Race Pro

let me start by saying that im a 28 year old mechanic so i know a thing or to about cars, THIS GAME SUCKS save your money and buy forza 2 for half the price you get a far superior game that gives you way more tweeking options and cars.

i hate arcade style racers and i was realy looking forward to this game coming onto the xbox as its had such a great following on the pc but when i got it i couldnt beleive that the cars dont even have a handbrake i mean yeh sure you shouldnt realy need it but when your in an underpowered car trying to get it round a stupidly tight corner a little dab here and there would be handy.

the brake indicator is usless as it is kind of the same idea as forza only it doesnt change due to how fast your car is going, its just a permenent line on the road that when it goes red you need to brake hard however you can sit stationary on this red line so what i still need to brake ?????

best off wait for forza 3 its not long now.

I've anticipated this title since it was first announced ages ago, then called GTR. This is a good title for those that really appreciated forza and the "sim-like" feeling of the cars and have explored that "world" to the point where you feel like you need something new and fresh.

There are single player modes that will let you explore all aspects of the game and from my perspective single player wont offer any challenge unless you race with professional settings (assists off and hard ai, though automatic transmission is still allowed). My feeling is that this game is really made for racing with human opponents. So far I've only completed a few online races due to problem when connecting to ranked games.

I've not yet tried it with the Steering wheel, but I prefer the controller in forza and other racing games as well. It's very balanced with controller which naturally it must be for a console game.

The race line assist is poorly implemented compared to forza where it feels painted on the track and doesn't change dynamically to show where to break based on your speed. But I went straight into pro mode and only explored semi-pro and novice to get the achievements. I do believe that these modes are necessary for the casual racer.

Forza offers hours of exploration outside the pure racing with it's customization of cars and building your cars to match the different classes. From my perspective I also really appreciated the Livery editor and Auction house of forza. But again it's clear Race Pro focus on racing and only that.

Forza also has a fantastic official community with forum and this I can not find anywhere for Race Pro on Simbin or Atari's official page.

Race Pro let's you customize the settings very much and you can probably spend countless hours tuning to perfection. For me I appreciate the tuning possibilities, but more than anything I appreciated the possibility in forza to "borrow" tunings from the leaderboards to apply to cars in your own garage.

The lobby in Race Pro offer you to customize settings and try them out before the race starts which is very positive, this might however also have the effect of hanging more in the lobby waiting for a race to start.

If you haven't already got Forza 2 in your collection, you need not buy this title, if you do have Forza 2 and want more sim-style-racing I guess you've already bought this game :) if not do. For me Forza 2 is a 10/10 and this is 8/10. If you prefer arcade-style-racing go for pgr4.

I run full resolution 1920x1080 on a computer monitor with vga connection and graphics are a bit jerky which is a big downer, but it's still fully playable - it's just disappointing. I need to test this on a LCD-TV as well just to be sure it doesn't have anything to do with 50/60Hz issues.

Graphics look last gen, serious frame rate issues, poor AI even on professional.
I wouldnt recommend buying this, maybe rent it if you really want to try it.

Ok, first off, people need to be aware that Race Pro is a racing simulation, not an arcade game. If you want really fancy graphics, over the top damage models, instant adrenaline rushes and the ability to beat the game with no real practice look elsewhere (GRID or PGR4 maybe?). However, if you are more interested in the quality of the physics engine to model a car that actually feels like a car, an excellent racing experience, and a true sense of achievement gained after many hours of practice, then welcome to Race Pro. I honestly think that people who are slating this game are coming to the Race Pro party for all the wrong reasons. These people will probably be much better off with GRID, or PGR4. However, if Forza 2 is more your thing, then this game will bring a smile to your face. The external car graphics may not be on par with Forza 2 perhaps, but as a simulation game, you'll only be playing this from the in car view anyway, right? It's lucky then that this view gives the best sense of being there than any racing game I've played to date on the 360. I really liked Forza 2, thought PGR 4 was an overrated piece of arcadey rubbish, and only wish that Race Pro contained the same depth and levels of customisation that Forza 2 had. That said, if Forza 2 is getting a little stale, this should be your next purchase. The damage model on Race Pro is good, and does both affect handling and the look of your car. I don't undestand how others can say that this is not the case, unless perhaps they are using the easy mode and trying to make it more arcadey. Certainly in the higher difficulties, damage is there, and makes a difference. Race Pro is a great racing experience that will keep you hooked, but only if you're honest with yourself, and decide you'd rather have a simulation game than an arcade racer. It's not without a few technical problems, but these have been acknowledge by Atari, and a patch is coming in the next few weeks over Xbox Live. Well done to Simbin for creating a proper racer on the Xbox that lives up to their reputation gained on the PC.

To business
The graphics: Yeah okay the metallic paint is a bit dodgy but the cloth and carbon fibre are excellent as is the road surface which is way better than forza's smooth black slick
The physics: Handling is excellent each car is slightly different and the road surface is very realistic including potholes this is best shown on laguna seca after the corkscrew there is a rough patch which isn't in forza
The ai: Pretty clever ai although it can be a little easy due to the inflexible assists system but that only plagues career
The noise: Engine, brakes, tyres, gearbox and clutch all the revs squeaks and rattles are included, the radical sr3 is amazing :),
The problems: There are some major but infrequent frame rate issues but i only got them in a single race on monza 16 car field 19 87 wtcc in an alfa sim damage etc just dont overstress it
The only other problem ihave had is with the dodge charger srt8 superbee unlock code i bought the game with i dont know where to enter it so errr help
Online: Dont ask me i dont have it.
All in all a great game but it has nothing to do with forza really this game harks back to toca racedriver 1 it is a true sim not a simarcade hybrid