Reviews for the driving game are generally quite positive, though none fail to mention the lower diversity and the fact that the game’s career mode can feel a bit like “grinding” in an online roleplaying game – it’s repetitive and only the Top Gear commenters’ amusing interventions keep it from becoming a chore;
Naturally, most of the reviewers’ attention is drawn to the new graphics that are a noticeable improvement, though some models are carried over and merely updated from the previous title. Still, it’s not as bad as Gran Turismo’s Premium and non-Premium cars distinction, but it’s reportedly noticeable for those familiar with Forza 4.
What it all comes down to is its driving physics which are said to be better than before, the graphics which we can see are better and the experience as a whole; this is where Forza 5 delivers, despite not being as complex a title as it could have been, leaving a big gap for later downloadable packs (DLCs) to correct it, like the developers have been saying a long time ahead of the actual launch.
It just feels like a game held back in order to be improved at a later date and at extra cost.
By Andrei Nedelea
It’s certainly an impressive sight to behold, even though we know that the 300SL (the classic one) inspired model is completely hollow underneath.
When designing the AMG Vision Gran Turismo, the people at Mercedes-Benz Research & Development Center in Sunnyvale, California, envisioned the car with an aluminum space-frame body and a front-mid mounted twin-turbocharged V8 gasoline engine of unspecified displacement twisting out of 577HP (430 kW) and 590 lb-ft of torque.
It’s good that Electronic Arts mostly goes by EA these days, because there really is little or no art left in it for them.
Rivals is pretty much the same game as 2010’s Hot Pursuit, which itself was a reheated version of the original Hot Pursuit game from 1998 that also went by the name Need for Speed Three. It had cops, baddies, spike strips, electromagnetic strikes and a wide variety of cars for both sides to choose from.
What it didn’t have that this new cutting edge 2013 game does is an admittedly gorgeous looking open (and persistent) world, seamless online connectivity (which does add a new edge to the experience) and limited performance and visual upgrades that probably do more to annoy than quench players’ thirst for modding their car.
Not even the fully supported return of Ferrari to the franchise isn’t enough (for me, at least) to say this is a game worth recommending; you should try it out, though, but only if you like the eye candy, lots of crashing, a deeply cliché story that you will always skip through and the satisfaction of going round hairpins at three digit speeds with hardly any tire squeal.
I may be missing its point, and if so, feel free to have your say in the comments section below. Before you do that, do check out the slew of reviews and related videos posted below.
By Andrei Nedelea
A 1:1 scale model, the coupe features extreme proportions and strong contours that emphasize the brute force of the 585PS (577hp) V8 engine.
The Stuttgart brand tells us that it envisioned the car to with an aluminum spaceframe body and carbon fiber components, weighing in at 1,385 kg (3,053 lbs), meaning the power-to-weight ratio is an impressive 2.4 kg per hp. No acceleration figures were offered, but Mercedes says the study has “exceptionally dynamic performance”.
The first in a series of “Vision Gran Turismo” vehicles, the study will premiere on November 19, 2013, at the opening of the new Mercedes‑Benz Research & Development Center in Sunnyvale, California. The virtual debut of the car will be in December 2013, when the Gran Turismo 6 video game goes on sale.
The Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo features a long bonnet that flows into a compact greenhouse offset to the rear, which is shaped like a water drop. The dramatic side contour, wheel arches and angled headlights reinforce the car’s powerful presence.
The study features motorsport details such as the release catches on the bonnet and the fuel cap, while red-glowing contour lines on the lower part of the vehicle create an effect similar to that of exterior ambient lighting. The radiator grille reminds of the 300 SL racing car of 1952, but features exclusively LEDs instead of louvres.
Inspired by a Formula 1 cockpit, the interior comes with red integral sports seats that blend into the black flooring of the footwell to form a protective shell. The dashboard is designed in the form of two gullwing doors that are positioned on each side of the steering column. As a result, the actual doors themselves appear to be an extension of the instrument panel.
By Dan Mihalascu
Thus, it’s with great anticipation that we tell you about OMSI 2, the first major official updated it’s getting since its 2012 release. It’s not a new game as the two would have you believe, but it does pack a lot of new features, including, but not limited to, support and accurate simulation of articulated buses, something that was not possible before, with the way the physics engine was set up (modders tried to find workarounds, but it never quite worked).
Aside from bus articulation, the coding behind the game engine has been streamlined, the graphics (ever so) slightly improved and there are new lines and a new bus to choose from. If you’re not familiar with it, the setting for the game is 1980s – early 1990s Berlin, where you get to drive painstaking recreations of the real models in service at the time, and operate each and every function of the bus yourself – each and every button on the dashboard is clickable, though you can map important and frequently used functions to the keyboard.
The new articulated bus is the highlight of this so-called sequel, though the game’s (two private) developers should be aware that once the capability has been implemented, the modding community behind it (there is one, and it’s surprisingly active) will fix the vehicle diversity issue right away.
OMSI 2 is supposedly coming out in the fourth quarter of this year (now, theoretically), but since its development team has limited resources at its disposal, don’t get angry and aggravated if that turns into Q1 2014…
It’s the price you pay for not getting your games from a big multinational money-maker – you have to wait for actually passionate people to do the work the way they want to and ensure that the final product matches their vision.
By Andrei Nedelea
