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iPhone Game Reviews. Posted on: June 26, 2009
Ever since the release of Real Racing, people have questioned whether or not Firemint’s newest title was worth the money. While numerous people had barely even heard of the game, the majority of iPhone gamers knew from the beginning it would be top notch. At $9.99 (US) some may feel they are putting up a small fortune for “just another racing game.” On the contrary, Real Racing isn’t “just another racing game,” but rather it’s a racing experience. With surely some of the best 3D models ever seen on the iPhone and exhilarating gameplay, Real Racing is one of the best racing games currently available in the App Store.
The game features an extensive career mode (three single player modes total) with 57 events to complete, 36 cars (divided among three classes) to unlock, 4 control settings (touch and tilt), 2 camera views (cockpit and external), online features, and video replays on Youtube. The game offers plenty of content, along with replayability online or trying to best your times. Playing through the career mode will further unlock more cars along with more tracks to race on. Then you can come back to those same tracks later in time trials, quick races, or practice laps. The three car classes available are Hatch, Sedan, and Muscle. Each of the 36 available cars has a unique look and each class has vary stats. The 4 control settings each vary with combinations of touch and tilt motions. They are as follows:
- -- Accelerometer steering, automatically accelerate, and manual brake.
- -- Accelerometer steering, touch the right side to accelerate, touch the left to brake.
- -- Touch the right or left sides to steer, automatically accerate, and touch the center to brake.
- -- Drag the virtual steering wheel left/right to steer, automatically accerate, and touch the right to brake.
One of the things I really expected to see in the controls was touch steering with manual acceration and braking. Unfortunatly this is not an available option. The controls are almost perfect despite this, and are intuitive nevertheless. While I enjoy the touch controls, there may be some who would rather steer by the use of the accelerometer. While this works just as well, there seems to be times when the screen is “shaky” which is very distracting from the race. There are further options to help fix this though, from sensitivity settings to brake assist.
One of the notable features in Real Racing is the cockpit view. While two camera modes are available, the default (and frankly the coolest) view is through the cockpit. This is where the game draws a lot of its realism and what makes it that much more thrilling. Out of all the racing games available on the App Store now, Real Racing is the first and only to utilize the cockpit view and create a true sim racing experience. While the external is also nice, you can clearly tell much of the work was put into the cockpit view.
Yet another neat feature (sure to set it apart from the competition) is the online community features put into the game. Players can sign up at cloudcell.com (if they haven’t already created an account for Flight Control) and create a Real Racing profile. From there you can manage your online activities like multiplayer racing leagues, high scores, and best times. If you get bored with singleplayer or have beaten the game, there is plenty of replay available in the online racing leagues. Sign up and race for best times against other players from all over the world. Along with online multiplayer, the game features local multiplayer over wifi. After you’ve been racing for awhile there’s no doubt you’ve had your best and worst moments racing online. If you have a truly awesome race (whether it’s good or bad) you can upload it to Youtube. Simply set your Cloudcell account with the youtube feature (requires a Youtube account) and you’re all set to upload your best and worst of times on the track.
In the end Real Racing is the “real” deal. It is clearly one of the best racers available for the iPhone and the most realistic. If you’re looking for a fun racing game whether it be arcade or a simulation, Real Racing is the game to get.
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