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R: Racing Review - Xbox

Engines come to life, as the cars take to the track. In the very competitive world of motor sport where it is a males domain, what happens when you throw in a couple of competitive chicks into the action. Welcome to the world of R:Racing.

R:Racing at the heart of it, is a struggle between two women to make a name for themselves on the track, with more at stake with pride, team, and gender on the line. Gamebiz takes a ride around the track, to find out what R:Racing can offer.

Gameplay

The defining difference between R:Racing and the others is its story mode. Where you enjoy CG sequences following the story of Rena an ambulance driver come raceway champ. The story develops the relationship between the two female competitors Rena and Gina. Rena finds herself racing for G.V.I. a team that many do not like including Gina. Hence the competitiveness between them plus who does not like winning! There are 14 chapters that follow Rena through the ranks until the final race. The final race leaves a little bit to be desired. The racing is fine it is how the story was wrapped up people may find disappointing. However it feels that is why some of the racing options have been included because of how the story is wrapped up.

Throughout the life on the track the rewards are Reward Points or RP for short. These are needed to progress through the next option of racing. Event racing is a natural progression where the use of RPs will open up the track to earn further points. In total there are 166 events that can be opened up. These require RP and will take a while to earn. However it is not just about the tracks. There are 33 cars that can be bought, revamped with more power and less weight. All of this costs adding some what to replayability. Arcade racing is for those who want to pick any of the 14 tracks select a car and go racing against the AI. Time Attack is the option to improve time and skill. The multiplayer in R:Racing is only available for two players which is a shame.

One of the unique features built into the game was the AI pressure meter. This feature showed how much pressure was being applied to the opponent. It would start of small when the distance behind them was great, as the distance decrease and tactics were applied to increase the pressure which would turn red. This would set off a AI event of crashing or over steering allowing the chance to zip past and take up the position.

The controls are easy to pick and mostly stock standard to other racing games out there. Essentially accelerate and brakes are the triggers ... (continued next page)