BANG!!! The sound of the 205BHP Radical SR3 you are driving backfires as you shift from gear to gear. the car bounces wildly  along the uneven tarmac and gets loose as your tyres ride over the curb while they struggle to find grip as you accelerate toward the relatively steep decline of “Pilgrim’s Drop” heading for “Hawthorn Bend.” The very famous Brands Hatch circuit in Kent England wizzes by you as the engine roars to 9,000 RPM behind you. 100m….50m…let off the gas and throw the front end into Hawthorn while letting your wheels ride gently over the inside curb. This is what a racing game should feel like, and consoles have needed this genre for a long time.

Race PRO is a different kind of racer. Gone is the emphasis solely on beautiful scenery and intense arcade style racing action. Gone is the focus on making the menu’s look better then the game itself. Race PRO’s various reviews have been wide ranging. Some have liked the feel of it. Others find the style of “no holds barred simulation” frustrating and the lack of menu polish a turn off.

Simbin are a swedish based games development company who have deep roots in simulation racing games. That said, why are the game critics reviewing based on what Simbin is not known for? Arcade racing. Why are websites like Official Xbox Magazine Online and IGN giving the game to someone who doesn’t know, like, or want a simulation motorsport game?

My passion for motorsport lies deep within me. I am a BEYOND obcessive fan of Formula One. I know every twist and turn of ever F1 track on the calendar (including many in this game) and I respect all forms of motorsport for what they are, I just don’t love them all (cough NASCRAP). Open wheel racing is where my heart lies but I can find just as much fun driving a Radical SR3 around Brands Hatch, Macau or Monza, as I can driving the Formula BMW, or F3000 chassis around these same tracks.

Race PRO is not Forza. I wouldn’t doubt if Simbin had half the budget of Turn 10. What Forza 2 claims to be, is a real racing game. It is not. Under all the glitzy menus, and the wonderful paint editor, lies a game in desperate need of help. The music sucks, the physics are not realistic in any sense, the track list is…ummmm…disappointing and the game was an absolute chore to play through in the career mode.

Simbin have fallen into none of these traps. Menu music? There is none. Just the simple notes of a keyboard with the recorded sounds from a race track, roaring in the background. It is just a simple menu, that is easy to navigate and rightfully so. I did not spend the money to look at the menus. If menu’s are the reason I’m paying $60 per game, I want my money back. I’m almost glad they focused on the game with all their time, instead of useless material to sell games to 10 year olds who don’t know where Monza is, much less a track in their own country.

Road America, one of many circuits faithfully reproduced in Race PRO

Tracks: The track list is impressive if you’re a race fan. Macau, Porto, Laguna Seca, Monza, Brand Hatch, Road America, Anderstop, Brno, Curitiba, Oschersleben, Pau, Valencia, Zandervoort. And that is prior to any DLC releases, which one of the in game menu’s claim is coming quite soon. Personally, I would like to see Catalyuna, Istanbul, Spa Francorchamps, and Monaco’s twisting street circuit thrown into the pot but I am more then happy with what I have here. The circuits are faithfully represented. Monza is SPOT on (including gigantic curbs and tall guard rails at the Lesmo’s), Brands Hatch has all the familiar dips and bumps and the rest are just as they should be. After a couple days of playing the game, I am truly overwhelmed by the detail given to each track. Each track must be driven differently. A similar corner on another track, is a beast of a different color on another. Luckily, the pre-race menus have some (for once in a game) relatively helpful hints on driving well, and driving fast on each circuit. One may offer an area that you need to pay particular attention to in defending your position or attacking another, or a corner that should be short shifted to give maximum entry and exit speed and stability. I find myself reading the list of 5 or 6 track hints per circuit, even if I know the track well enough. Immersion is the name of the game in Race PRO. If that kind of detail, like needing to short shift, take a corner differently to achieve a better line into the next, or general track difficulty comments turn you off, don’t bother continuing to read my review.

MONZA! Any F1 fan will delight at it’s inclusion.

Graphics: Graphically, this game will win no awards. But again, why does it need to? GRID, Codemaster’s 2008 racing attempt to revive the TOCA series, was graphically stunning but lacked any decent gameplay, it was worse then anything I’ve played in a long time. Race PRO is not ugly however. In fact, on my 22 inch, 720p, LCD monitor I play the Xbox on, it looks quite good! How much of the crap that the game was criticized for NOT having, will you notice when you’re trying to keep your car in a straight line or defend your position. I would argue that the graphics are perfect for what this game is and who it is catered to. The subtle environmental effects at the track are welcome additions too. From the green track lights, signifying an clear session is underway, to the shadows of nearby trees, falling across the shimmering tarmac at Monza, and the reflection of the stands, trees, and trackside environments on the hood and sides of the car look pretty darn good in my book. Unlike Forza, Race PRO DOES include weather effects and they do affect the way you need to drive. Visibility lowers with the mist from cars in front of you and the track surface is slicker to drive on, but not so much so that it isn’t fun. The rain is a nice addition to the racing atmosphere. But while all the graphic and environmental effects are nice, this was not what Simbin was aiming for excellence in.

Physics: Instead, they aimed at realistic race car physics. I’m literally speechless at their success in this department. The cars and tracks drive and feel incredible. I did not even bother starting the game in anything lower then in the highest simulation setting (Professional), and I don’t recommend you do any differently. This difficulty level turns ABS, TC, STM and the racing line, all to off. Any mistake out on track is because of your driving style and ability or lack of knowledge about the circuit in this setting. And any lap you throw down, you can be proud of, if it was clean. The feeling I get from driving one of the cars in the game reminds me of the days when I would spend hours playing MotoGP on the original Xbox. For those that played, you remember that it was not an easy endeavor to be fast around any track. When you took a lap, much less a corner,fast, you got a little kick of adrenaline because those laps and those perfect corners came so few and far between. Lap after lap, Race PRO gives me that feeling back. And God have I missed it. Turn too hard and not brake enough, your car will slide off the track into the nearest wall. Understeer, and your car will veer to the inside wall. The rumble strips on the side of the circuit gently rattle the controller letting you know you’re riding one and not to stomp on the accelerator too hard or risk being immediately turned in the opposite direction.

Artificially Intelligence: My first impressions of the AI are that they are quite proficient, and will certainly race, block, draft and pass you but if you are a particular master of a track, you can easily pull away if you get out to the front quickly. However, if you’re stuck in traffic during a short race, they are more then capable of holding you at the back. After running through two championship race classes (The Radical SR3 and Formula BMW) I can say I am impressed with the level of racing. I’m not going to say I’m the best video game driver out there, but I can hold my own. Especially in the Formula BMW races, I was finishing 2nd and holding off third place with quite a bit of skill. In one particular instance, I raced a near perfect race and won by .033 over another AI driver. That may give you a sense of how decent the AI drivers are and how good the racing action is.

Macau circuit is literally one of the craziest tracks I have ever driven. Shown here in an F3000 race.

Sounds: Sounds are awesome. The cars backfire and over rev when you hit or miss shifts, gravel sounds come on when you go off track, the curbs bounce your metal chassis around with that distinctive rumble strip sound on hollow metal, turbo engines whine, tyres squeal, and when you’re in a tight group racing a long side one another, the roar of the engines is deafening. Turn up your speakers. It sounds AWESOME. Many argue that Forza did an excellent job on their sounds. They did not. Nearly every car in Forza sounds like a wining piece of empty scrap metal and not the race car they are. Race PRO’s sound development team deserve a hearty slap on the back for making the sounds of a racing engine near perfection. I can’t get enough of these engines.

Controls and Layout: The controls and layout are perfect. There’s not much more to say about them. The default right and left triggers control throttle and brake. A button is look back. Y shows you your position and a list of drivers youre racing (AI and human). X downshifts and B upshifts. A note on the latter two buttons. Even in an automatic gearbox setting (as I use) you have gear control. Many of the sectors and corners require you to short shift or use a different gear then the one youre in before and after the corner and having the ability to control WHEN you downshift is key to not spinning the car. But most impressive is the throttle control. The sensitivity is unbelievable. Slightly left off the gas and your car will slow the tiniest bit. This is vital for taking some of the games hardest right and left hand turns at nearly full speed without losing any time.

Details: Some of the finer details that I have noticed are things like individual sector splits WITHIN a lap. not JUST the overall lap time (as Forza does) but three times through out an individual lap. This is something I have wished for in racing games since day one, and it is nice to be able to see where I’m slow compared to the rest of the field, after a race.

Pit stops and penalties ARE present in this game. However, as with most console games, the pit-stops have NOT been animated. So you pull into the pits (going 60mph) and you can choose 1 of 3 option. Gas, tyres, or damage. So I infer from this that gas and tyres do take an effect on your car over a longer race and will need replacing.

Also in the detail department, should you spin off track, your car will come back on it covered in dirt and mud. A small and insignificant detail but one that just adds a tad more realism to an already great game.

The car views are quit cool too. The cockpit views from inside the car are very well done. There is generally an over the back camera, a drivers eye view camera, a nose camera (where you see the nose cone and front wing or hood) and a ground level nose cone camera. I personally prefer the nose camera where you see the hood/front nose cone but not the wheel and interior.

The last bit of detail I can offer is that the game has a replay system which, should you want, will record your race and save it to your XBOX360 hard drive for later viewing. Unlike Forza’s replay system, the camera angles are good (TV style, as well as various onboards) and the noise and sound effects are excellent. Race replays CAN be saved from an online race should you wish it.

Some GT class racing in the wet. All of it is amazingly fun.

Multiplayer: The Multiplayer setup is interesting. And I really like the way they did it. When you join an online lobby, the game puts you in the chosen car for the session. The game lobby is actually a practice session where you start in the pitlane and drive out onto the circuit to get to know it (if you don’t already) and your fellow drivers. The lobby is open for as long or short a period as you want. When the session host decides they’ve had enough practice, everyone moves to a one lap qualifying session. No second chances here, get it right the first time or suffer the consequences of an error. There are no other drivers on track for this, so no pulling a Lewis Hamilton and claim your hotlap was impeded by another driver. After qualifying, you can do last minute changes to your setup then the race begins. Anywhere from 1-75 laps, dry or wet conditions, damage off or on, racing rules on or off. You get the point, the level of customization for a circuit race is good. Lag didn’t seem bad, but frame rates drop a little in multiplayer but not enough to slow you down or be bothersome. Overall, I had a very positive experience.

Damage: The only downside I have seen is that damage modeling, is worse then Forza’s, which is to say… poor. Of course there is some, but bumping a car in front will do little to no damage to your aero and racing will go on as usual. The only way to really bust up your car is to go pretty hard into a wall or full tilt into the back of another driver. The damage modeling for the more extreme cases does look good, but for once, Codemaster’s GRID beats out Race PRO. You almost wanted to crash in GRID to see the damage done to your car.

Final Thoughts: These are merely my initial impressions of the game. Race PRO is not going to be popular because simulation racing has a very passionate, but small, group of hardcore followers. If you enjoyed the TOCA series (before Codemasters ruined it with GRID) then you will love this game. If you are merely an amateur race fan, who raced with all assists turned on in Forza 2, you have no business in this game because you won’t have the appreciation for what Simbin have done with the physics and handling in the cars while racing at the easier difficulties.

While some may have lost interest at the word racing “sim,” if by chance you’re willing to give the game a try, keep an open mind. Give the game the chance it deserves. In my opinion, many of the reviews written have been harsher then needed. No, it is not a perfect game in any sense (other then car physics and car control) but I highly recommend taking it for a spin. All of the racing classes, from mini coopers, WTCC and all the way to F3000 open wheel chassis cars are great fun to drive. The racing is spectacular, the physics are impeccable and I am immensely pleased with the game.

In my opinion, as a passionate motorsport enthusiast, Race PRO is worth every penny, of the $42 plus tax, I spent on it. Hit me up if you’re looking for a race! Until then, I’m off to do hotlaps around Monza in the F3000 I’m addicted to Race PRO.

My favorite of Race PRO’s Official Championships. Friend me if you want to race one of these classes.