Superstars V8 The Next Challenge

[jonboy1066]

I finally got my hands on a copy yesterday, even though I'd had it on order on Play.com for ages, they didn't have it in stock until now. I bought the PS3 version because I have more friends who have it for that console although it's also available on XBox 360 and PC
For those who've never heard of this title It came out last month and is a racing title based very accurately around the real Superstars V8 Racing series.

The Cars are mostly RWD 400-450 BHP models and vary including.
Audi RS4 (The only AWD car in the game)
Maseratti Quatraporte
Jaguar S Type
Various BMW M3's
Chrysler 300c
The Chevrolet CR8 (Version of the Holden Commodore/Vauxhall VXR8)
Mercedes C63
Cadillac CTS-V

The tracks are all legendary tracks and all of the tracks used in the real championshp:
Imola
Adria
Magione
Muggello
Portimao
Vallelunga
Monza
Kylami
Varano
Misano Adriatico
+ a Locked track that I've not unlocked yet

I've started by playing offline and have completed the School and Academy levels which were a bit too easy, but I suppose a good place to start if you're new to the Genre (I do doubt though that anyone new to the genre would buy V8's as they'd probably not heard of it, they're more likely to have FM3 in a bundle)

I've also got myself 3 rounds into the offline championship mode.

First Impressions.
I like it a lot, it's exactly what I'm after in a racing game and the complete antidote to the major let down that is FM3 which is a good sandbox game but has been let down by T10's insistance on creating a game that is In their own words........

"More about the car guys......Not so much the racing"

It's kinda no frills so if you were sucked in by the pretty pictures of Forza and GT5P and have now decided that nothing compares based on looks then you probably won't like V8's, which graphically I think is absolutely fine, but then I started my racing game career on ToCA Touring Cars 1 back in 1997 so anything looks good these days compared to that.

BUT!

It's got pretty much everything a motorsport enthusiast will enjoy.
In Championship Mode you can do a full race weekend which comprises of.
Practice
This is a timed 30 minute session where you can learn the track and tweak your setup ready for qualifying. You can do the whole 30 mins, skip it completely or just move to the next session when you feel happy. You'll get a display saying what the fastest time of the session is and where you are in relation to everyone else.

Qualify
Another 30 Minute Session to set a good qualifying lap....same again, you can skip it and start from the back or just move on when you're happy.

Race
In full weekend mode you race against 18 other cars for the amount of laps that you pre-determined at the start of the championship twice.
Race 1 You start in the order of qualifying.
Race 2 Has a reversed top 8 (WTCC Stylee)

Impressive touches
In practice and qualify the AI cars seem to attempt to stay out of your way if you're on a hot lap, especially if they're exiting pit lane. They don't always succeeed but they do try.
Corner Cutting is dealt with by the CPU in a very effective and common sense way and much better than any other console racer that I have played. ie If you cut the track onto grass you will lose grip in a realistic way instead of Forza's sticky grass, if you still gain time and or a position when you rejoin the track the CPU takes hold of your car and slows you down for 3 seconds, if you lose time/positions, you are forgiven your faux pas and can carry on unscathed...in a simillar way to GT5P...but it works, unlike GT5P.

Setup options are kept simple and effective, you can only change a few key things such as suspension, aero, tyres and Engine mapping
Engine mapping is a great touch, you can set the engine from a wet setup which reduces horsepower and increases traction, to an extreme setup which increases HP.

Tyres gives you a choice of Dry-Soft, Medium and Hard as well as wet tyres so you can qualify on Soft rubber to set a good time, them race on the harder rubber for endurance. The tyres do wear during th erace so you need to choose carefully which rubber to use for the track/race length/weather conditions.

There's also a range of preset setups that you can choose for each session to save you worrying about setting up your own car if you like.
AI...so far I have found to be pretty good, they give racing room but not too much and they race well...contact happens, if you leave yourself open to it, but on the whole it is kept to a minimum. I've only tried racing the AI so far on "Hard" setting wich is a bit too easy, in the championships I've set the races to 10 laps and I seem to finish 15 seconds ahead most of the time...there is a "Legendary" setting which I will try out but today I'm just gonna plough through and unlock all of the tracks.

The track lives!!!! Yes it really does, so far I've not had a wet race but I did witness the drying line in the Demo, what I didn't realise was that the track "Rubbers in" over the course of the weekend giving off more grip by race 2 than it did in the practice session, there also seems to be a slight marble effect although you can't see it, you do seem to lose grip off the racing line as the race weekend progreses.

Force Feedback (On fanatec PWTS).......Not sure on this, at first I found that the FFB was awesome as long as you were crashing! On the Gravel and Grass it was second to none, however on track it was pretty much limp with a big deadzone.......Then! for some reason last night halfway through practice at Magione the FFB suddenly kicked in! And the game came to life althoguh there is still a bit of a deadzone, with the Fanatec I reduced the deadzone by adjusting the wheel sensitivity to 210deg, the deadzone is still there but it's easier to get used to. So perhaps with a Logitech wheel turning off "Multiturn" would work.

For comparison on FFB, felt through a Fanatec Porsche wheel, I would give Ferrari Challenge a 10/10....Forza3 a 8.5/10 and V8's a 7/10....not awesome and there's clearly a bug there somewhere but it's pretty good for the price of the game. The steering is one weak point and can be a bit vague at times but it's easy to get used to and once you're immersed in the game you'll hardly notice it.

Handling is good, the terms simulation vs arcade these days get banded about most of the time with the player not actually knowing how a car handles in real life let alone having a driving licence, owning a real car or even having ever driven a real race car...in FM3 for instance I find the handling varies from crazy over/understeer to reletively accurate depending on the car of your choice, the assists you use and how you setup/upgrade the car. In Superstars V8 TNC with all assists off I think the handling is very good....somewhere betweenToCA Race Driver 2 on Pro Sim setting and RACE Pro, it's challenging enough without needing days of practice to get to grips with it.

Damage is difficult to tell at this early stage for me as I've been racing and avoiding crashing where I can, but the cars are no where near as overly fragile as they are in FM3, you can nudge, be nudged, bump and hit a wall without writing your car off but hard hits do effect your steering, gearbox engine etc The pit lane is open but only to drive through as far as I can tell, you cannot stop to repair damage or change tyres.

Multiplayer, so far I only have anecdotal evidence as I've not been online myself yet, but everyone I have spoken to has said that they run regular 16players races online with no lag.

Value for money is awesome.......I payed £29.99 for my copy and am happy...but a mate told me yesterday that he saw it on Amazon for £17.99! At that price I would say it's a must buy!!

In summary if you own a PS3, it's the racing game your console has been crying out for and will last you up until GT5 or F1 '10 (whichever comes first. If you're on XBox360, it's everything Forza isn't for racing, although RACE pro may be a better racing sim, V8's provides a good distraction away from RACE Pro's bugs and unreliable online lobbies...as long as you can get 16 people to race with....

[Stephen H]

Loved the first, as you said in the true spirit of the first toca games, will be getting this at some point, and I hope they carry on with the series.

[nickyf1]

It is very good, I enjoyed the demo, however the steering dead zone in the middle makes for some awkward corner exits, and the steering itself is far too sensitive.

[Matt]

PAL only....awesome...

[rich07]

Nice review Jonboy, I'm intrigued but havent played the first game so I'm still on the fence with this one.

[dyewat808]

In practice and qualify the AI cars seem to attempt to stay out of your way if you're on a hot lap, especially if they're exiting pit lane. They don't always succeeed but they do try.

Slightly off-topic, but this is something I'd like to see in rfactor 2.

Great review by the way!