The game weds this adeptly designed physics engine with impressive and adaptive artificial intelligence, which aggressively blocks the player's progress, jockeys for position and responds and adapts to different situations in the game. They are even programmed to make occasional mistakes, a detail many racing games fail to take into account that increases realism. Indeed, the artificial intelligence is so strong that many players will have to avail of the feature to turn down the virtual racers' performance.
This attention to detail is also visible in the aesthetic features of the game. While the graphics are merely acceptable by modern standards, lacking the more advanced lighting features of more recent games, the game compensates by adding some very immersive touches. The details range from the easily noted, such as the restrictive view inside a racing helmet and the cockpits of the cars, fully laid out as they would be in reality, to the minor details, such as insect splatters and raindrops on windscreens and helmet visors and the simulation of g-force on the car and the driver.
Most impressively of all, the developers haven't forgotten the value of good audio, as they have created one of the most magnificent sets of engine recordings ever found in a racing game. From low-rev burbles and moans to high-rev screams, roars and supercharger whine, almost every single sound helps to create the impression of sitting in the real-life analogue of any of the cars in the game. The developers even managed to pick up on the minor details between the several different Caterham and Radical track-day cars in the game, the sorts of differences that only an ear accustomed to listening to an engine could pick out.
Unfortunately, the challenge GTR Evolution provides will prove to be too much for many gamers. Because the game concentrates on realistic driving action, there are very few conceits that the developers could make to plausibly make the game any easier, and as such, the game is unforgiving at any level. To their credit, SimBin has attempted to give the new simulation racer an experience that they can tune to their skill level, adding driver aids and reduced computer skill levels as configurable options, but all of the driver aids in the world will not make the outrageous power of the Koenigsegg CCX or Gumpert Apollo any easier to control.
The controls are another factor which play towards this intense difficulty. While the player can control the cars with a keyboard, mouse or joypad, the outrageous power of many of the cars means that they require too much steering adjustment to be driven with anything other than a wheel peripheral. The expense of a quality force feedback steering wheel, which is highly recommended, is another factor which leaves this as a game best left to the specialist market.
Bottom line: GTR Evolution is a highly realistic and very competent racing simulator with amazing attention to detail, but its uncompromising difficulty will leave many players frustrated.
Recommendation: An essential purchase for fans of the genre, but people interested in purchasing their first racing simulator should consider the difficulty of the game and the cost of a force feedback steering wheel before making their choice.
