ToCA Race Driver 3

mark_t50 · 25 Feb 2006 at 15:09

Well, after some bad feedback from the demo's I nearly didn't get this game. But in the end I couldn't resist and I'm glad I got it.

The graphics look nice enough and there is a decent variety of cars and tracks. The game handles nice, it isn't as hard edged as GTR but it feels realistic enough in simulation mode. The most important thing for me is fun and this morning I was racing the BMW open wheel series at Adelaide chasing down the first place guy and did a great powerslide round a few of the corners as I was getting ever closer to him. I actually started laughing out loud it was such good fun. First game thats made me do that in a while.

Maybe it's because my expectations were lowered, but I think this is actually a very good game. Well, back to the racing for me, here are a few screenies.

dirtydog · 25 Feb 2006 at 15:30

How does the game compare to Toca Race Driver 2? Or have you not played that.

Nieldo · 25 Feb 2006 at 15:33

mark_t50 you using a wheel?

mark_t50 · 25 Feb 2006 at 15:48

dirtydog said:
How does the game compare to Toca Race Driver 2? Or have you not played that.

I think it compares well. I have played TOCA 2, got it for PC and Xbox but to be honest it has been some time since I last played it. I think the handling has been improved, the graphics are a touch better and there is more variety of cars and tracks. Also the AI has been improved, I've noticed more AI cars making mistakes such as approaching corners way to fast and running off the track, also they will block the racing line and sometimes I'm sure they are evil gits as I often end up in a right old scrap with certain AI cars.

I know where your coming from with your previous post about it being very similar to TOCA 2, and your right to a certain extent it is a case of more of the same with a few tweaks. Maybe because it has been such a while since I played TOCA2 that it seems better to me, like I said in my last post, all I know is I'm having a lot of fun with this game. Also, this game cost me £17.99 so even if it is a bit similar to TOCA2 it hasn't cost much more than an expansion pack for other games.

Nieldo - Yep, using a Logitech DFP.

dirtydog · 25 Feb 2006 at 16:10

Do you still need to unlock all the tracks and cars etc before being allowed to play on them? Also how would you say the difficulty compares with Toca 2 - about the same? I guess if the AI makes mistakes occasionally then it might be a bit easier.

VR46 · 25 Feb 2006 at 16:22

how does this game support multiplayer - can it run a dedicated server? I remember TRD2, u had to host and play at the same time, so u could not really have a 24/7 server running automatically.....

mark_t50 · 25 Feb 2006 at 16:39

dirtydog said:
Do you still need to unlock all the tracks and cars etc before being allowed to play on them? Also how would you say the difficulty compares with Toca 2 - about the same? I guess if the AI makes mistakes occasionally then it might be a bit easier.

Yep, you still have to unlock most of it, although you get more choices than in TOCA 2, if I remember rightly you used to get a choice of 2 different championships at each level in TOCA 2, in this one you are usually given a choice of 3 different championships.

As for the difficulty I'd say it's probably about the same, I found with TOCA 2 that I was much better with certain types of cars and thats the same with TOCA 3, I can do really well in the open wheel racing, but I struggle with some of the dirt track racing, especially the monster trucks which are quite hard. I've found a big difference with the rally sections of this game, I found them unplayable on TOCA 2 with a wheel, they play much better in TOCA 3.

The overall difficulty is difficult to describe, there is a slider to set the level of AI or you can just choose normal, hard etc. At normal this sets it to 70%, at this level doing the championship I breased through the first 11 tiers but it's starting to get harder now (There are 31 tiers). There are also the Pro racing and Sim racing cups to go for with a total of 171 cups to win I think, but I haven't tried these yet.

VR46 - No dedicated server support as far as I know for the PC version, I haven't tried the multiplayer much other than hosting a quick 12 player race from my machine and it seemed to run well enough. I agree though that games like this desperately need dedicated server support to enhance the online gaming experience.

peterattheboro · 25 Feb 2006 at 16:43

Mine came friday morning. It's just sitting there till Monday when i get my new PC delivered. I really really want to play but I'm forcing myself to wait until I can play it on the new PC with all the details cranked up

VR46 · 25 Feb 2006 at 17:12

Please let there be a dedicated server patch or something!

Hopefully one will be released

Duke · 25 Feb 2006 at 17:49

Ordered a copy today, so should get it Wednesday

Stellios · 25 Feb 2006 at 18:13

The worlds most arcady simulator. If they didnt class it as a sim then i wouldnt mind, but its about as realistic as me having nuts the size of melons.

Id rather have R Factor or Netkar myself.

dirtydog · 25 Feb 2006 at 19:05

If I want ultra realistic driving I'll go for a spin in my car thanks.. I play games for fun.

Xellos · 25 Feb 2006 at 23:13

Shame theres no Skylines or Leon's in this game

Still good though.

Metalface Mark · 25 Feb 2006 at 23:37

im really enjoying it, playing it witha xbox 360 pad, and it works a treat, im up to about tier 12, and its started getting tougher, my favorites are the open wheel racing, the trucks havent been that great. Runs and looks great at 1600x1200 with full detail too.

builder22 · 26 Feb 2006 at 01:59

i bought the game from Game today, just got home looking forward to playing it, opened the bag and the muppet has given me a PS2 copy !! :mad:

HAz · 26 Feb 2006 at 02:15

LOLS any 1 rember the toca 2 threads which kept poppoing up, were ppl had smased there game cd and case and posted the pic ?

rofl those were the days

AnastieByte · 26 Feb 2006 at 07:33

I also had it on pre order for a while. Well worth £17.99 in my opinion. I prefer the cars physics to Toca 2. Also my Saitek R440 seems to feel more accurate in this version. Makes a great change from BF2

All in all good fun. Love the Baja's

Coolasmoo · 26 Feb 2006 at 08:33

HAz said:
LOLS any 1 rember the toca 2 threads which kept poppoing up, were ppl had smased there game cd and case and posted the pic ?

rofl those were the days

I remember them days.

Think it was Loadsamoney who trashed the first disk

We all had some great races though with the Formula Fords

I would really like to give this ago but ive heard so many bad things regarding SForce recently, i just dont know what to do.

Metalface Mark · 26 Feb 2006 at 14:12

Coolasmoo said:
I remember them days.

Think it was Loadsamoney who trashed the first disk

We all had some great races though with the Formula Fords

I would really like to give this ago but ive heard so many bad things regarding SForce recently, i just dont know what to do.

Theres no problem with Starforce providing your only playing legitimate games, all the people moaning that games dont work is because they are trying to use other programs to emulate drives at the same time.

dirtydog · 26 Feb 2006 at 14:25

InwardSinging said:
Theres no problem with Starforce providing your only playing legitimate games, all the people moaning that games dont work is because they are trying to use other programs to emulate drives at the same time.

There are plenty of legitimate legal reasons to be using disk emulation software like Daemon Tools, for what it's worth...