TRACKMANIA

GAME DETAILS :-

Developer : Nadeo

Publisher : Digital Jesters, Enlight, Steam And Focus

Engine : Not Revealed

Genre : Racing

Release Date : July 8 , 2004

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS :-

Operating System : Windows 98 / Windows 2000

CPU : Intel Pentium III Processor / AMD Athlon Thunderbird B-Models

Memory (RAM) : 128 MB

Graphics Hardware : DirectX 9.0 Compatible Video Card with Memory 32 MB

[NVIDIA : GeForce 4 Ti Series
ATI : Radeon X300 Series]

Hard Disk Space : 510 MB

GAME FEATURES :-

TrackMania's earnest simplicity and pure addictiveness shine through over its few rough spots, providing a wholly enjoyable game with plenty of lasting value and charm. TrackMania puts an end to this prolonged drought. The game has been out in Europe for a while now, and since its European release, it has drawn quite a following overseas. In TrackMania, simplicity is the theme of the day. TrackMania has only two primary single-player modes. Race mode is a progression through the game's three unique race worlds--a picturesque countryside, a barren desert, and a frigid, snowcapped landscape, respectively--trying to beat each specific racetrack provided in a certain amount of time. The other mode, puzzle mode, is a bit more unique. In each level, you are provided a start point, an end point, and a specific number of customizable road pieces. Whether they are ramps, standard roads, or other types of set pieces, you have to use them to build a path from point A to point B. Once that's done, you race your created path and try to beat the allotted timetable. While race mode is pretty straightforward--and, admittedly, isn't all that interesting--puzzle mode is quite a cool feature. Even though not all the puzzles are terribly hard, there are enough brain teasers here to keep you entertained for quite a while. Of course, the real purpose of this mode is to earn credits that you can use in the game's track editor--which is, of course, the reason to own this game. TrackMania's track editor is rife with options. Once you've picked from one of the three race worlds, you can create almost limitless possibilities for tracks. Want a 360-degree loop to go into a jump over a rock wall onto a high-up road that takes you into a tunnel that leads to one of several different paths. The interface is rather austere in design, simply giving you point-and-click access to each type of piece, as well as the ability to rotate pieces, move the camera to a different angle, and so on and so forth. All told, the track editor is pretty much worth the price of admission by itself, though it isn't the only thing the game has going for it.

TrackMania's other big draw is its multiplayer component. On a LAN or over the Internet, you can participate in multiplayer races for up to 10 players. There are three distinct multiplayer modes in the game, including round, team, and time attack. While each mode has differing rules and designs, they all still focus around the basic concept of completing a course in the fastest amount of time. You can race on premade tracks or race using your own tracks. The online performance in the game is quite solid, though lag is readily apparent on some of the servers we found ourselves on, leading to a lot of cars jumping and teleporting all over the track. The game's driving mechanics heavily lean toward the realm of arcade-style driving. This is in no way a bad thing, but the way in which the cars handle can be more frustrating than enjoyable at times. Essentially, you have one type of car for each race world--though there are a multitude of skins available for each car type. The countryside level, for instance, features more rally-inspired cars, whereas the desert level features more muscle-bound hot rods. The car models are simplistic and small, and the track designs and set pieces are similarly minimal, using fairly basic textures and not pushing much in the way of polygons. However, this isn't really so much a knock against the game's graphics, as it is just a simple fact. TrackMania is completely worth it if you have any interest in PC driving games or ever liked miniature cars as a kid. Sure, the driving mechanics aren't perfect, and it isn't much to look at, but on the whole, this is a great game with plenty of depth and lasting appeal. And with Nadeo already having released an additional program that lets you import custom online avatars and custom car skins into the game, it seems as though TrackMania could potentially find itself with a solid fan community and plenty of downloadable goodies in the future.

GAME REVIEW :-

8/10

TrackMania Trailer :-