NASCAR The Game 2011 Review

Although I’ve spent weeks careening around the replicated tarmac surfaces of the Forza, F1, and Shift franchises, the merits of a concentrated stock car simulation have largely evaded me. Blame the three-year hiatus since console gamers were given a true recreation of the sport, leaving the bulk of my oval track experience to Gran Turismo‘s constrained Daytona and Indianapolis recreations. With NASCAR The Game 2011, developer Eutechnyx hopes to remedy this deficiency by utilizing fourteen years of dedicated racing game experience to reinvigorate the lapsed stock car license. Like a promising rookie driver, NASCAR 2011 shows mastery of the fundamentals, yet also succumbs to its share of greenhorn gaffes.

Following a short video tutorial, the title’s single-season campaign propels players right into the Sprint Cup series. While an extensive Skip Barber-styled racing school might be beyond the scope of the games, a handful of optional, interactive lessons would have been welcome. Unlike most racing titles, which concentrate on course navigation, NASCAR 2011‘s focus is on maintaining pack position, strategically advancing when an opportunity arises. As such, novices should expect a bit of discouragement as AI drivers induce a bump capable of sending gamers spinning toward a track’s fringes.

Yet, once players garner the necessary skills of drafting and maintaining speed, jostling around a crowd of cars in an undeniably engaging experience. Knowing that a feeble shunt has the capacity to initiate a full-field chain reaction of crashes, NASCAR requires drivers to balance courtesy with competitiveness, a principal absent from most win-at-all-cost racers. Whereas previous stock car titles have allowed players to sling past opponents on the high or low corners, NASCAR 2011’s AI cars have comparable speeds, often forcing an overtake within the heart of a heated horde. Following the trend of most contemporary racing sims, the title provides players with both a handful of optional driving aids, and the ability to rewind time. While having a limited number of recovery opportunities can diminish the game’s well cultivated tension, it’s also an invaluable resource when players crash during the last moments of a hundred lap race.

Beyond a proficient pack-racing model, the title’s recreation of tracks is equally capable. Nuances such as bank elevation and turn angles embed each track with personality, instigating high speed spinouts at Talladega’s tri-oval  or paint swamping on Bristol’s high angled bends. Those who consider stock car racing to be  an endless succession of trouble-free left turns will have to change their stance, as each of NASCAR 2011’s tracks oblige mastery, lest players find themselves on the apron or against a wall.

Although NASCAR 2011 makes an remarkable early impression, a number of blemishes become evident as players persevere through the season. Even NASCAR neophytes will notice something amiss with the game’s crash physics, which send vehicles tumbling end over end, resisting the forces of gravity. While I consistently employed a orthodox pit strategy, AI drivers were persistently perilous in their pitting tactics. From the sporadic deployment of yellow hazard flags to the ease of qualifying laps, NASCAR aficionados are likely to discern a number of blemishes. Meanwhile, multiplayer matches are related to sixteen drivers, diminishing the nervous energy of the game’s pack mechanics. While many of these flaws should have remedied before release, Eutechnyx is monitoring any issues and has been actively patching NASCAR 2011.

Visually, the title is title is consistently stunning, with immaculately modeled cars and tracks, as well as impressive sky textures. With a full field of 43 cars hurtling around each track, the framerate is dependably solid, only faltering during sizable multi-car pile-ups. For gamers with an artistic side, the ability to create your own decal placements and paint scheme is likely to garner the attention of rival drivers. Without television-style commentary, most of the vocal work is limited to communication from your spotter, who has the tendency to repeat the phrase “clear” with vexing frequency.