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Good Game | | no name from Chicago says (25/Oct/2004): | This is the single best NASCAR game ever released. There are still some problems though.
Replays suck. Watching the replay after a race consists of video of part of one lap from five different places ("reels") in the race. The gameplay is so great and the graphics so decent that after you've fought to win a race, it would be great to sit back and watch all the action again. Five partial laps, no choice over which car to watch, no choice over camera angles -- no controls at all. Why is it that after three years no game still comes close to GT3 for replays and car graphics?
The car physics still lean towards the arcade-style. Featherlite Modifieds are very fast on ovals (and undriveable on anything with a right turn) because the cars -- engines, drivelines, wheels -- are all purpose-built to the left for fast cornering. That means they are very tricky to turn right, even on a straight to avoid an accident. But in NASCAR 2005 they drive like any other racing stock car, though still better than Dirt to Daytona.
The manual is the shortest for any racing game I've seen. It is comprehensive in the overview it provides but for detailed navigation of the game you just have to wander around and hope to find what you're looking for. I finally found the toggle which turns on the Informative Best Line (IBL) which provides a graphic of the best line through the course as well as braking and acceleration points during practice -- it was under Settings > Display after you hit Start during practice to get the Pause menu. There's no reference to replays at all.
Much of what would have been put in a manual concerning cars and driving has been included in short game videos narrated by NBC Nextel Cup commentator Bill Weber. They're not detailed but they give you info quickly and in useable form, allowing you to go racing competitively right away, and it's all learning and going faster from there. The training and practicing mode teaches techniques like passing, blocking, drafting, etc., but after working through passing I got hung up in the first blocking test (a practice in NASCAR that no other series permits) and I can't try new techniques until I pass this one. Bo-o-o.
While there are tons of well-known drivers in most divisions (I didn't recognize any names in the modifieds), a bunch are missing including most of the Toyota truck racers and, curiously, the trucks' manufacturer info (Ford, Chev, Dodge, and Toyota) are all absent -- they all look the same. Hmmmm.
The invented road courses are pretty lame, and while Watkins Glen is included (I haven't checked to see if it's only the shorter NASCAR course or the full F1 course) though I haven't come across Nextel Cup's other road course, the Infineon course at Sonoma. You can win other road courses, like Daytona, Phoenix, etc.
The Hero/Villain and rewards points -- I had +70,000 after just a few hours of testing -- give the racing the kind of interaction that requires both skill and thoughtfulness to win, and to move up the ladder. Bashing your way to the front costs points and you may find that the guy you punted early in the race comes up later and puts you into the wall without warning -- BAM! This is the ultimate NASCAR racing game. Finally, an awesome NASCAR game that deserves to be listed with Gran Turismo 3, V-Rally 3, and Le Mans 24 Hours. Last year's game offered 20 consecutive seasons of Nextel Cup *yawn* but all the options, four pro series, and various challenges and modes give this game lots of diversity and replayability. If you love racing, you'll love NASCAR 2005: The Chase For The Cup.
Note: You get a free cheat/hint in return by e-mail for registering your game onine with EA: Check the rear of your manual.
Also My prayers go out to the Hendrick family and those families who lost loved ones on the plane yesterday. I am deeply sorry this happened, Including Ricky Hendrick.
Ricky Hendrick
April 2, 1980 - October 24, 2004
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