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NASCAR 2000
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Graphics & Sound:
Drivers, start your engines!!! EA Sports has done it again. NASCAR 2000 is another fine addition to the wonderful world of driving games, although I must admit I have a slight bias when reviewing this game because I’m a big Grand Turismo fan. But the graphics and sound both rate very high. It has all the sounds of being at NASCAR, with even your pit crew talking to you through the race, telling you things like “Save your tires,” or if there’s a car high or low when you’re about to be passed. Plus, you can actually see the pit crew work on you car, which is something I’ve never seen before. After each race, they’ll show you a playback of the most exciting laps you ran with aerial views, side views, and in-car views.
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Gameplay:
There are just a ton of options for NASCAR 2000, ranging from Practice mode to Season Racing. You have your choice of racing your own car, or picking someone like Jeff Gordon, for example, to race with. Anything you can think of to modify the cars’ performance can be done, from adjusting the grip of the tires to changing the amount of wind drag on the spoiler. If you choose to do single racing, you can select from any number of tracks. This was nice when I needed a change from the standard oval track to something with a lot more difficulty. But the biggest challenge is to race a season and attempt to make it first place with everyone.
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Difficulty:
Not a whole lot of difficulty here, which was a big disappointment. I found that once you were able to take first place in NASCAR 2000, it wasn’t much of a challenge to keep it. The hardest part is figuring out how to obtain the most speed coming out of the corners, and obtaining drag from the car in front of you to get the “slingshot” effect. But the biggest problem is that depending on how many laps you have left, you may experience road hypnosis.
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Game Mechanics:
Well, if you’ve ever played a racing game, then you’ll know how to work NASCAR 2000. One very cool feature is if you press L1 during the game, it’ll give you a diagnostic of your car, including how much fuel is left, the condition of your tires, and any damage you’ve taken. This helps a lot when trying to plan your next pit stop. There are also several different views you can use when you’re racing. Everything from a bird’s eyes view to right inside the car. I recommend the bird’s eye view though, because it allows you to see more of the track. Also, if you don’t have an analog controller, go and get one. It allows for easier control of the car (once you’ve played for about an hour to master it) but as a warning, the car can be very touchy around corners. So all in all, this was a very good racing game, and I hope that EA keeps up the good work.
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-Paradox, GameVortex Communications AKA Ryan Whitten |
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