RaceRoom The Game 2 by SimBin

The creators of the Race 07 and GTR series of games SimBin have just released the sequel to their free downloadable sim RaceRoom The Game. Originally RaceRoom just offered 2 cars and 1 track to race on but now in RaceRoom The Game 2011 you get the choice of 5 cars and 6 track layouts:

Cars

BMW 320SI E90

Radical SR3 205 BHP

Chevrolet Camaro

Formula RaceRoom (an unofficial version of a modern F1 car)

Matech GT1

Tracks

Imola

Hockenheim National

Hockenheim Short

Hockenheim GP

Laguna Seca

Nurburgring

The game is basically a continuing expansion on the Race 07/GTR Evolution/Race On series which I’ve always been a fan of, despite running on the rather dated original ISI engine the same as rFactor 1 the SimBin titles still offer very good physics. The graphics and sound are still very respectable too, they may not compare too well to the likes of F1 2011 or Shift 2 but they are still pleasant to look at with well modelled tracks and cars.

Using the ISI engine SimBin manage to achieve something companies like Codemasters and EA seem to find impossible, they make driving games that can be controlled easily and realistically by either a racing wheel or a control pad with no compromise. Without any need for a huge list of adjustable settings like steering sensitivity, saturation, speed sensitivity etc that still don’t get the controls feeling right SimBins games feel right straight away. The cars behave how you’d expect in a realistic sim way using either control method without any high speed twitching or constant sliding like you find in Grid or the Shift games. If you have a go on the likes of Shift 2 then switch to a SimBin title it instantly feels so much better, no input lag and you feel like the cars are actually connected to the track instead of floating. Putting it simply, it just feels right.

So your probably wondering if this is a good racing game why is it free? Well it’s basically designed to work like a demo and make you want to buy one of the full SimBin titles, most notably the upcoming Race Injection which has a release date set for November 18 th 2011. With all these tracks and cars to choose from plus the option to run fairly long races it’s like a very generous demo. I happen to believe though that the full games are excellent value for money should you choose to purchase one. Once Race Injection is released we’ll be giving it a full review.

Home

RaceRoom 2 offers a good selection of cars to try, the Camaro’s are great fun to drive and the F1 style car has pretty realistic physics without being too hardcore. The BMW 320SI E90 gives you a taste of the WTCC cars as the Matech does with the GT1 racing and the Radical’s always provide exciting close racing. Any of these cars can be raced on any of the available tracks giving you plenty of race combinations to drive. The only downside to Race Room is the adverts which appear during the races, these are however at the sides of the screen so you hardly even notice them when your focused on racing.If your new to racing sims and would like to try one out without spending any money this is a great way to do it, you can download the sim at raceroom.net. This really is a sim racing bargain!

SimRacingGames RaceRoom 2 Review Rating: 87%