Exclusive Cross Racing Championship hands-on preview

Legacy...

1nsane… Anyone who considers himself (or herself) as a gamer, must remember this funny and addictive racegame. Just driving some laps or playing Capture The Flag, it could all be done on large open circuits. I’ve played this game hours on end, long enough to become insane myself. It’s a shame the game never got a decent successor, but it shouldn’t take too long anymore until we can get our hands on Cross Racing Championship, the new racegame that’s being developed by the creator of 1nsane.

Boomtown had the opportunity to play a rather complete preview version of Cross Racing Championship, so let us waste no more time and take a look at what CRC is all about.

Allround Racing

Eat dust!

Cross Racing Championship is a realistic racing game with some arcade influences, which puts you behind the wheel of a wide variety of vehicles, ranging from normal cars to buggies and pickups. The game features a good deal of realism, but don’t expect ultra-realism as GTR though.

The gameplay is simple and addictive at the same time, and it doesn’t take too long until you get the feel of the vehicle you’re driving. Each of the available vehicles has its own distinct feel, a feel that can be altered with the different (unlockable) tuning options. Simulation freaks will have a field day with the wide range of tuning options, which range from the simple choice of tires to precise adjusting of the break-ratio’s. There are presets from which you can choose from if you don’t want to fiddle with these tuning options and just want to race.

The Artificial Intelligence of CRC is quite a challenge. Mistakes can cost you dearly if you don’t pay attention, but thanks to the catch-up system, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to regain the pole position. When you’re racing in front, you’ll notice that the AI becomes more aggressive and become prone to make more mistakes due to its increased level of aggressiveness. When you’re behind on the other hand, they’ll race a lot less aggressive, giving you a good chance to catch up on them.

There are multiplayer options, but we couldn’t test those because there simply were no servers or opponents at the time of writing. When we get our hands on the review code, we’ll take a closer look at what the multiplayer modes are all about.

Career choices...

Traffic aggression, it's becoming a real plague

The most important part of CRC is the Career mode in which you’ll be able to unlock new tracks and vehicle upgrades that can be used afterwards in the other modes. When you start a new Career, only a few tracks and vehicles are available.

A Career is divided into several championships, which are divided into several tracks themselves. If you manage to win a championship, you get rewarded with Career Points, which are needed to unlock other championships. Most tracks have different goals with different rewards. One time you’ll have to finish within a certain amount of time to get that new part you’ve got your eye on, while an other time you’ll just have to complete the course in the Top 3 to get the prize. There are about 65 tracks that can be unlocked and 3 stages of upgrades for each part of the vehicles, so you’ll be busy for quite a long time until you have unlocked everything.

What meets the eye

I'm flying high, high up in the sky...

The graphics engine in CRC is quite impressive. The engine is capable of displaying detailed graphics, and in combination with the realistic light effects, CRC is able to produce some of the best looking environments ever seen in a racegame. The vehicles project lifelike shadows on the racetrack, skidmarks appear when you draft around a corner,… One of the most noteable graphics features only becomes apparent after a couple of laps : your vehicle will become more and more dirty as the race progresses. This adds a lot to the feel of the game.

The car models look very good, and contain a lot of detail. Too bad Invictus wasn’t able to acquire the proper licences for the cars, but you’ll still be able to recognize most of the available cars by their distinct look. Thanks to the realistic damage model, you can wreck your vehicle in no time, and it’s even possible to loose most of the bodywork before totalling your ride. Luckily you can repair your vehicle on the spot. But keep in mind that repairing will cost you valuable time, giving your opponents a chance to catch up or gain on you.

There’s a wide variety of different environments, ranging from snowy plains to hot beaches. The surroundings are animated, something which isn’t seen a lot in this type of game. Trees wave along with the gentle breeze, ski lifts pass by, and the water on the seashore washes up and down along the coastline. The crowd is modelled in 2D, but they look good nonetheless. Most of the time you’ll pass them at a high speed, so you won’t have the time to inspect them closely. A little flaw that can still be corrected before the official release.

Those who fear they won’t have time to marvel at the graphics, don’t worry too much. There’s an extensive replay option available with which you can easily review your races from different camera angles and replay speeds. It’s even possible to save your best races, so you can share them with your friends.

The purring sound of a tuned engine

Where's the closest car wash?

The sound effects in CRC are well-designed. Each vehicle has its own distinct sound which differs also which each engine-upgrade. The soundtrack of the game consist mostly of good rock music and fits CRC’s theme perfectly. The commentary on the other hand is quite dull, as if the commentator isn't really interested in the races. There’s a lot of repetition in it too, and after a couple of rounds you’ve heard about everything the commentator has to say. This doesn’t do the game any good, but luckily you have the option to mute the commentator. Another point that could use some improvement before the game gets shipped out.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a fun and addictive racegame which isn’t too realistic, look no further. CRC is the game for you. A large choice of tracks and vehicles, the ability to customize and tune your ride, beautiful and detailed graphics and a great soundtrack. From the looks of it, Invictus’ 1nsane might finally get a decent successor.