Full Review for SuperCar Challenge by Kenny 2x4

Introduction

Supercar Challenge is a simulation game developed by Eutechnyx and is the sequel to Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli . Sadly both these games were released somewhat "under the radar" and very few people know about them in fact. However, progressively more and more people are learning about these two games because of their amazing accuracy in car handling, but more so about Supercar Challenge because it's predecessor was very Ferrari based in that very single car available was a Ferrari. Now this game still has a heavy Ferrari filled list of cars, but it includes other cars now such as the Aston Martin DBR9, Pagani Zonda F, Bugatti Veyron, Mercedes-Benz SLR Mclaren Stirling Moss and Mclaren F1. The list of Ferrari cars include the numerous versions of the 430 such as the GT2, Challenge and Scuderia, the FXX, 599XX and the classic 355M. In addition this game's AI is a bit "kinder" to the player as it's predecessor was seen as unfair, however, I will go into detail about this later on. So from those two points you would indeed probably be best to get Supercar Challenge.

Graphics

The graphics are rather poor in my view. It seems Eutechnyx hasn't fully exploited the graphical improvements the PS3 can offer yet as seemingly it's predecessor game wasn't too great either. In saying that it is still an improvement, but it's still not great it has to be said. Objects appear rather flat and lacks the feel of "I'm driving at the [insert circuit name here]" which is a great shame because if the developers were able to create graphics to the level of say Race Driver GRID then this game would feel so much more alive and the player would feel more engaged a VAST amount. Honestly, the track looks like someone got some pencils and drew them rather than using the CAD features of rendering and lighting. In addition to that the tracks have a paradoxical characteristic: they have the correct angle and camber changes for the corners, but ALL of them are FAR too thin to be the real track. This is most visibly seen on the grid when the grid slots are just blatantly too close together if you were to project the lines all the way down and were to compare their distances to each other. In addition, the curbs are completely incorrect. Either they are too much like the ridge speed bumps or they're just not the correct shape compared to the real curbs and this has a negative effect on gameplay as I will discuss later. Final point about the tracks' accuracy are the debatable run offs. It's the fact that Eutechnyx seemed to think it was acceptable to replace the correct run off areas with grass and one of the most criminal displays of this is in fact at the Eau Rouge-Radillon series of corners at Spa. In addition, some run off areas are no where near large enough because they've been closed off with armco barriers and on the forums for Euchtechnyx, the developers said that they wanted to put more "exciting" features on the track. Yes a barrier is going to make me feel more excited at a track that is only about 85% accurate to the real one. A let down then. The cars also lack that shine factor you get when admiring the beauty of the car, it just looks like a fullsized toy! That's how much an eye sore it felt to me in my opinion. It may be different for others, but if you look at the screenshots on this website, you will see what I mean. So graphically it's quite the let down.

Sound

Sound gets solid score of 8 and that is because not only do Eutechnyx go for accuracy in handling, they've done so brilliantly as well in sound. As you listen to the multiple engines of V8s and V12s singing up to the red line you just want more! The sound is just brilliant and they even put some effort into putting sounds of the car bottom out and the revs bouncing if your car goes over a crest or bump. On the other hand, there are two things the developers did NOT do quite so well in creating sound for and one of them is the sound of shifting gears. Depending on which car you drive it will sound like a massive clunk and it doesn't sound pretty especially when if you have heard how the cars really shift if you watch motoring shows like Top Gear or watch the cars in racing. The second thing is the sound of tyres when you lock the brakes or when you've put too much throttle on. The player as the driver feels somewhat distant from feeling exactly what the car is doing in that aspect and it's an important part of a driver: being able to feel when they are pushing the car just a little bit too much and so in essence if you lock up the brakes the only real way you can tell you have done so is the car isn't going towards the apex lest of course you've braked far too late and the only way you can tell you've put too much throttle on is the lack of drive out of the corner just from looking at your surroundings or you've blatantly lost the rear end which goes onto the next point about gameplay nicely.

Gameplay

Gameplay also scores a solid 8, but only just! There are numerous reasons why this game doesn't score a fantastic 10 out of 10 despite it's accuracy to handling being top notch and one of the firsts is a follow on from the previous section about losing the rear of the car. For some reason the game has made it excruciatingly painful to recover a car from a lost rear and I cannot understand why it is given I have had experience of driving in anger at race tracks, lost the rear and recovered it pretty well, but this game makes it PAINFULLY hard. You actually end up fishtailing for a good while before the car settles again and there goes a wasted lap or maybe a position or 2 whilst the AI overtake you or maybe they don't predict you too well and actually shunt you. Another annoying factor about when you lose the rear end or maybe it's just slipping a little bit, driver in the cockpit (if you are using the inboard cameras) will automatically start counter steering it a bit which could be why it's so difficult to correct the car. Now you might think that is helpful, but in fact it's not. If I want to counter steer the car at a specific point I will do so. If I LIKE the car to slide a little so I can get the nose pointing towards the apex then I will MAKE it slide a little and ergo if I go too far then I can correct it and change my approach. This "automatic assistance" the game does is a nuisance because it feels like another babying aid which is no way needed when it already offers a wide variety of driver aids such as braking, steering and the usual traction control, ABS and stability control. Another possibility of the difficulty in correcting the car is in fact how relatively slow the driver in the car moves the steering wheel. It feels like they want to go for a Sunday drive! This is also VERY visibly shown when the driver shifts gears. If it's a stick shift, they are VERY slow to change and if it's a paddle shifter, you don't see the flick of the paddle, the player instead sees the driver moving the finger about as if they were pressing multiple buttons just to shift a gear! Then the amount of steering lock you see is just criminal. If you have seen onboard camera shots of say the Aston Martin DBR9 you will see them turning it 90 degrees left or right whilst racing no problem. In this game it barely goes to 45 degrees and beyond unless you're trundling along at low speeds and really throw the left stick for steering (preferably) left and right seeing as the driver moves so slowly. Now if all this doesn't get you, going off track will. If you download the update patch that sorts out a few little niggles, it will add a rather infuriating one as well. This addition also "cancels" your lap time if you go off the track i.e. If you run a bit wide off a corner with all 4 wheels, it will cancel your time altogether which is completely and utterly pointless since they don't do that in racing anyways unless the person CUTS a corner. Cancelling a time for a corner is absolutely fine, but for going a bit wide? You're having a laugh there my friend. Speaking of cutting corners, they have tried to discourage cutting corners with the penalties except for they use the incorrect penalty method. An actual penalty is a black flag which varies from drive through penalties, stop and go penalties or just plain disqualifications, but they use the "warning" flag which is a black and white flag with a diagonal line. Now since you can't access the pit lane (which will be discussed later on in this section) the only penalty they can give for multiple shortcuts is in fact the DQ. They don't do that, what they do is in fact slow you down for a number of seconds depending on how much you've "cut" the corner and how fast you were going. I used the quotation marks because sometimes you might just push your car a bit too much and therefore have to take to the grass cause you just can't make the corner. DESPITE you as the player continuing to brake to try and get the car slowed down, you'll still most likely receive a "penalty" for your efforts. If you do end up on the grass, the car might as well have stilts for suspension as the car bounces around like a bouncy ball in a rubber room and it's the same for if you go onto the curbs. Not only are they the incorrect shapes, but the car reacts FAR too aggressively to the curbs. A side point about the shape of these curbs is that there was actually a safety point movement to ensure that the BACK of the curbs were flat so that the cars don't get launched into the air. Well Eutechnyx obviously avoided reading that point since the curbs look like they'd make the cars airborne and also ready to shred the tyres too. Now onto set up changes. The set up changes are really MINIMAL in terms of how much you can change. Sure it seems you can do a lot with regards to ride height, toe and camber, but in terms of the suspension, MINIMAL. You get options of soft or hard...Great options! The ride height can vary a ridiculous amount since you can't really lower the car that much otherwise your car bottoms out too much. Time trial and tutorial mode aren't great saviours either since you can still get these "penalties" which is completely and utterly pointless since it's only yourself at the track. Better just to plain cancel the time which previous games have done such as Formula 1 Championship Edition. You can't even restart a time trial session if you damage your car which is another stupidity point. Either allow a restart option or put damage off in time trial. Now if all this isn't bad enough, it seems the rules are one set for you and another for the AI. I have watched the AI running deliberately wide off corners where normally for the player, your time would get cancelled and seemingly cut a number of them as well and yet their times don't get cancelled or they don't get penalties. The irony being also that the suggested racing line at some of these tracks recommends you run wide at some of these corners or cut them a bit. So basically this game plays the hypocritical attitude on you. An additional point that will surely get to you is indeed about this AI "fairness" or not. In my view the AI seems somewhat unfair still in that in racing you are allowed ONE movement to defend your position. That movement does NOT include hitting into the driver attempting to overtake which is absolutely ridiculous and if it's not hitting into you, they'll do double movements. The only clean way to overtake without trading some paint is getting cleaner exits than the AI and just burning right past them on the straight BEFORE the braking zone. The game offers a SIXAXIS "shake your hand at the AI" if you get a bit annoyed, but it doesn't actually serve a real purpose other than the driver in the car can show they can actually drive one handed. The game also does an "equaliser" effect with you and the AI. What I mean by this is, if in qualifying sessions in certain modes that offer it you are HUGELY faster than the AI and in my case 10 seconds at a wet Silverstone, on race day the AI will suddenly manage to pressure you EVERY lap and do the same lap times as you. Hardly going to demonstrate your skill if it's going to become nullified. Speaking of nullified, instead of letting you have an outlap due to no pits when doing qualifying, the developers thought that giving you a flying start to a lap would be a very nice addition. Wrong again. What you find is that your own racing line exits onto the pit straight are far superior than the AI's so the start of your qualifying lap is ALREADY compromised. I already mentioned flags before and for some reason the developers used the white flag to indicate you're on your final lap of the race. The white flag in a race is to indicate there is a slow moving car! It does make you wonder if the Eutechnyx boys ever WATCHED a race never mind read the rules into detail. Finally, this point could possibly fit in the graphics section as well, but it's about the display of information the game gives you. The game's HUD feels VERY old and out of date and if you use the driver's eyes' view of the car, you will find yourself unable to see the speedometer very well because you are in fact too far back from the steering wheel which also hinders your view of the mirrors sometimes. Not that the mirros are that useful anyways! I know mirrors aren't exactly great at times, but they won't be so terrible that you can't actually see ANYTHING useful behind you. You're better off just using the look back button. The only use of the buttons to look side to side (personally I used L2 and R2) is to see where an AI might be in relation to you on the straight if you are attempting an overtake so that then you can judge when it's right to move across to cover your position. The split time counter as well for time trial is quite frankly a pain the back side as well. Giving a continuous split time is always a risky option, but that is why there are SECTORS to give the split times at various points of the track or you just give one per lap i.e. At the Start/Finish line. The split time counter for lap times in time trial is NEVER correct. It's always about 0.1 seconds off. I have no idea about for split times to the AI cars, but presumably from the time trial runs, it's also inaccurate. Absolutely final thing about gameplay and it's the game modes. You have Challenge mode which is career, Quick Race, Arcade, Time Trial, Tournament and Tutorial mode. Now this seems pretty normal and standard, BUT there are a number of issues in that it all seems rushed as if the Eutechnyx boys shoved everything they could into it with multiple options of difficulties that somehow affect the likelihood of rain affected qualifying and race. The Arcade mode is a typical arcade with the player starting at the back of the grid with only a few laps to win and both Challenge Mode and Tournament include a qualifying session as previously mentioned, but it never FEELS like any qualifying session that I have seen on the tv. You go on your run and get shown the pole time to beat and you only get one lap as well! Hardly how qualifying runs.

Lastability

It's somewhat controversial whether this game could or could not last that well. Now a lot of people have found issues actually with quitting the game in that it restarts the PS3 sometimes and I've had this issue as well, but we've been told it won't affect the PS3. Regardless what they say, this is going to put you off playing the game every now and then. Now despite my rather heavy criticism of the gameplay, if you can bare with it all, unlock the main cars and acquire them by buying them with the in-game credits and restrict your game play to quick races and time trial to some of the tracks then it's still a fun game, provided also you don't run wide, drive over a curb or push too hard and get the penalty for "cutting" a corner. Debatable, but as a fan of wanting games that give a simulation of what it feels to drive these cars I personally can handle some of the stuff if it means I can "drive" some of these fantastic supercars, but because the list is filled with a lot of cars most probably haven't heard of, or cars that you wouldn't find racing anyways or would like to drive then that puts the lastability down quite a lot. If the car list was filled with more Pagani Zondas like the Zonda R 2007 and 2009 spec, the Koenigsegg CCXR, some Lambourghinis, some more Mercedes like the AMG and also some Porsches, it would probably have put the lastability to an 8 just about.

Overall

Overall this game gets a reasonable score of 7. For all it's simulation of the car's handling and it's immense accuracy it is let down by graphics that are probably suitable for a PS1, lack of accuracy in track illustration, AI attributes that are unfair, the hypocritical computer and the various other issues I have found with this game that have been detailed in this review, it's still worthwhile to get the simulation effect of how a car feels on the track (to a certain degree). If you add all of these issues and some of them are somewhat niggly together, sometimes you, yourself, the player can feel distant from the action. As if you're not really making it all happen since you get babyed by an "automatically assisting" counter steering driver and the driver's motions are very slow and passive. So if you want to get a feel for how a number of much wanted cars handle, it's very much worth giving the game a bash, but you will feel somewhat distanced.

Final Score: 72%