Sliced Gaming Feature: WANTED: New Racing Game Modes

Racing games have come by the dozen on every platform since we can't remember when. But has any racing game truly explored all the options of a race? Is driving down a track, dodging obstacles, cars and taking turns with precision really all that racing is about? In the current generation of gaming, the environments are looking outstandingly realistic, and we think it's time that the developers of racing games started to look at more ways to take advantage of it.

In the newly released Forza Motorsport 2 (due out in 13 days time here in Australia), the career mode is receiving fairly dull reviews around the world. The game is being labeled as "not exciting" and "monotonous", and fans aren't really getting much more than what was offered in the original Forza, except for a few new tracks, new cars, and basically an upgrade in every other department. There's nothing 'new' though, which seems to be causing major problems in the gaming industry. Whatever happened to innovation? The Nintendo Wii has received rave reviews for its innovative control system, but is every game that is released on the Nintendo Wii innovative? Or after you've played one Wii game are the rest all the same? Can this also be applied to current racing games?

Below you will find a few innovative ideas that have been thought up by David which could add a whole new dimension to racing games. The modes, David believes, would make the racing genre seem new again.

Idea One - Free Roam

Sure, Free Roam mode has been explored in many racing games, but isn't it about time that games like Colin McRae, Forza, Gran Turismo and Project Gotham Racing allowed you to get out of your car? The developers are spending weeks upon weeks perfecting the environments, making every map look as perfect as they can, but is it all wasted when you speed past it at 300kph? Our idea is that the driver can get out of their car, and explore the area in a 3rd person view, being able to rotate the camera, and get that perfect view of the surroundings.

This idea may take a little while to implement, but it would offer a great new feature to the game, and make it seem far more realistic. Games like Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown have always received praises for being able to jump in and out of a car, and there seems to be no reason why it can't be incorporated into this generation of racing games. The developers are most likely to give reasons such as, "It would make it much harder to work with the engine of the game, and the cars wouldn't handle as realistically." We're prepared to wait for you to perfect it. If it allows the gamer to exit their car and check out the damage they caused, and then explore the surroundings, it's worth waiting an extra couple of months.

Idea (continued next page)