You have to hand it to Codemasters, they really aren’t content with their racing games even when their racing titles as of recently have been stellar. Let’s take the Colin McRae rally racing games, for instance, last year’s game was really good and this years Colin McRae 04 is simply just amazing. Last year also saw Pro Race Driver, a game that was just too much fun to put down (even though its RPG-styled Career mode really didn’t shine the way it should have). Now there’s ToCA Race Driver 2: The Ultimate Racing Simulator, a sequel that makes Xbox history by offering a racing title that offers various different motorsport types all in one neat bundle. So how good is this game? Let’s just say that I haven’t seen the light of day in two whole days thanks to this game.  

Pro Race Driver put you in the role of a professional racing track driver and, for the most part, it did an excellent job of portraying a simulation true to the automotive sport. ToCA Race Driver 2, on the other hand, tests your skills as a race driver off and on the usual race track and places you in the driver seat of everything from a Ford Formula One racer to your very own Super Truck. The game’s main mode is back; Career mode does away with the RPG-like element of last year’s game and trades it for a continuous first-person story mode complete with cut scenes. While the story isn’t incredibly deep, it’s a really good story that will surely hook gamers in with its accurate portrayal of the professional race circuit life.  

Career mode is also where gamers get to unlock vehicles and racetracks. You’ll be astonished how quickly and how suddenly the game quickly changes gear (no pun intended) in mid-championship circuit. One minute you’re racing for third place in the Mustang Challenge (placing you in the seat of a ‘68 Ford Mustang) and the next you’re heading for the Texas Motor Speedway for some stock car racing. Think that’s not enough? Well you’ll also be ice racing, doing the Colin McRae rally racing deal and racing in a big rig. No racing style is left out in this game, not even those fans of custom cars and street racing. Car enthusiasts will love the fact that there’s every thing here from the Aston Martin DB9 to a 1934 Ford Hot Rod Coupe.  

The game also tosses in a Simulator mode that features all the tracks and cars you managed to unlock in Career mode. It’s a great mode to practice your skills but, unfortunately, you’re limited only to the tracks and cars you manage to unlock or already available. The Time Trial mode is the same, only the races are timed to perfect your performance and beat your old time. It would have been great to have found the majority of regular vehicles available and unlock the more rare ones through Career mode. While we’re complaining, I’ve a major beef with the interface. It’s not only complex but just a tad confusing since it really strays from the usual pick-your-car-and pick your-track we see in most racing games. Instead it has you choosing the event type via a racetrack. Most of us really don’t know what type of racing is associated with Surfers Paradise.  

Still, these few faults pale in comparison to all the things that make this game a real gem. The game’s controls are simplistic and thankfully so since this is strictly a simulation-styled racing title. The vehicle physics are as realistic as they come and this makes for an extremely difficulty game to really master. Push your car too fast around the corner will result in an unsteady turn that can easily spin your car out of control. Smack into objects or other cars too often and the result of the damage will play a part in your car’s performance. For instance, slam the side of your car against a barrier and the front fender might cave in enough to obstruct one of your wheels. Hit another car at top speed and you’ll find your engine heating up before you complete the last lap. While this makes for a really true-to-the-real-thing-styled sim, the game still allows you the freedom to be as flashy behind the wheel as you’d like. Really, this makes the game even more addictive than Project Gotham Racing 2 and a lot more polished than the PS2’s Gran Turismo 3 (and I love Gran Turismo 3).  

Here’s some more good news, race fans. ToCA is an addictive racing game online thanks to the Xbox Live. The features aren’t as abundant as they are for PGR2, but the game has it where it counts--offering a great leader board, monthly challenges and a multiplayer mode that allows up to twelve players on the track. The game also pits Xbox Live gamers against PC gamers so there’s already a large community of gamers that are challenging each another as you read this. The single player game runs at a solid sixty frames per second and online it runs just as smoothly making this one of the most solid online racing games around. Trust me when I say that you’ll be spending a lot of time online, Xbox Live gamers. And, if that wasn’t enough, System Link is also supported so you can hook up multiple Xbox consoles for an up twelve-player game.  

While the controls and addictive racing are up there with PGR2, the game’s visual quality comes close to bring us one amazing looking game. The car’s vehicles are amazingly gorgeous and the cars shine beautifully during the races and in the replays. They also take realistic damage so if you smash into too many things you’ll really have twisted wreck. Really, Codemasters seems to get that the Xbox is capable of pulling off some photo-realistic visuals. The tracks also look good, but it’s also where the graphics could have used some improvement. From afar the backgrounds look pretty good but up close you can see how PSOne-like things like trees, grass and billboards can look. Still, this is a very good-looking game.  

The sound also manages to impress with its accuracy when it comes to engine sounds. The game’s many vehicles have distinct sounds and thankfully Codemasters definitely knows that a Super V8 engine doesn’t sound anything like the engine of a Subaru Impreza WRX. The crashes also sound as amazing as they look. You’ll also hear your pit boss, although he chimes in only to point out important things.  

ToCA Race Driver 2 is racing heaven for fans of any vehicular genre. Not only does it give you a taste of fifteen different types of racing genres but it also does them the way they should be done . . . perfectly. Yes it can be extremely hard most of the time and yes not everyone is a fan of every racing genre presented but this game is pure bliss for those that appreciate a game with loads of cool cars, massive racing tracks and the finest online multiplayer mode this side of Project Gotham Racing 2. At its budget price, missing out on this game would be a real shame.  

Gameplay: 9.2
Last year’s Pro Race Driver handled like a dream and this sequel just seems to not only look a lot better but also play a lot better and that is no small feat. The controls are simple to get into for a racing simulator and it gives gamers enough freedom to drive as risky as they’d like to drive. Still, this is no arcade game so expect the realism factor to keep you in line. There are also plenty of cars, although I wish they had been available from the get-go.  

Graphics: 8.5
Almost immediately gamers will notice how gorgeous this game’s graphics really are and how amazing the beautifully detailed cars look in action. Each car just looks amazingly like the real thing and you’ll love how shiny they are and how well they actually take damage. Slam headlong into a wall and the front fender will bend while the headlights shatter. Hit the corner of a divider and the side of your door will crumple awfully. The racecourses are pleasant to look at but a little more detail in things like grass or billboards would have been welcome.  

Sound: 8.5
You’d think that once you heard the sound effects in one racing game you heard them all. Well, Codemasters wasn’t content with just offering the usual roaring engines and tire screeches, they’ve managed to capture the distinct sounds of each vehicle type for a game that features different racing types. Crashes also sound great, although not as chillingly authentic as those found in Burnout 2: Point of Impact. And thankfully your Scottish pit boss isn’t a constant presence while racing so gamers won’t be annoyed by a tremendous amount of criticism or unhelpful tips.  

Difficulty: Hard
Racing fans, like myself, love a challenging racing game and--for the most part--ToCA offers quite a challenge. The trouble is that the game can be unmerciful to a frustrating degree so gamers with a passing interest in the genre will be a bit annoyed by its difficulty level.  

Concept: 9.5
With a multitude of cars for each race type, you’ll find everything from classic muscle cars (damn does it feel good to drive a 1968 Ford Mustang) to the modernly flashy (a Nissan Skyline GTR . . . it doesn’t get any better than this). The game’s Career mode actually gives you quite an incentive to win the championship thanks to a great presentation and a cool pit boss that keeps you in line. Yet the real treat comes when you go from one racing type to another without much of a warning. You’ll be forced to taste genres you normally wouldn’t take an interest in and actually enjoy it.  

Multiplayer: 9.5
At some point I had to tell myself that this review wasn’t going to write itself so I bid farewell to the eleven other gamers I’ve been racing against online and started writing. Not only is ToCA a great single player experience, but also thanks to the Xbox Live the game is downright addictive. Just picture an actual community of various types of racing fans (both Xbox Live and PC folk) challenging each another to try a genre they normally wouldn’t try and you get an idea of what it’s like playing ToCA online. Even with twelve players racing on a single track, this game runs just as smoothly as Project Gotham Racing 2 . . . and that’s saying a lot. System Link is also supported.  

Overall: 8.7
I love ToCA Race Driver 2 and not because it looks great, plays even better and has a killer Xbox Live multiplayer mode. I love this game because it did what it set out to do, bring us the ultimate racing simulator. Just about every type of racing genre is present and accounted for and it’s handled well throughout the entire experience. There are a few noticeable flaws, of course, but this doesn’t hold the game back for racing fans. Pick this one up right away if you love quality in your racing games.