Heres a copy of what I posted on my clansite...
When oh when will I learn not to get excited about Codemaster driving games This is yet another console game hastily ported for the PC. Its arcady to the max, and definitely designed for a gamepad, not wheel.
I won't bagg it completely, as there is indeed some fine eye candy to be had, and the whole game in general is quite pretty. Music is ok, but gets a bit old after a couple of hours. Menu system is a dead givaway to its console orientation, but I have had worse from codemasters. And although I would like it if I could configure buttons on my wheel to handle the menu's, my only real complaint about them is the lengthy save time between most screens.
Track selection is excellent. Plenty of content from Australia, and some nice offerings from Europe and the USA. Plenty of tarmac too for the road racers like me.
But the main reason this game will most likely be uninstalled in the next day or so is the driving model. I know I'm a demanding sim player, and my cravings for realism go beyond many gamers needs... But this is just not even close. I spent the first 1/2 an hour trying to configure my logi momo wheel to the point where I could drive in a straight line. When I first fired it up, all I could do is fishtail in any car at any speed, I was pulling better laps with the keyboard lol. Once that was dialed in, I set about trying to drive with some finesse.. but its just not designed for it. This game favours those with better reaction times over those with some driving skill, and too much driving is done on the gearbox.
I decided to stick with it, and spent another hour and a bit getting up to tier 4 where I could unlock the Mk2 Escort, a car that I have owned many of, and driven extensively. Thats where I drew the line. I know about Colins Mk2.. It doesn't have ABS or traction control.. I should be able to drop it in any gear around a dirt road bend and enjoy the resulting radical broadslide. And when I throw out all the anchors, it should lock up and slide like a mongrel. Instead I get this generic "car" that handles much like the AWD and FWD cars in the game and sounds like em too.
Ahh well, at least it looks pretty lol. Why if my diff wasn't sitting beside me here in the office I would go for a drive in a real Escort right now hehehe hmmmm.
For what its worth, I haven't had any audio dropouts.
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Now just to round out the topic, I will summarise.. Just for clarity, you cannot mod the Xbox version.. so your stuck with its crazy handling config.
The grip levels are so high you cannot slide a car unless you tweak the game files..
The brakes are so uber, you can stop a car from 150Kph in about 5 meters on gravel with no lockups.
The game is so graphically demanding, you should ignore the min specs on the box and only buy it if you have a beasty PC.
Many people have experianced audio crashes
Many people have simply failed to get the game to run on their PC. as the anti piracy software built into the disk only recognizes some DVD players/burners.
All up, its my personal opinion that Colin should not have put his name on this title.. And its a near complete waste of $90.
I am busily modding the heck out of it in an effort to get my escort to behave like an escort.