The simple answer, is no. I’m going to keep this review as sweet and simple as possible.<\/p>\n
Launching a new franchise into the game racing world is a bold step. A very bold step indeed. We’ve seen quite a few new racing games over the last few years, and while some have gone on to help formulate the de facto racing standard, others have not. Unfortunately, this game falls into the latter pile.<\/p>\n
Firstly, I know nothing about the “Superstars” Racing world, and the name itself leaves a lot to the imagination. In fact, there was not one name in the game that I had ever heard of. Secondly, why have we as the general public of South Africa never even heard of this series? (Ed. The SuperStars racing series is based in Italy).<\/p>\n
The problem with all of this is that we don’t have anything to really compare this to, except other racers of all genres. So this will have to be how I do it.<\/p>\n
There is no story driving this game, which is to be expected from a racing game of this nature. The player has the usual options of practising on various tracks, taking part in a single races, racing a full weekend or starting a career in the championship.<\/p>\n
Players can race various cars of the V8 variety. Anything from BMW’s to Audis and Jaguars etc. Nothing too exciting, don’t expect any Veyron’s or McLaren’s in this title. The game is set out in an easy enough fashion, with everything being in the right place at the right time, and the racing itself feels decent, although nowhere near as realistic as some other racers.<\/p>\n
This is where the problem lies. There is a fair bit of fun to be had when racing, but the lack of attention to detail leaves V8 Superstars lagging behind the likes of Forza 3 or Need for Speed: Shift. I’m not expecting GT5 levels of detail here, but what a lot of reviewers don’t have, is the advantage that I do. My office overlooks Kyalami race Track (and yes, it’s in the game), directly onto the back portion of the track, and I can safely say I know it backwards. I can also safely say that Milestone put zero effort into recreating the buildings or environment which surround the track in a true to life fashion.<\/p>\n
Second problem comes with the graphics. Racing games have come a long way over the last few years, and we have come to expect a certain level of polish. While the graphics are not terrible, they are far from breath-taking. In fact they are very average. It comes across as an early PS3\/Xbox 360 game, and reminds me of when developers where still getting a handle on current gen technology.<\/p>\n
Overall, SuperStars V8 Racing is so average, that unless you are a fan of the real-life series you will not gain anything buy purchasing it. There are a number of excellent racing titles out there, including the aforementioned NFS:Shift and Forza 3, that it is very difficult to justify spending money on something as unimpressive as this.<\/p>\n