Race Pro review

Send in the professionals

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    No-frills approach

  • +

    Finally a hardcore racing sim on Live

  • +

    Online championships will last years

Cons

  • -

    Lacks expected presentation

  • -

    Graphics could look a little slicker

  • -

    Career mode isn't massive

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Without doubt, Race Pro is going to test even the most enthusiastic of console racers and for a number of reasons. We’ve been raised and spoilt with high production, big budget, bells-and-whistles racing games for years. Need For Speeds, Forzas, Gothams, Gran Turismos and GRID have accustomed us to extremely high standards. And here rocks up Race Pro, looking a bit rough around the edges, with five-year-old-PC-game presentation, and it expects us to sit up and pay attention. And you know what? You should…

If you don’t know already, developers SimBin are not only run by a talented chap who happens to also be two-time Swedish GT Racing Champion, they also have an extensive gaming past with PC Touring Car and GT simulators like Race 07 and GTR.

Predictably, like their previous titles, Race Pro is an equally no-nonsense simulator that combines a similar range of vehicles like you’d find in GRiD (such as the Mini Cooper, Radical, Caterham, Formula BMW, Aston Martin DB9 and Koenigsegg) with simulation racing of a similar depth to Forza. To be brutally honest, Race Pro doesn’t look as pretty as either of these, but then, you don’t have to be a good looker to be a good racing game. You’ll have to play it ‘properly’ to find out, though. While driver assistance and a forgiving AI learning curve have been added to make the game more accessible to the console audience, all they managed to achieve it to desensitize you from what the game can actually do.

Only when you turn off as many aids as you can handle and truly immerse yourself in the experience will you appreciate what Race Pro is capable of. It’s not a tyre smoke fuelled crash-fest (in fact, the damage system feels fairly rudimentary), but it’s a rare opportunity to play accurate, FIA-approved seasons and championships.

Unfortunately for those without Xbox Live (or a system link cable), you’ll soon find the limitations of the single-player mode. Okay, so there’s a career mode and a full-on championship mode (if you wish to create your own Touring Car or single-make season) but they won’t last long. In truth, they’re little more than training for what the game will be bought for – extremely hard-fought online racing. This is where Race Pro will find its niche – with the Andy Priaulx baseball cap-wearing enthusiasts with the permanent race seat rigging in their bedrooms.

Look past the presentation shortcomings and you’ll find that Race Pro is an exercise of function over form. So functional that it will scare off many gamers. Yes, the graphics look grainy and unpolished. Yes, crash into another car and it sounds like the crumpling of a crisp packet rather than several tonnes of metal colliding. And yes, the career mode is hardly imaginative. But if you’re a true racing fan, Race Pro is the no-frills motorsport simulator you’ve been waiting for. See you online...

Feb 17, 2009

More info

GenreRacing
DescriptionOne of the few and the best hardcore racing sims for the 360, it gives what its niche audience wants, but doesn't offer much for the outsider.
Platform"Xbox 360"
US censor rating"Everyone"
UK censor rating"3+"
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
More
CATEGORIES
Latest in Racing
Wreckfest 2
Devs behind beloved destruction-focused racing game Wreckfest launch the sequel in early access with a trailer full of physics glitches and fatal error messages
A decorated purple car speeding head-on down a road in Toyko Xtreme Racer
Tokyo Xtreme Racer is a novel throwback to classic PS2 racing games like Midnight Club, and I can't get enough of it
Rivals Hover League appearing in the Future Games Show Spring Showcase 2025
The spirit of Burnout heads to the future as Rivals Hover League brings destruction derby to the skies
Japanese Drift Master appearing in FGS Live From GDC
After a years-long way, this Initial D-inspired open-world racing game is now just around the corner
Bionic Bay appearing at the Future Games Show Spring Showcase 2025
Check out Bionic Bay's frantic physics fueled racing in this new Future Games Show trailer
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Nintendo knows you're waiting for Mario Kart 9, but it still wants you to run a million laps in Mario Kart 8 first
Latest in Reviews
Zombicide box featuring stylized art of survivors fighting zombies
Zombicide 2nd Edition review: "Like a zombie flick brought to tabletop"
Razer Handheld Dock with Steam Deck sitting on cradle, pink and yellow RGB lighting on, and Alienware monitor in background with Tomb Raider Trilogy gameplay on screen.
Razer Handheld Dock review: “Your Steam Deck will ride shiny and Chroma"
Photographs of the Agricola board game in play
Agricola review: "Accurate representation of the highly competitive and often unstable world of agriculture"
Photos taken by writer Rosalie Newcombe of the Shure MV7i microphone, within a pink and white themed room.
Shure MV7i review - convenience and excellence rolled into one superb sounding package
Key art for Atomfall showing a character in the English countryside looking at a nuclear plant some distance away
Atomfall review: "This isn't British Fallout – it's something much better than that"
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% gaming keyboard with purple RGB lighting on a desk setup
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% review: "a niche luxury"