RockTheCasba
07-31-2007, 01:34 AM
man thats a really low score. read this for sure if you are thinking about buying.
ASCAR 08 Review
Are you ready for some NASCAR? EA apparently wasn't...
July 26, 2007 - EA's NASCAR series had become fairly robust on the last generation of consoles, but in the race to the current systems it has lost a lot of its horsepower. With the loss of core gameplay aspects like Total Team Control and a number of other play mechanics, poor visuals and spotty online play, NASCAR 08 is a far cry from what was already only a decent racing title.
A large part of the problem is that we don't have elements like Total Team Control, Intimidation, stat tracking or anything else that you'll find on the last-gen systems. The Season mode, which we'll come back to in a bit, is about as basic as possible, and your only other non-online option is The Chase, a goal-based career mode that is only somewhat engaging.
But even on the track you'll find plenty of problems. Driving in a crowded pack with an analog stick is very tricky, no thanks to an entirely imperfect control setup. You' re given a couple options for tweaking the linearity and responsiveness of the controls, but we couldn't find a sweet spot where we felt that the driving felt correct. It's not like it's impossible to do with an analog stick, either. When you compare the controls to other games like Gran Turismo, Forza, PGR or many others, they just feel entirely un-tuned. Because of this, all "correct" aspects of racing are basically thrown out the window because you'll have an incredibly hard time keeping position in a pack and waiting for an opening.
Still going left...
Still going left...
Driving wheels are supported, though Force Feedback support is very poorly implemented. While you'll feel jolts for hitting the wall or other cars, the game locks the wheel at full power at all times during a race, requiring that you man-handle the wheel in order to turn. It's far easier to just pull the power plug and use the wheel loosely, which allows for much more precise steering, though at a loss of all Force Feedback.
The main mode of the game, The Chase, which you're actually thrust in to when you first start it up, is a semi-interesting mode that has you first complete a number of challenges before attempting to earn a contract, and then racing under said contract for a team. The ultimate goal here is to actually run your own team. It works reasonably well, though you'll find that going through each of the challenges winds up being repetitive as there isn't a whole lot of variety. For example, a passing challenge and slingshot challenge are the same aside from the fact that you must first draft in order to slingshot around someone. There are a few interesting situations, like one where you need to avoid a pileup and make it out unscathed, but most everything else is rather plain.
Speaking of the pileup challenge where you must avoid a crash, we're not sure why this was included as you'll rarely need to actually do this during a race. Anytime that a collision happens, the game quickly resets everything under a yellow flag and puts you in autopilot for a bit. It happens so quickly that crashes barely get started before you lose control and you're yanked out into a caution lineup. There goes the most exciting part of the sport...
Attempting to stay in this pack with these controls is damn near impossible.
The Season mode is about as bare-bones as you can get. After picking to race as an existing driver, you enter race after race and rack up as many points as you can. There aren't any sponsorship options or anything of that nature happening here, so you're just racing. While this may be fine for those who don't want to bother managing extraneous stuff, you'll find that it's so bare-bones that you don't even get an ending. After finishing the last race, you're left at the same racing option screen as you are after every other race, except that you don't have any races left. There's no podium celebration for the points winner or anything. You can either sit there and stare at the screen, or quit. We chose the latter.
Closing Comments
NASCAR 08 is bare-bones, unpolished and uninspired. When you don't even have any sort of ending wrap-up screen for the Season mode, you know you're in trouble. Hardcore NASCAR fans will no-doubt rally behind the title and say that the reviews are wrong and that we just don't understand the sport, but there's very little to the package. And believe it or not, it doesn't even turn left very well.
IGN Ratings for NASCAR 08 (X360)
Rating Description See Our Glorious Home Theater Setup!
out of 10 click here for ratings guideGet Ratings Information
5.5 Presentation
The Season mode doesn't have a proper ending. WTF?
5.0 Graphics
Muddy textures, very little visual flair and still has shadows that pop into view. Bleh.
7.5 Sound
Engine sounds are pretty good and the music is decent if you're into southern rock.
5.0 Gameplay
A loss of standardized mechanics like Total Team Control takes this back to square one. Control with an analog stick borders on being terrible.
6.0 Lasting Appeal
Playing full races through a full season would take a while, and there's always online.
5.0
Meh OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)
ASCAR 08 Review
Are you ready for some NASCAR? EA apparently wasn't...
July 26, 2007 - EA's NASCAR series had become fairly robust on the last generation of consoles, but in the race to the current systems it has lost a lot of its horsepower. With the loss of core gameplay aspects like Total Team Control and a number of other play mechanics, poor visuals and spotty online play, NASCAR 08 is a far cry from what was already only a decent racing title.
A large part of the problem is that we don't have elements like Total Team Control, Intimidation, stat tracking or anything else that you'll find on the last-gen systems. The Season mode, which we'll come back to in a bit, is about as basic as possible, and your only other non-online option is The Chase, a goal-based career mode that is only somewhat engaging.
But even on the track you'll find plenty of problems. Driving in a crowded pack with an analog stick is very tricky, no thanks to an entirely imperfect control setup. You' re given a couple options for tweaking the linearity and responsiveness of the controls, but we couldn't find a sweet spot where we felt that the driving felt correct. It's not like it's impossible to do with an analog stick, either. When you compare the controls to other games like Gran Turismo, Forza, PGR or many others, they just feel entirely un-tuned. Because of this, all "correct" aspects of racing are basically thrown out the window because you'll have an incredibly hard time keeping position in a pack and waiting for an opening.
Still going left...
Still going left...
Driving wheels are supported, though Force Feedback support is very poorly implemented. While you'll feel jolts for hitting the wall or other cars, the game locks the wheel at full power at all times during a race, requiring that you man-handle the wheel in order to turn. It's far easier to just pull the power plug and use the wheel loosely, which allows for much more precise steering, though at a loss of all Force Feedback.
The main mode of the game, The Chase, which you're actually thrust in to when you first start it up, is a semi-interesting mode that has you first complete a number of challenges before attempting to earn a contract, and then racing under said contract for a team. The ultimate goal here is to actually run your own team. It works reasonably well, though you'll find that going through each of the challenges winds up being repetitive as there isn't a whole lot of variety. For example, a passing challenge and slingshot challenge are the same aside from the fact that you must first draft in order to slingshot around someone. There are a few interesting situations, like one where you need to avoid a pileup and make it out unscathed, but most everything else is rather plain.
Speaking of the pileup challenge where you must avoid a crash, we're not sure why this was included as you'll rarely need to actually do this during a race. Anytime that a collision happens, the game quickly resets everything under a yellow flag and puts you in autopilot for a bit. It happens so quickly that crashes barely get started before you lose control and you're yanked out into a caution lineup. There goes the most exciting part of the sport...
Attempting to stay in this pack with these controls is damn near impossible.
The Season mode is about as bare-bones as you can get. After picking to race as an existing driver, you enter race after race and rack up as many points as you can. There aren't any sponsorship options or anything of that nature happening here, so you're just racing. While this may be fine for those who don't want to bother managing extraneous stuff, you'll find that it's so bare-bones that you don't even get an ending. After finishing the last race, you're left at the same racing option screen as you are after every other race, except that you don't have any races left. There's no podium celebration for the points winner or anything. You can either sit there and stare at the screen, or quit. We chose the latter.
Closing Comments
NASCAR 08 is bare-bones, unpolished and uninspired. When you don't even have any sort of ending wrap-up screen for the Season mode, you know you're in trouble. Hardcore NASCAR fans will no-doubt rally behind the title and say that the reviews are wrong and that we just don't understand the sport, but there's very little to the package. And believe it or not, it doesn't even turn left very well.
IGN Ratings for NASCAR 08 (X360)
Rating Description See Our Glorious Home Theater Setup!
out of 10 click here for ratings guideGet Ratings Information
5.5 Presentation
The Season mode doesn't have a proper ending. WTF?
5.0 Graphics
Muddy textures, very little visual flair and still has shadows that pop into view. Bleh.
7.5 Sound
Engine sounds are pretty good and the music is decent if you're into southern rock.
5.0 Gameplay
A loss of standardized mechanics like Total Team Control takes this back to square one. Control with an analog stick borders on being terrible.
6.0 Lasting Appeal
Playing full races through a full season would take a while, and there's always online.
5.0
Meh OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)