Victory Run
Reviewed by Inkhands
This is a game I like, but I would like it much more if it
didn't frustrate me so much. It has some interesting
features and some really good graphics, but it has so many
qualities that I personally feel a racing game shouldn't
have. For one thing it has poor control and the challenge is
just way too high for me. I mean I'm not good at racing
games, but I'm not terrible at them either. This one just
started out fun for me, but all the bad qualities added up
and drained all the fun out of it for me. This simply left
me frustrated with a game I really wanted to like.
The basic setup of this game is that you are racing on about
nine tracks in Europe and Africa. You aren't racing against
other cars, but instead you have to finish the course in a
certain amount of time or the game is over. However, when
you do finish a track whatever time you have left is added
and therefore you have bonus time for the next course. This
game is so ridiculous in so many ways. Even though you are
racing alone you still have to avoid cars, trucks, and
motorcycles, that for some reason want to run you off the
road though they have nothing to win by doing this. When
they run you off the road then there's a good chance your
car will then flip about three times because it hit a tree
or a very big rock that line both sides of the course.
Of course when you wreck you lose about 20 seconds because
it takes so long for the game put your car back on the
track. Considering you only have about two minutes, that
really eats up your time. You can't move the car yourself so
you have to wait. Even if you don't hit a rock or a tree or
whatever else happens to be there, you still have to deal
with your tires spinning, mostly because of the way the
gears are set up.
You have to handle the gears yourself in this game. You
can't just put it on auto and concentrate on the track. You
have to be aware of downshifting and upshifting at all times
in this game. Adjusting the gears manually wouldn't be such
a problem if it wasn't so poorly executed. If you forget to
change gears even once then you will find yourself spinning
your tires and losing time. You get a button for
acceleration and a button for the brakes. Up and down
controls the gears. Left and right helps you move around the
curves. This all seems basically set up, but the controls
are just terrible in my opinion. Mainly because of the
manual gear changes. Not to mention that the controls are
not smooth at all. The car doesn't move smoothly. It doesn't
respond all that well and the fact that I spend about 70% of
the race adjusting gears makes me lose all concentration on
other important aspects of the game. Others may find no
problem at all with this, but I'm not used to adjusting
gears and to be honest, they just didn't adjust or react
well enough in my opinion.
Before each race you are given the chance to buy twenty
spare parts in five categories. You can get brakes, gears,
engines, tires, and suspension. After each race you have to
replace any weak parts with the spare ones you bought. If
the icon is blue then that part of your car is fine. If it's
green it's a little weak. If it's yellow it's even weaker.
It's a good idea to have a well balanced selection of spare
parts, but you should also keep in mind that certain parts
of cars tend to wear out before others. This is a nice
element in the game and probably the best feature of the
game, but this game seriously needs more than one good
quality to carry it.
I really liked the graphics in this game. The car may not be
great looking, but it's at least original looking. The car
is blue with some red and white thrown in as well for
highlights. The other vehicles on the road look nice. There
are trucks and then even bigger trucks. The motorcycles look
okay. The cars aren't that great looking, but they are good
enough. I like the fact you will occasionally see a jeep. I
simply like the variety of vehicles in this game. Most
racing games just give you a long series of cars, but not
this one. The track isn't anything special. I do like the
backgrounds though. The first course is obviously set in
Paris, because you can see the Eiffel Tower in the
background. The second course has some nice rocky mountains
in the back and that gives it a desert look to it.
One nice thing about the graphics is as you race the day
passes on. You get a normal day scene, then an evening
scene, and then a night one. Of course it's hard to believe
a whole day can pass in about three minutes, but I just
happened to like that effect very much for some reason.
Another nice thing that I really liked about the game is you
don't race on a flat track. The track not only has curves,
but it also rolls up and down as if you are on a hill for
the most part. Not just minor ups and down though. Not quite
steep either. Just enough to give it more variety than the
average racer with flat tracks every single course. Overall,
I was impressed with the graphics in this game.
The sound however wasn't as impressive. Just the roar of
your car's engine. The sounds of your tires skidding. The
sound of your car crashing. That's about it for the effects
in this game. The music tries to fit the setting. For
example I already said the first track is set in Paris. The
music tries very much to capture something you might here
while you are wandering around in Paris. Ever seen a movie
set in Paris with that dreamy, romantic kind of music they
usually have people strolling around to? If you haven't then
you have no idea what I'm talking about. I think I don't
even know what I'm talking about now. Either way I really
didn't much care for the sound in this game. The tunes were
nice, but not quite nice enough.
You can't adjust the challenge level. There is no difficulty
setting. Anyway this is a challenging game. Add together how
bad the controls are, the determination of the other cars to
run your car off the side of the road, the time limit, and
the fact you have to make good choices with buying the spare
parts, then you will find yourself presented with a very
challenging racing game. Also there are no other options in
this game. Just that one mode and it's only for one player.
It's a good mode, but a frustrating one.
Unless you are great at racing games, then you may find this
game a bit too challenging and frustrating. If so then don't
expect to have too much fun with it. If you get through it
all once, then don't expect to play through it again. The
fun factor for me was low in this game and the replay value
is even lower. The game doesn't have enough options and it
just has way too much challenge and overall frustration to
be too enjoyable.
Overall, I still like this game. I wish I could like it
more. If it hadn't tested my patience so early then I might
have been more willing to give it a higher score. Good
graphics, average sound, poor control, high challenge,
little fun factor, and even less replay value all adds up to
one stressful racing game for me. You may like it more than
I did. However, I'm going to stay away from this one now.
Give my blood pressure some relief.
Graphics - 8/10
Sound - 6/10
Control - 5/10
Gameplay - 8/10
Fun Factor - 6/10
Challenge - 7/10
Replay Value - 5/10
Overall: 6 out of 10
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