Ford Racing 3 (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

It's fair to say that the GBA is well supported in the racing department and even the DS already has a handful of decent racers to its credit. What's most interesting about this beloved genre though is the fact that it does appear to be an arena for developers to stretch their latest graphical engines with smoother animation, better lighting and more realistic physics. Whatever is new and improved seems to appear more frequently in racing games (especially on handhelds) than any other game type. As far back as the GameBoy Color, THQ's Wacky Racers was significantly more accomplished than its competitors although it has to be said the same developers did go on to make the equally impressive V-Rally 3 for the GBA. Visual Impact (the developers of Ford Racing 3) are no strangers to handheld racing either, with a significant amount of their back catalogue falling into this category. Unfortunately they were also behind the DS version of the disappointing Burnout Legends but let's just put that behind us and see if they've come up with the goods on this occasion.

Gameplay

If you've encountered a racing game before you'll find that Ford Racing 3 offers very little that's new to the gamer and as with other titles you can jump right into the action thanks to the 'Quick Race' mode. Other than that there are three 'Competition' modes. The first two challenge you to unlock all available cars and tracks. The final mode (The Ford Collection) puts you through a series of missions and race criteria such as overtaking as many cars as possible, time attacks and even relay racers. This is possibly the most enjoyable and certainly the most challenging. There is also a multiplayer but given that this is simply an extension of the single player game and you'll require a copy of the game for each player it's unlikely you'll ever get (or even want) to try it.

Controls

You'll either enjoy the control system or find the whole thing a bit of a chore but there's no question that the steering here will please neither the arcade junkie or simulator purist. To make matters worse all the vehicles respond differently to your various instructions, with the smaller sports car being much more maneuverable than the more cumbersome trucks. Not that this makes much difference however, as you'll discover when you've mastered the first few tracks and even beaten a few lap records. Why, you ask? Well, it's simple really as the developers have seen fit to give the AI vehicles the upper hand so while you may feel like you're significantly ahead, your opponents are always right behind you meaning that even a minor mistake will push you back to third or fourth place, The same is true of any minor collisions with the vehicle in front of you, with even a gentle fender-bender bouncing you back some twenty meters.

Graphics

This is undoubtedly one of the game's highlights but even here the developers have come unstuck with some aspects of the visuals. On the plus side the various cars are incredibly well modeled, even if they neither move as realistically as they should nor reflect their surroundings. The various tracks are also well above average with minimal fogging and enough variety to tell one from the other. The real plus though is that the developers have managed to get the whole thing running at a silky smooth 60 fps regardless of what's happening in the game. Unfortunately the overall presentation and attention to detail let's the whole thing down and not only are the front-end and menu systems minimal at best, but some of the particle effects are less than pleasing so while driving on sand throws up the expected debris, driving into water does nothing but turn the submerged part of your vehicle blue.

Sound

Outside of the rather generic soundtrack the audio is a little irritating really, with engines whirring and tires screeching, not even managing to reach the standard of the average cartoon racer. The audio accompanying collisions is slightly better, but as it generally spells disaster you don't want to hear it too often.

Dual screen

Ford Racing 3 is another 'we've got another screen so we'd best use it' title and as with other racing titles appears yet again to be a map and stats viewer.

Final comments

While Ford Racing 3 has its highlights they are mostly in the visual department with the gameplay being somewhere between average and poor. In fact one of the strongest selling points is the licensed cars which cover a substantial period of Ford's history, although you'll have to play this game for some time before you manage to unlock them all and this is one of the main drawbacks because it's just not that playable. Awkward controls mixed with unfair opponent AI will have you pulling over for a well-earned rest and if you manage to go back you're a better driver than we are. As we started out by saying; there are loads of great racers on the DS but unfortunately, this isn't one of them.

Pro: Excellent Car Models, Impressive Frame Rate.
Con: Sluggish Opponent AI, Awkward Controls.
Final score: 5.5

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