Volkswagen in its history of almost a century has created cars capable of entering the collective imagination of people for more than one reason.
Poles with 4 wheels
Techland, the team of Polish programmers who wrote the title, for GTI Racing have "recycled" but also optimized the graphics engine of their previous work, Xpand Rally. Those who know the game know well that you can expect an excellent graphic detail, rich in particle effects, reflections in real time, variable weather, damage to the cars (even if they are rather standard and not very precise), wide tracks and from the very distant horizon: if we were in the console world, we would be faced with a title halfway between old and new generation ... All this, however, has a cost in terms of frame rate and to keep the fps at 60 (or a little less) we will have to lower resolution and details even if we will have a PC with much higher requirements than those recommended (2.5 GHz of processor, 512 MB of ram and 128 of video memory). A real shame to compromise but there will be no other way if we don't want to fall into annoying frame rate drops.
The replay is really to be appreciated: finally another game, besides Gran Turismo, presents some "artistic" filters with which to make the reproduction of our performances more "glamorous" that we can also convert into AVI movies to be reviewed with any Media Player and that we can share on the Internet (a bit like the short films of that masterpiece called The Movies). Unfortunately, full rejection for the soundtrack, an element that lovers of racing games know well to have a relevant importance: the soundtrack is composed of few, very few anonymous and repetitive techno-like tracks that do not give any pleasure to our auditory channels that look for in the sound accompaniment an extra charge of aggression to go on the road.
unfortunately full rejection for the soundtrack, an element that lovers of racing games know very well to have a relevant importance
Do You Remember Need for Speed?
Having examined the technical component, we turn our attention to the more strictly playful part. If Xpand moved on the midline equidistant between simulation and arcade, Techland for GTI Racing has given a very precise turn towards the coordinates of a series that many have already drawn inspiration from: Need for Speed Underground. It won't take too many games to understand that GTI Racing has almost followed the structure and gameplay of the Electronic Arts masterpiece. We will thus find ourselves faced with a blatantly arcade interaction, very far from any simulation ambition that will surely make those players happy who want to go at high speed without thinking about too many setups or long and complicated tutorials.
The similarity with NFSU is also repeated in the career mode: in addition to the typical races to be won (unfortunately there will never be more than three opponents controlled by just enough artificial intelligence, never really able to get us in trouble if not for our own faults and mistakes ), we will have to compete in drift races and other variations on the theme such as Last Man Standing, Time Trial, Drift Competition and Drag Racing in order to unlock all the available cars. A whole section dedicated to tuning could not be missing, both in the aesthetic part and in the components of the car able to improve performance on the road. Also in this case we could talk about cloning with respect to Need for Speed Underground if it were not for the implementation of a setup of the car in terms of suspensions, brakes, handling and other parameters of the kind which, however, have very little impact on our performance. .
the similarity with NFSU also reiterates in the career mode
To close our roundup on the characteristics of GTI Racing, in addition to signaling the release of the title at the price of € 29.90, it is worth noting the presence of 60 tracks which in reality, however, are based on only 6 backgrounds then multiplied through some variations of a level design that does not go beyond a stunted sufficiency. A multiplayer component up to 4 players (i.e. the maximum number of cars present even in solo races) via LAN or the Internet with the possibility of organizing mini tournaments is also inevitable. Finally, there is also a track editor that does not prove to be transcendental but which is still an additional element not to be disdained at all.
Final comment
Have you finished the last episode of Need For Speed Underground but still want 100% Arcade racing? In this case, GTI Racing, a monobrand title dedicated to Volkswagen, could be right for you. In fact, Techland's production takes more than inspiration from the Electronic Arts series so that we are not far from an authentic "cloning" operation (arcade gameplay, tuning, career) but GTI is a bit lacking in appeal (beyond the size of the cars of the Teutonic house) and personality, as well as being monstrously scarce in musical accompaniment. However the good technical realization (but to have a fluidity never questioned, you will have to come to terms with the graphic parameters), the excellent replay and the presence of a multiplayer component and the track editor make it a discreet product, especially for lovers of “pure” arcade racing games, for Golf and Beetle fanatics and for those who give particular importance to the price factor as GTI is marketed since its first release at € 29.90.
For
- All the tradition and prestige of Volkswagen
- Reduced price
- Excellent replay and high quality graphics ...
- ... but to have a constant fluidity it will be necessary to work on the settings
- Excessive resemblance to Need For Speed
- Seriously insufficient musical accompaniment
Cars for the masses
After Ford, another prestigious car manufacturer enters the world of video games with a “mono brand” title. Volkswagen, literally the people's car, in its history of almost a century has created cars capable of selling millions of units but has managed above all to enter the collective imagination of people for more than one reason: from the film exploits of the "Beetle all crazy ”, to the symbiosis with the pacifist movement of the 60-70s of his minibus, passing through the myth of the Golf to the Concept Cars that make high-speed lovers dream. All these models could not be missing in GTI Racing (even there are 15 different Golf models) which also offers the new and super-technological Beetle as well as many other cars of the present and of the past that together offer a truly pleasant fleet (consisting of a total of about thirty different models), despite being only from the German car manufacturer.
