Race 07: Official WTCC Game review

Oct. 2 2007

Simbin's last effort, RACE, left us feeling a little underwhelmed. After the heady heights of GTR 2, the lesser-powered vehicles and lack of graphical polish felt like a bit of a step back for the developers.

But true to the World Touring Car Championship series which it emulates, SimBin are back with this year's version. Complete with the new drivers and tracks featured in this year's WTCC, there's also a whole garage of extra content bolted on. On top of last year's WTCC '87 and Mini racing, the recent Caterham expansion has been included and these are joined by brand new Formula 3000, Formula BMW and Radicals as well.

The driving model is as solid as ever, providing a realistic simulation of the racing included. That means accurate understeer and oversteer, along with practice laps, the twin-race format and men at the side of the track waving flags to alert you of crashes up ahead.

The new cars bring a welcome dose of speed to matters, with the Radicals' great audio and rapid acceleration being especially worthy of a mention. The Formula cars, as expected, provide oodles of grip, as long as you're gentle with the throttle coming out of corners and as anyone who's driven an open-wheeled car can testify, they're also fragile, needing a gentle touch to make it to the finish line.