NASCAR ‘09
Available for the XBOX 360, PS3 and PS2
Review by Rick Tittle, host of the Video Game Review
rick@ricktittle.com

If you like NASCAR and would like to have a very realistic experience as a NASCAR driver, then you will like this game.  If you are also a big fan of Jeff Gordon, then you will love this game.  But if you just want to drive fast and crazy, this game will not be your cup of tea.

Let me explain: EA went to great lengths to ensure a completely authentic NASCAR vibe to this title.  You will sign with fictional sponsors and racing teams, and you will be thoroughly immersed in all the events, locations and tracks, from the Sprint Cup to the truck series.  Jeff Gordon will be on your screen in real-time video along the way, keeping a watchful eye on your progress and helping neophytes get indoctrinated into world of NASCAR.  Jeff Gordon is all over this game.  Jeff Gordon will haunt your dreams.  You can’t escape him.  Don’t even try.  He’ll come to your house and pinch you if you turn this game off.

This game is as real as it gets.  But it is too real.  How so?  Every time I traded a little paint as I tried to pass someone, a caution flag would come out.  Each instance that I clipped someone’s fender, a caution flag would come out.  And if I had the temerity to drive faster than the pack, I would get a stern warning.  All of these things are like a real NASCAR race.  So, once again the realism is…um…real.  But I like to go as fast as I can when I’m behind the wheel of a video game racecar.  I love games like Wipeout, F-Zero and especially the outstanding Burnout Paradise.  I don’t like to be held back and I don’t enjoy having the race stop for a caution flag every five seconds, either.

Graphically, this game is pleasure.  The options for tricking out your ride are numerous, and the pit lane sequences are also smooth and impressive.  The multiple angles for driving are plentiful, from behind-the-car to first-person to cockpit views.  The sound is only average, I would have to say.  I know these are supposed to be stock cars, but they should sound a little bit more powerful than a real Chevy Lumina.

So the choice clear.  NASCAR lovers will love this game.  Casual racing game fans will not.  Be advised.  I give this title a 6.

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