Graphics and sound
Graphically, TOCA Race Driver 3 is a strangely mixed bag… The cars, for the most part, look superb. The attention to detail with the car models is superb, but this is let down by some flat looking textures in places. So when you’re screaming around in your Paris- Dakar 4x4 you’ll notice the roll cage inside the car, the spare wheels stowed in the back and how dull the paintjob looks. As an opponent goes racing by, notice the sun flashes glinting off his coach work and then wonder, like I do, why the textures all just seem a bit flat.
Speaking of flat, TOCA Race Driver 3 has the flattest crowds since Stewart the Steamroller went wild at the funfair. Sure, drawing people isn’t the most fun job in the world but I’m pretty sure that 2D sprites such as these went out with Doom 2. Considering you’ll spend some time in a gravel trap, or rubbing the Armco or losing your cool and just revving the nuts off your car whilst pulling donuts, you won’t be able to miss the rotten crowds. Jeez, even Tiger Woods 2004 pulled off better crowds than this.
Click for larger imageThe tracks themselves are detailed enough and, from what little experience I’ve had of these circuits, they’re faithful to the real life versions. Get in the rally cars though and TOCA Race Driver 3 starts to shine again. You tend not to notice it on the track, but haring down a country lane highlights the real time reflections and shadowing going on over your car. Ok, I know that reflections aren’t a big deal anymore, but the sun dappled leafy shadows, morphing as they travel over the contours of your car are very cool.
In the sound department, TOCA Race Driver 3 has gone to town with a system that hasn’t just sampled the sounds of various engines, but taken all the sounds that a car blatting along at silly speeds will make… with the exception of the “Oh crap…ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap” you’d hear from the driver as he drifts off towards the crash barrier at 150 Mph. Mixing engine, exhaust and gearbox noises produces a more realistic sound, but to be honest, in the midst of a race you very probably won’t notice.
You will hear when an opponent is creeping up behind you though, and when you’re in the middle of the pack, jostling for the line through a corner then the sound does immerse you in the game. Suffice to say that a 5.1 or 4.1 speaker set up will do the game justice. The off road races are particularly well served with gravel plinking of the wheel arches constantly through the rear speakers… It’s all good stuff.
