Reviewed: July 16, 2008
Reviewed by: David Shattuck
Publisher
Electronic Arts
Developer
Tiburon
Released: June 10, 2008
Genre: Racing
Players: 1-14
5
5
7
3
5.2
Supported Features:
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
Before I start on this critique of NASCAR '09, you, the reader, have a right to know that I went into this game both spoiled and biased; spoiled because last week I had the pleasure of reviewing Codemasters' GRID, and biased because I am, by no stretch of the imagination, a fan of NASCAR. With that said, I will do my best to present a fair evaluation and I hope you will forgive me for the rantings that are bound to follow this intro.
NASCAR '09 is the twelfth game in EA Sports' NASCAR series, which dates back to 1997 when NASCAR '98 hit the PlaySation and Sega Saturn. '09 was developed by EA Tiburon, the EA studio in Maitland, FL which is also responsible for the Madden, NCAA Football, NFL Street, NFL Head Coach, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour franchises.
The single-player career mode centers around the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, which (in real life) is the sport's highest level of professional competition. Players will start out in a large, busy garage with a live-action Jeff Gordon as a personal assistant and tour guide. Jeff is apparently an exceedingly generous and trusting individual because within five minutes of meeting them, he will offer to let the rookie players take his prized #24 stock car out onto the track.
This opening test drive is to demonstrate to the new player the difference between Normal and Pro driving modes so they can decide which they would like to stick with. The difference between the two is that the car in Normal mode handles well enough that you can take turns without letting off the throttle, while the handling in Pro mode is more realistic and, subsequently, much more difficult.
Once the driving mode has been selected, Jeff will escort the player through the preliminary steps of the quest to win the all-important Sprint Cup. This includes an impressively customizable paint job, selecting sponsor decals for decoration, and signing with a racing team. Once all the paperwork with the racing team and sponsors is squared away, it's off to the races.
There are quite a few real-life tracks and race events to choose from. Although the tracks appear to all be the same at first glance, they actually have subtle differences such as track length and angle of turns which players will have to take into account, especially if they elected to go with Pro mode. Regardless of the track, event, or driving mode, the average player will have settled into a routine by the second or third lap. Once a few turns have been successfully negotiated, winning is a simple matter of perpetual repetition.
The artificial intelligence that governs the decisions and driving styles of the computer-generated opponents is perfectly content to keep everybody in two neat columns traveling at the same speed. Any interaction with these opponents will probably lead to a yellow flag and a race delay, effectively making the other cars on the track little more than a timer. Apparently EA was worried that something interesting might happen if they put any variety into the racing experience.
The career mode will take the player to races all around the country in a fairly accurate representation of the real-life Sprint Cup series. Players will earn reputation with every win, eventually unlocking additional sponsors (with associated car decals). With enough wins and reputation, the player will have a shot at taking home the Sprint Cup.
Unfortunately, the gameplay grows repetitive so quickly that it is hard to imagine any but the most die-hard NASCAR fans sustaining enough interest to endure the game for that long. The majority of players will probably forsake the game within the first hour or two in favor of something more engaging...like sleeping...or knitting...or anything else.
One bright spot in the game is the "Sprint Driver Challenge", which is new to the series in '09. Players undertake a wide variety of challenges which will help them improve their driving by testing one aspect of their racing-game at a time, such as maintaining speed while turning or drafting for extended periods of time. When the player passes a test, they are rewarded with reputation, performance points, and access to more difficult challenges.
Performance points can be used in the garage to tweak various attributes of the player-made cars, such as acceleration, handling, braking, suspension, etc. These driver challenges are a breath of not-quite-as-stale air since they are shorter and much more diverse than the average race day. They will also be a solid boost for players pushing for the Sprint Cup since both man and machine will benefit from successful completion of these training exercises.
The graphics in NASCAR 09 are thoroughly underwhelming. The background scenery is exceptionally bland, the stands at race events are tiled with completely identical 2D paintings of stationary fans, and every single RV is the same make and model with the same paint job. The cars themselves are glossy and sharp, but even they are just identical models with different colored skins. They look particularly ridiculous when the most violent of crashes begets little more than paint scratches.
Those NASCAR fans who live for the crashes will find the damage graphics to be mostly absent and the physics of cars spinning out of control to be not quite right. When pushed to the extremes, the physics engine in NASCAR 09 fails completely. The game was released barely over a month ago and YouTube is already saturated with videos of glitched crashes. The good news is that the game usually runs flawlessly, with no lag and reasonably short loading screens.
On the bright side, Jeff Gordon's appearances throughout the game were well done. EA did such a solid job of using a green screen to capture his likeness that he looks and sounds real enough to ask for an autograph. His tips are extremely helpful for new players getting used to navigating around the otherwise confusing garage, and he also explains the differences between various gameplay modes. The paint shop which gives players the ability to customize the look of their cars was also done well. The controls are intuitive and there is a healthy collection of colors, fonts, designs, and decals to choose from.
Although I have never personally attended a NASCAR event, I've had people tell me that the sounds of those cars tearing around the track is so intense that you can feel them thundering through your soul with every lap. Any players hoping to recreate that experience with NASCAR '09 will probably be disappointed.
The audio quality is respectable, but nothing particularly exciting. During a race, only the occasional pointless comment from the pit crew interrupts the relentless and fairly mild drone of the engines. While not on the track, the player will experience a steady rotation between a generic "garage-sounds" audio clip and country music, with Jeff Gordon popping up every now and again to offer a tip of some sort.
The amount of play-time that a particular player can put into this game before losing interest will probably depend heavily on their enthusiasm for NASCAR itself. Veteran gamers with little to no interest in the motorsport will likely abandon the game in short order. Hardcore fans who like to see themselves up on the big screen with the big names might be willing to log the many hours required to snag that Sprint Cup. A player's location on the fan spectrum will be directly proportional to their location on the hours played spectrum.
In most X360 games, online multiplayer action is a short trip through a few menus. In NASCAR 09, the player has to read and agree to the terms of use and has to create an EA account to ensure that EA Sports has all their contact information. Thank goodness. We wouldn't want to miss any opportunities to get junk mail. Online play eliminates the drudgery of racing against a computer, but greatly magnifies the frequency and irritation of a yellow flag and a delayed race. Nothing on the internet attracts young kids quite like an opportunity to annoy mature gamers by shooting friendly players or blowing up the team's Warthog or (in the case of NASCAR '09) intentionally causing crashes.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, I am not a fan of NASCAR. The entire concept of driving several hundred laps around a huge oval strikes me as unfathomably boring. However, I understand that the "sport" is wildly popular and the perpetual, unwavering monotony is thoroughly enthralling for the 75 million fans worldwide. If you are one of them, you will be glad to know that this game captures the heart and soul of the motorsport brilliantly.
The gameplay is bland and mercilessly repetitive, the cars and their AI drivers are all the same except for the paint, country music saturates every free moment, and Jeff Gordon has flames on his sleeves. If you enjoy NASCAR and daydream about what it would be like to make the tens of thousands of left turns it takes to win a Sprint Cup, this is the game for you. Knock yourself out.
As a side note, I have a lot of respect for Jeff Gordon. In 1998, NASCAR named him one of the 50 greatest NASCAR drivers of all time. He has also won the coveted Sprint Cup 4 times. Only Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt have more titles. Becoming one of the greatest of all time at anything as popular as NASCAR takes a great deal of skill, hard work, and dedication. For that, I tip my hat. On the other hand...Jeff I appreciate your enthusiasm, but you are not an actor. When EA asks you to be on the cover of '11, please tell them that your resume is already awesome enough. Tell them I said so.