles by other manufacturers.

The preview disk GameZone received was certainly not without a few problems, such as long load times, a musical score that was interrupted every 10 seconds or so before resuming, and a menu interface that was not overly high on responsiveness or framerate. But then again, in fairness, this is a preview build and likely most of that will be cleared up by the game’s planned release sometime this fall.

At the core of the game is the racing and the racing mechanics. There is a quick race mode, and then there is the career mode and a free-roaming mode, but before you get to the third, you have to score some speed bucks to unlock tracks, buy upgrades and get to that point where you can race against your friends (yes, the main menu showed that Xbox Live will be supported). Career mode starts with several phases. First there is the aptitude test, in which you are challenged to complete several courses within a time limit and without sustaining too much damage to your vehicle. The first was along a semi-twisting road in Italy, which was no big deal. But the game ramps it up from there. Phase two took place on the streets of Miami, with 90-degree turns jumping out all over the place. Fast and furious is just fine, but some control is also needed.

It also felt like the vehicle jumped from an automatic transmission to a manual one, and the handbrake was exchanged for the shift up keystroke. The last takes place in Hawaii and actually gives you the choice of two courses to drive, and there was a rather nasty jump that required you to really take a straight line with a lot of speed to make it. 

The machines do handle well, and the environmental graphics are lush and colorful. The colors of the direction arrows clue you in to your speed entering a turn. Yellow or red indicate you are going much too fast. There is also a map to show you what is coming up, but some of these courses are merely reflexive exercises and taking time to look at a map is not in your best interest. Of course, the graphics were incomplete and some of the vehicles sported boxed patches rather than wheels. Still, some of the damage was well realized when you banged a wall too hard, and there was light traffic to dodge in some scenarios.

The handling of the vehicles was rather good, with brakes grabbing hard, and the acceleration smooth and constant. Generally speaking, the control set-up is pretty much on par with other racing games.

The music started out with a rock vibe, but soon devolved into some sort of repetitious techno dance-club sound. Quick, where is the mute on the television control? The other sounds of the game are exactly what one would expect – revving engines, squealing tires and crunching metal. There is also the occasional beep of the horn of another car, but who cares if they are honking at you? You are already breaking so many laws anyway, another angry motorist is incidental.

World Racing 2 has challenge and eye candy. The courses seem diverse enough to remain interesting, and tying the idea of unlockables to progression with friends gives players goals worth attaining.

As mentioned, the build needed a lot of work but from what was there, this is shaping up to be a solid racing title.