The real deal, or Ford-ulent?

By William Barker

The Ford GT is one of the quickest cars in the game, and quite nice to drive as well

I sometimes dream about cars.

Yep, I know they're just material objects that probably create more misery than happiness, but that hasn't stopped me asking Mr. Torr over at the Motoring Channel if he can hook me up with a fresh ride for a weekend.

Sadly, he never does.

Instead, he harps on about behavioural irregularities and verbal diarrhoea!! Whatever mate. You can keep your sanity. I don't want it - it's so passé.

But even without the real things, as the blurb on the back of the Ford Racing 3 (FR3) box says, "Drive the car of your dreams...".

And so forgetting about the harshness of reality, the tempestuousness of my colleagues for a moment, I delved into the game, aching to have my dreams fulfilled.

As the name suggests, you can only drive Ford-owned vehicles in Ford Racing 3, and because of this there may be some fervent Holden/GM/Chevrolet fans who may be inclined to snub such an offering - budget pricing or not.

And - truth be told - though it's not the best racing game in the world, it manages to deliver some hearty entertainment nonetheless, with some great track design, and is a title that shouldn't be overlooked based simply on one's hatred for the Blue Oval.

Once you've sat through the B-grade intro, the game starts out like any other racing game - create a profile, then choose from three Ford-tastic game types. These include:

And once you've chosen a race mode (I went with the Ford Competition to begin with) it's time to put the pedal to the metal, or should that be the plastic Xbox shoulder button to its stops?

Razorworks, also responsible for Total Immersion Racing and the very cool chopper sim series Enemy Engaged, developed the game, and the physics in general are quite appreciable; it's a much more forgiving game than say FlatOut or Project Gotham, where bouncing off walls won't result in massive speed reductions. It's more akin to Burnout 3 than the other two mentioned, but I'd say FR3 is again a little bit more realistic than Burnout 3.

You want concept buggies? You get 'em

While the lack of realism and damage modelling may annoy some people, particularly the already edgy ones, it kind of suits the game's easygoing attitude and you'll rarely get overwhelmed with rage as frustration levels barely rise above a spud, maybe a spud and a half.

But the physics engine is solid enough, and the cars have been modelled down to the individual suspension settings, meaning they roll and lean as the cornering gees increase.

Like Bizarre's racing games (MSR, Gotham series), you'll be notified when you do something cool, such as a long powerslide, spinning the wheels or getting airborne.

These extras makes for a pleasing addition to the gameplay, validating ones hooligan antics, and I must say that the AI can be quite challenging on the upper most difficulty settings.

Track design is one of the game's best attributes, and if the physics engine were tweaked to provide an even more reactive and realistic game world, this would be a much more serious contender in the driving game genre. You'll be confronted with some really challenging corners, many off camber, and there's enough variety in the different tracks to keep things interesting.

The cars all handle differently enough to ensure you develop favourites, and FR3's overall feel is half sim, half arcade, and as such it would be a great place for gamers new to the racing genre to begin their journey. For veterans of videogaming, myself included, the game will come across as a tad lacking in terms of flat out gameplay, though the well-hidden shortcuts do add a bit more to the package.

The challenge mode is a welcome addition, adding some variety into the game where you may have to collect tokens, beat a single opponent or overtake 20 cars, and sure, there's plenty to do and see in the rest of the game too, with 26 tracks to race across and a plethora of interesting cars to drive, but at the end of the day the simple fact is that there are better titles out there.

The sound effects are troubling, with car engines sounding like synthesised whipper-snippers - but then few automotive games have ever done engine sound effects justice, so it's a bit of a moot point really.

And the music? Turn it off. There are some tolerable tracks in there, but I had to ask Martin Kingsley to help me to formulate a fitting insult to describe the music. Sadly, he spontaneously imploded into a small pile of carbon after hearing 10 seconds of the first song…

The U.S Mustang GT on the left, Aussie Falcon GT on the right

In stark contrast to the shitty audio are the luscious visuals. The game is very nice to look at, and with the aforementioned impressive track design, there are some truly breathtaking vistas to gaze across.

The level of detail on the tracks is quite good, and there's a fairly expansive world out there, so when you get a chance to look out across the hillside, you'll see more than just a flat texture indicating that the world map ends there.

Some of the trackside details, such as trees, shrubs and whatnot, look a bit crappy up close (2D sprites mainly), but when everything runs so smoothly, the whole thing works quite well.

The car's are of a very high detail with immaculate texture mapping and high-ish poly counts, and the framerate is, at the very least, 30fps - perhaps more - adding to the sensation of speed. The replays are pretty spiffy to boot, but for mine, it's all about the tracks. Nice job, Razorworks!

The car's themselves span many eras, from classic early century cars, to Mustangs, the AWD turbo Ford Focus, concept cars and even the latest supercharged 5.4-litre V8 GT, a Ferrari killer in every sense. In the Australian version of the game, there's even some domestic models, including the 1973 XB Falcon GT muscle car, the 2003 model XR8 Falcon and another two or three locals, which is a nice touch.

If you get the Xbox version, and have an Xbox to play it, you can participate in online races against up to five others, but it's rather forgettable affair, and the same goes for the two-player split screen modes. Multiplayer is novel, but nothing to write home about.

Should you get this game? Were my dreams fulfilled? Ultimately it comes down to what kind of gamer you are, and how many RoboTech DVDs you have. If you're a stingy, low budget gamer who looks for longevity and bang for your buck, this game should fit the criteria nicely. Newcomers to the genre will also want to check it out.

But for the rest of us - those with loads of cash, awesome threads, cul de sac digs and military-grade experimental videogame training - Ford Racing 3 may come across as a bit watered down.

Game: Ford Racing 3
System: Xbox
Players: 1-2
Online: Yes
Developer: Razorworks
Distributor: Red-Ant

Rating: 70%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)

Ford Racing 3 is on the shelves now.