Sunday, February 28, 2010

GT Racing Motor Academy Review

Are you ready for the ultimate racing experience? If so, enter the best racing academy out there by playing Gameloft’s one and only GT Racing Motor Academy. With over 100 cars from 24 different manufacturers, you can race in 14 different environments. Play online multiplayer and compete against several different players. The game offers fantastic graphics. But is it really the BEST racing game in the app store? Well, keep reading and you’ll soon find out!

In GT Racing Motor Academy you start out by getting licenses. There are different licenses and different tests. From there, you can move on to buying your car and finally racing. This definitely resembles the Gran Turismo series. There are plenty of events to keep you busy in the game, and once you have completed the game, compete against the world in online multiplayer. Making all this possible (huge career mode, over 100 cars, 14 tracks, online multiplayer, and decent graphics) was impossible in my eyes, until Gameloft released this incredible racing title. Also, there isn't much options for customizing your cars. You can't change a lot of things, which would be a nice addition.

GT Racing Motor Academy features several different control types and points of views. You can view your car in third person point of view or get the feel of the car by entering cockpit view. Controlling the game can be done by either holding an accelerator/brake or choosing the option for automated acceleration. To move your car, you can either tilt your iPhone and feel like you’re moving a steering wheel, tap left and right depending on where you want to go, or touching and moving a virtual steering wheel depending on where you want to go. The amount of detail Gameloft adds to the controls surprises me.

Graphics in this game are definitely not the best on the platform, but they’re still pretty impressive. Cars are realistic; however the environments aren’t so eye catching. My only major complaint is the fact that the draw distance isn’t too great. When you drive, things start to pop in such as trees, buildings, and even cars. It isn’t so annoying but it’s definitely noticeable. However, the excellent gameplay and sense of speed makes you forget all the pop ins.

Hence, GT Racing Motor Academy takes iPod Touches and iPhones to the next level when it comes to racing games. Tons of replay value is available in this game and there are many racing events. You earn money and can buy different cars. This game surpasses almost every racing game on the platform, including the Asphalt series and Fast & Furious. Is it better then Need for Speed: Shift? In some ways (realism, amount of cars, different environments) yes. In others (graphics and car customization) no. Therefore, you should definitely consider checking this out for the low price of $6.99.

Pros

Online Multiplayer

Over 100 Cars

14 Different Tracks

Realistic

Great Controls

Cons

Draw Distance is Short

Not a lot of Options for Car Customization

Scores:
Graphics: 4/5
Gameplay: 5/5
Controls: 5/5
Sound/Music: 4/5
Replay Value: 5/5

Overall: 9/10 (not an average)