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GTR Evolution Review for PC

GTR Evolution Review for PC

Enter the Really Real

Realism certainly has its place in video games; it’s an ideal many developers push towards and a feature players typically come to expect as technology advances. However, there are times when striving to make the experience a little too realistic can actually hamper a game’s appeal.

GTR Evolution screenshot

In some ways, and for some players, GTR Evolution is a prime example of this. The racing title’s box touts its “unrivaled realism” as a major selling point, which definitely is reason enough for folks to pick it up. The downside is racing a car at high speed along a windy track is incredibly difficult to pull off – both in real life and in GTR Evolution.

Casual racers and those coming into the genre for the first time expecting to quickly jump in and get motoring along are in for a serious shock. Novices may initially find the game to be so realistic that it’s virtually unplayable. The learning curve is not insurmountable, and the high-octane racing is extremely addictive with time and practice, but the ultra real physics have the potential to make the game a frustrating experience for anyone other than serious racing game enthusiasts. Conversely, players seeking the thrill of an increased challenge will get a lot of mileage out of GTR Evolution.

Without a story or career mode to speak of, the straightforward simplicity of thundering engines and ferociously competitive racing is front and center. To this aim, there are plenty of features here to awaken your inner gear heads. The game packs in 49 highly detailed cars in 12 different classes (including sports, formula, GT cars, and even extreme WTCC vehicles among others), 19 tracks from numerous countries (including the intimidating and infamous “Green Hell” of the Nürburgring Nordschleife), and a strong mixture of play modes to suit different levels of interest. What does all this mean to the racing layman? There’s a lot of rubber to be burned. Whether you want to sit down for a quick session in an R-Cade Extreme session, run a time trial, fire through a full race, enter into a lengthy championship, or go online and challenge human opponents, the racing options are plentiful.

GTR Evolution screenshot

Once you get behind the wheel in the first-person view, the game takes on a life of its own. The cockpit of each racing machine is full of detail and many appreciated subtle nuances stand out. Every turn of the steering wheel provides a realistic visual response inside and outside the car. The meters and gauges pulse with power, and the scenery rockets past in your rear view mirror. Dashboard and mirror vibrations provide a greater sense of the power under the hood that’s punctuated by the blasting roar of the engine every time you slam on the gas and shift into high gear. Simply put, the sights and sounds are topnotch. Running GTR Evolution at a steady framerate at max resolution and graphical settings requires a high end graphics card, but the game performs well and still looks fabulous on medium settings.

While sitting in the driver’s seat offers a pleasantly realistic view of the action, your car and the track environments also look slick from the third-person view. It’s far easier to maneuver around the race courses and edge your way in and around other opponents from this perspective. Other drivers don’t typically whip around haphazardly either; they respond to pileups, brake when approaching sharp turns, and offer a reasonable challenge. Like many of the game’s minor yet important settings, you can adjust their skill level to suit your fancy.

GTR Evolution screenshot

Among the game’s multitude of realistic aspects, changing weather patterns that affect driving conditions, collision damage that looks cool and can impact how your vehicle handles, and a customizable pit are key components to the racing experience. In the garage, you can even modify and fine-tune your ride by adjusting stats to affect suspension, performance, and other settings to gain the edge over the competition.

GTR Evolution screenshot

It takes seconds to pick up the keyboard controls, but keeping your car on the race track – even under the clearest skies and the best road conditions – is no easy task in GTR Revolution. This is where the physics begin to impact the gameplay. Anyone coming into the game with prior experience with other racing games featuring very unforgiving, true-to-life car control should be able to get a handle on the situation here without much fuss. However, this is not an entry-level racing game by any means. Even on the novice realism setting, which allows for automatic shifting and stabilizing guides, these racing machines don’t drive themselves. You have to watch your speed around every single curve, take care not to accidentally tip another car the wrong way, and be wary of the forces of gravity. Failing to do so will send you spinning wildly out of control far more often than you’ll enjoy. Once you end up wiped out in the grass, caught on the loose gravel, or bashed up against a guardrail, it’s very hard to make your way back to the track and impossible to recover. Unfortunately, it seems even the slightest touch of a feather or gentle breeze has such an impact.

Hardcore racing fans will likely get a big kick out of the immense challenge presented by the quality physics and the satisfaction that comes with mastering them. For the rest of us, the process is likely to cause some serious irritation. Flip the reality meter to pro, and it becomes damn near impossible to keep the car on the track beyond the first sharp turn. Blowing donuts and smearing rubber lines into the concourse is fun, but that’s not particularly useful when you’re being lapped by every other opponent in the competition.

In the proper hands, the game can be a breeding ground for racing bliss. GTR Represents racing simulation realism at its absolute best, even if that means it sacrifices accessibility and broader appeal for general gamers. At a price of $19.99, you certainly can’t get much better than this.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.5 Graphics
Awesome graphics and realistic visuals throughout the entire racing experience. 3.3 Control
Super responsiveness and hyper-realism are great if you’re a racing game pro, but the basic settings are still quite tough for a beginner to handle. 4.3 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The sound effects really add to the realism 3.9 Play Value
Tons of cars and lots of tracks to race on, but a career mode would have been a nice touch. 4.0 Overall Rating – Great
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • In total, 49 Unique cars in 12 classes with over 500 variations. GTR Evolution, with RACE 07, combines the elements of racing with touring cars, GT cars, formula cars, and sports cars.
  • 19 tracks, over 40 different layouts, including the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife. From the streets of Macau to the straights of Monza or the Karussell on the Nürburgring Nordschleife; GTR Evolution combined with RACE 07 has them all, closely modeled after their real-life examples.
  • GT Championship Frenzy. 26 brand new GT car models in four different classes, including a selection of exclusive production cars.
  • WTCC Extreme Cars. Evolution concept cars developed together with the car manufacturers of the WTCC. Rear Wheel Drive, over 600hp in 1000kg cars with extended body-kits; these beasts will give GT cars a run for their money.

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