WorthPlaying Preview - 'RACE Pro'

WP writes: "Let's be honest here: Most racing games aren't realistic. They tout real cars or real tracks or real drivers or what have you, but at the end of the day, they're not going to mimic reality when it means sacrificing ease of play. Games like Burnout and even semi-realistic racers like Forza tend to focus more on allowing anyone to pick up and play the game instead of the grittier elements of racing. Even simulation racing titles tend to be focused on the customization of the racers instead of the car physics and AI reactions. SimBin, makers of the popular GTR racing series on the PC, is looking to shake things up with their first console offering, Race Pro for the Xbox 360.

Honestly, Race Pro is not a game for casual players because it's focused on realism to a stunning extent. As with most racing games, your goal is to cross the finish line, and you must do so before other racers. The catch here is that your cars have realistic physics and weight, and a lot of effort was clearly put into making them handle like real cars. If you really want to succeed, you have to be a lot more diligent about braking and shifting gears, even on the easiest difficulty mode. The game even gives you complete customization over your controls to make this easier on you. You don't just customize the buttons themselves; you even control aspects of the buttons, such as how much pressure you need to put on a button for it to activate, or how large the dead zone should be for your thumbstick. While most players will probably be OK with the default controls, Race Pro does everything it can to make sure that your own mistakes, and not the controls, are to blame when you lose a race."