Mike Bantick
Wednesday, 13 August 2008 18:22
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
The guts of NASCAR 09 has players spending a great deal of time in the workshop, customising a racing vehicle or following NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon's advice as his photo realistic representation takes you through signing up with a race team, latching onto a sponsorship contract and presenting the various challenges that await budding petrol heads.
There is plenty to do once you are set up. The aim is to build (and risk) reputation points in a series of events ranging from a set of 77 driver challenges up to full career mode.
In the driver challenges, players will be asked to fulfil certain conditions to unlock a further set of similar challenges. These could simply be race around the circuit, without touching the wall, or get into the Pits (without breaking the Pit Lane speed limit) in a set time.
There are also one on one duels with renowned NASCAR drivers. These Boss Battles once complete also open up the possibility of a 'I Own This Track' boast.
Moving into the three different Cup challenges, Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series and Craftsman Truck Series, players will be race over the different events attempting to not only simply win each race but also to fulfil their contractual obligations to team and sponsor.
On to the actual racing. Once a player has decided on the Normal (arcade) or Pro (simulation) mode of control it is onto the tracks. Most of which are banked oval style of varying lengths.
Thankfully there is enough variation here to mean that when it comes to car set-up, changing down force, suspension and other handling settings – all of which can be saved for each track, it makes sense to practice a few laps before going in for a timed qualification lap.
