DUCATI WORLD RACING |
Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed paved the path for the racing game to concentrate on one single kind of car. NFS5 was all about Porsche as its name suggests and it won’t take Einstein to figure out that Acclaim’s Ducati World- Racing Challenge is all about Ducati. EA Sports is the uncrowned king in the motorbike racing game arena with the Superbike series and therefore Acclaim had to pull off some thing out of the ordinary with the Ducati World to make it stay in the race, sadly this was not to be. The
publishers mentioned a lot of cool features in the game’s official
website. But don’t be fooled by whatever the makers say. This is one of
those games that do a lot less than it promises. The game boasts of an
absorbing and detailed motorcycle racing with super smooth high-resolution
graphics, the best rider/bike interface and a realistic physics engine.
Well if you can classify a blocky and moderately detailed game as hi-rez,
then this game may be called an astounding piece of creation, but the
physics engine most certainly takes the cake. There were times I just kept
spinning in 360 degrees, for several seconds while making a small turn.
The jumps are most unrealistic and though I used all my Superbike2K
expertise to land perfectly I found myself flying off the bike once too
often. These are just small examples; there are lots of other flaws that
will leave with the desire to bang your head on your monitor. The game AI
sucks. The computer-operated opponents literary try to ride their bike up
the mountains surrounding the Arizona Bay. The bikers start off in such a
hurry at the starting line that they basically try to run each other down
to take the lead. Surprisingly the player starts off a lot later than the
others. But winning the race isn’t a big deal, all thanks to the missing
AI, the bikers fall off their bike once to often for their own good. You
can see them trying to a bore through the mountain as they got stuck while
making a turn as you bike past them waving your hand to them. Well its not
so easy all the time. Once, while making a sharp turn I accidentally lost
control, which resulted in me flying off my bike. I was upset as it was
almost the end of the race and I saw the others ride past me towards the
finish line. Well the worse was still in store. The two most-dreaded words
in a racing game- WRONG WAY, flashed on the middle of my screen. But wait
I was still airborne. I realized after a while that I was flying the wrong
way!!! God help this game!!! Well,
Enough of the game’s shortcomings (I could have gone for some more,
though). The game could have
been a good collector thing for Ducati fans, only if the bikes were more
detailed. The game features over 40 Ducati bikes from the early 50's to
modern day Super Bikes (even Carl Foggarty's SuperBike is featured). The
game has two modes of play, The Quick Race and Ducati World Racing
Challenge modes. In quick race you can upgrade & tune your favorite
Ducati and race on one of many tracks against opponents and also can
challenge a friend (in the 2 player Challenge mode). Play for 'keeps' and
the winner keeps both bikes. In the Ducati World Racing Challenge option
you immerse yourself in the history and culture of the exquisite (??)
bikes in Ducati Life. You will need to win races to open up leagues and
available bikes. The
controls of the game are really sensitive. So sensitive that to get
control of my bike I had to push the steering sensitivity way below the
half point. Besides this it’s OK. This
is multi-platform game. Its also available for the Sony PSone and Sega
Dreamcast After careful observation of the game its can be said that EA Sports has nothing to be afraid of. This game isn’t going to give them a run for their money. Suberbike fans, stick to your brand, I’ll let you know when to change it. This is most certainly not the time. But if you are a Ducati fan, go for it, but don’t come crying to me.
|
Game Info |
Game Name: Ducati World Racing |
Genre: Racing |
Publisher: Acclaim |
Reviewed
by: Sami Mail him. |
Game Score:
[Five lightning
rating] |
Game Tested
on: |
The Good:
Lots of Ducati. |