Game Reviews | Game Previews

Summary

This new Nascar game is on the way to being a classic. You compete in a lot of races in which you choose to be good or bad. Be good by driving good and be bad by wrecking and ramming other drivers. This is a great two player game. It is fun to just wreck everyone and see how bad you can damage your car. This is a very fun game that any racing fan should play. It is a big rush and parts are challenging. I think anyone that likes Nascar, racing games, or wrecking vechiles should play this game. You might want to rent it first to see if you like it. I know I do.

Summary

My first major experience with a NASCAR game was NASCAR Racing 4 (PC) by Papyrus. And it was a great experience! You really had to get your self involved in every aspect of your car to really be able to win a race. So, when I got NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup I had high expectations for the game. I have to admit that maybe I should have brought down my expectations more then a few levels. I'm not saying that NASCAR 2005 doesn't do some great things, but there are many things that I, as a big NASCAR fan, would have liked to have had in my experience with the game.

Let me start out by saying that this is the best looking NASCAR game that I have ever seen. The tracks are rendered perfectly, the cars look fantastic and realistic, and this game has some of the greatest looking clouds in the history of gaming. My only complaint about the graphics is the painstakingly slow framerate in your rear view mirror when you have a lot of cars in it.

The sound is also a huge plus in NASCAR 2005. This sounds like how a NASCAR game should. The engines roar as you race around the track, your crew chief and spotter keep you up to date on the happenings, even the pit stops sound as they should. And as always EA did a great job of picking a good lineup of songs for this game. Now for the only broken part of the game, the gameplay its self. First I do want to say that the on track racing is great. Cars act as they should for certain situations. If your car is loose then expect the back end to want to go around, if you go into a corner too fast expect to meet the wall very soon. All the modes of the game are great. The fight to the top is a great idea for a career mode, working you through all the different series in NASCAR. And of course you have your season mode, chase for the cup mode (which allows you to play the last 10 races of the season), and different mini games to test your skills in. There are only two parts of the gameplay that I feel are broken and really these are two very important parts. First, EA needs to allow for deeper tweaking when you come in for a pit stop. There are so many more things that can be done during a pit stop then just getting tires, wedge adjustments, fuel and damage repair. You can do sway bar adjustments, if needed be you can add or take away spring rubbers. There are even things you can do that would take almost a minute to complete (for those desperate times). Also, when you run out of fuel your race isn't over. Yes, you will go a lap or more down but your race isn't over. The second big thing for me in NASCAR 2005 is the fact that there is rarely a yellow flag. Most races have at least four or five cautions. You have cars that blow up, have tire problems and of course wrecks. NASCAR 2005: Chase For The Cup is a good NASCAR game for a start. But, EA has a lot they need to approve upon. Unfortunately they didn't do that in NASCAR 2006 or NASCAR 2007. They added more features, but they didn't fix what is wrong with the game. And somethings, like graphics have gone down hill. Lets hope that for the next gen of gaming EA does the right thing and make a game that NASCAR fans will really want to sink into. After all NASCAR is becoming a bigger sport every year. And soon a NASCAR game could compete in sales with the likes of Madden, if done right.

Summary

This is the best nascar racing game since dirt to daytona. It has an impressive amount of content and racing modes. The best part of the game is the long and detailed career mode. You can choose between being a full time driver, owner, and everything in between. The different types of cars is great especially with the new nascar games lacking content. During your career if you decide to be an owner you will have to choose sponsors upgrade your cars and train your pit crew. There are a few new tracks that break the normal mode and can keep the gameplay interesting. The backround graphics arn't great, but you probably shouldn't be looking around while driving anyway. The car models are done really well and the driving is realistic. Also the AI is somewhat lacking, but the addition of allies and rivals keeps you on your toes. The career mode can keep you playing this game for quite awhile. There are also many things that you can spend your time unlocking such as new tracks, and paint jobs. The game is great, but the somewhat easy gameplay keeps it from being great.

Summary

The most fun part of Election 2004 is using backstabbing tactics against your opponent. At the conclusion of every week, you'll have a choice between two covert operations: Digging for Dirt and Active Actions. Digging for Dirt is the less malicious of the two. You can spend up to $250,000 to hire a detective, who will mount an effort to drag skeletons out of your opponent's closet.

The more enjoyable option by far is Active Actions, which lists 13 different evil things that can be done to drop your opponent's support. These range from "Put false evidence in paper ($25,000)" to "Fake police record ($75,000)." One guaranteed to promote hilarity is "Send hooker and take pictures ($50,000)." Scandals break at random, and high-road gamers beware: The computer has no qualms about slinging as much mud as possible to win.

You can dig up dirt, leak bad news, or spread rumors about your opponent…for the right price.
Election 2004 is a lot of fun, but it has several peccadilloes--namely, the difficulty level, the text speed, and the game length. The game shows no mercy for novices, so expect to lose many, many campaigns before locking down a presidency. Secondly, the user interface is great, but the text speed is painfully slow; an option to speed up things would have helped tremendously. Finally, a single game of Election 2004 takes a really long time. Each game is 30 rounds, each consisting of a survey of the 50 states, random news breaks and scandals, an optional debate, and a summary of the week's events. The game is interesting, but play begins to lose steam around week 15 or 20.

Summary

great fun folks, very sharply timed and truly based on the awful charade called Election. Its immediatly entertaining though a bit uneasy to figure out.

The player takes the role of an American President`s of choice and follows its struggle to ultimatly winning the American election and becoming president. For that, the game covers the whole shebang of lying, backstabbing, pretending and covering up own mishaps.

This, most of all, give the player a sense of power but most of all fun. having your JFK easily beating Ronald Reagan is a delight and the fowl way in achieving this does so even more.