The belief makes sense, as many players would object to the game seeming “unrealistic” due to the frequent switching of paint schemes, sponsors, and tracks. But, one must recognize that there is a cost to be paid in making this choice. Without promoting the game during the preseason frenzy, Activision missed out on a huge marketing opportunity.
The game is capitalizing on the excitement surrounding the late-season race for the Sprint Cup title rather than riding the popularity of the early season and the months running up to the Daytona 500.
Illustrations and Moving Images
The NASCAR games before NTGIL didn’t do a good job of translating the squareness and razor edged proportions of the vehicles, but that’s not the case here. This NASCAR game has the best-looking cars of any I’ve tried.
There doesn’t seem to be much of a difference in the automobile models themselves, but this is an experiment in how to improve aesthetic appeal via the use of drift hunters shading and lighting. The tracks and scenery are very identical to those in previous NASCAR games, however this series may have reached the limits of the current generation of gaming systems.
Damage to vehicles has been significantly improved
NTGIL makes it far more apparent and believable. After crashing into a wall or another object, or scraping against any other surface, the vehicle disassembles as expected. Many racing games have vastly different levels of polish in their car models, terrain designs, and backdrop visuals. Yet, such games are unrestricted in their depiction of a greater range of vehicular kinds and settings. NTGIL has a fantastic visual style, especially taking into account the requirements of this particular subgenre.
Transportation and Realism
The difficulty of this game is high, but in a nice manner. I appreciate how the overall car handling is unique compared to other racing games. Anyone looking for a realistic racing simulation will be disappointed with the handling. There was never any doubt that this was the path the development team planned to take from the beginning of the game’s creation forward.
All autos with central processing unit control have been upgraded to have better artificial intelligence. Your computer-controlled enemies will be more hostile even at the lowest skill settings. When they’re running in a pack, they’re almost impossible to control. The name of the game is “Inside Line,” and in earlier versions, using this path allowed you to easily outpace the computer.
I quickly realized that this approach had limitations. The optimal strategy is a combination of tactics that can be used in different circumstances. The only time I had problems with the AI was when computer-controlled vehicles were too hostile.
The other day, I even caught myself asking the TV, “Do you want to have a wreck?” As a result of these factors interacting, the driving sections become considerably more difficult and stressful. Honestly, I feel like I’m getting my as kicked in this game.
Message and Playback
The music is an acceptable mashup of modern and upbeat rock, as well as a few country tunes. From a promotional perspective, it accurately portrays the future of both this game and NASCAR. Now I like “My Hometown” by Uncle Kracker the most. I am now singing it.
It’s clear that a lot of care and attention was put into the game’s soundtrack, especially the engine noises, tire noises, and impact sounds. It’s very close to the sound you’d hear if you were inside a NASCAR vehicle or standing on its hood during a race.
Not much more could be desired in this vein, but this is quite typical. Your crew chief’s voice is the only audible feature that starts to get on your nerves after a while. After listening to him for five minutes, his counsel becomes somewhat standard. Adding some variety to his phrasing might give this effort at auditory realism some much-needed liveliness.
During the breaks, the presentation really shines
The team behind the game takes this feature very seriously. A motion capture group performed practically every pit crew function to ensure that this crucial part of NASCAR racing games looked as realistic as possible. You can see the difference in the finished result.
Telemetry data was used to design NASCAR’s 23 recognized racetrack as faithfully as possible. If this weren’t true, it would be the kind of thing that NASCAR fans might legitimately complain about. The presentation of the vehicles and courses is excellent, however some of the less tactile elements of presentation might need some work.
I wish there was more analysis, visuals, and overlays provided before the races. It would be great if we could switch to the race announcers’ commentary in the middle of the action. One of the best possible angles for a presentation is one that can be televised. A few changes to NTGIL’s visuals and audio would improve the experience significantly.
Whenever a console generation is nearing its conclusion of manufacturing, the greatest method to wow players with visuals and sound is via presentation. This is a serviceable bundle, but it lacks anything that hasn’t been seen in other games before.
Diverse Gameplay Modes and Customization Settings
NTGIL’s career mode has been improved. It has more hours of playtime and allows players agency over their crew composition and vehicle improvements. While this is an improvement, more work might have been put into the mode’s presentation for it to become popular.
The Chase is an excellent show, but I’d want to feel more a part of it. It would have been helpful to provide gentle nudges in the form of audio and/or overlays throughout the races and before the races. To play Career mode in 2018, players will need to create their own driver.
Before this year’s update, you had the ability to take the wheel of a real-life race car driver and steer them through their whole career. Season mode is the only way to complete a full NASCAR season with Jimmie Johnson or any other driver. Compared to the Career mode, this one doesn’t provide you quite as much freedom, although the difference isn’t huge.
Quick repairs and races with specific objectives may both be found in the Challenges mode. You may go back in time and alter or experience a variety of events from recent NASCAR history. Some of them change rapidly, while others provide tasks that take a bit longer to complete.
These play styles are now expected in the majority of sports video games. It’s a good illustration of the idea. Like last year’s game, I had a great time with the Paint Scheme mode. With the sixty plus genuine NASCAR sponsors available this year, you can now add even more depth to your creations. You may get them by playing the Career story.
Overall
There have been problems with online play in the past, but so far, it seems like things are better now. There may be up to 16 racers, all of whom are controlled by humans. When everyone is there to win, a track full of human-controlled cars may be quite incredible to see.
To prevent players who are out to spoil the experience for others, measures have been put in place to prevent them from driving irresponsibly. But now those players’ cars are just ghosts, driving about doing nothing to other players’ automobiles.
That’s a clever tweak that will have a big impact on how users interact with websites. Unfortunately, the online career mode that would make this game really shine is not accessible right now. The choices provided by NTGIL are standard fare, but the library does not innovate or make the most of any preexisting ideas.
To put it simply, this game stands out in terms of how it plays. It has the potential to lay the basis for a fantastic NASCAR video game experience. This game has decent, solid gameplay, but the presentation and customization choices are both somewhat basic at the moment.
The game’s accuracy to NASCAR racing on the track will win over fans, but the game might have been even better with greater focus on other aspects than gaming.
