Score
Gameplay:	5
Graphics:	7
Sound:	9
FunFactor:	3
PlasmaFactor:	5
Overall:	5.8

RC Cars Review
February 20, 2004 by Brian

by Brian - February 20, 2004

Whiptail Interactive�s RC Cars is an arcade racer for the PC that puts you in the seat of a Remote Controlled car racing other RC cars in lots of different environments. While it has pretty graphics, detailed environments, and various obstacles, RC cars could have been a lot better as a console game.

Gameplay

There isn�t much to the gameplay in RC Cars. It�s just like any racing game with a few differences. There are lots of obstacles on each track ranging from beach chairs, hummers, crabs, and people. The proportions of the obstacles to your little car are surprisingly accurate, and some move and interact with the environment and the cars. For example, on some levels, the people will try to kick your car, and at the military bases the soldiers will fire upon it. Obviously, there is also water in the coastal levels. Falling in the water makes your car go back to the last checkpoint. It is extremely annoying because it is nearly impossible to catch up after taking a spill. That is my major gripe about this game. When you hit an obstacle, you can�t get out of them fast enough. One major reason is that the turn radius is far too large when going slowly. Since you practically stop completely every time you hit something. The obvious answer to this would be �Well don�t hit anything, stupid!� but the turning makes it very hard to do so for a full 3 laps. It gets frustrating fast.

Further, the game only has three different cars, and only one of them is available when you start the game. You must buy the others. You can purchase upgrades for your booster, engine, and tires though. You start with $100 which can buy you one upgrade for any of those things, but that�s it. You must win races in championship mode to get more money and they are pretty darn hard. There is an Internet as well as hotseat multiplayer mode, but I was unimpressed with them as much as I was with the single player.

Graphics

For a budget game, RC cars has surprisingly great graphics. The cars and environments are very detailed. The cars will kick up sand, splash in the water, and even get dirty as they race around the tracks. Of course, taking a dip in the water also wipes off the dust, but for other reasons, that�s not a very good idea. Apart from that, some of the bigger models (People, animals) could use some work.

Sound and Music

The music in RC cars fits the tempo perfectly. The tracks consist of fast paced techno beats and hard-hitting rock music. Although not a fan of either, I could definitely appreciate the music in this type of game. It really grabs you and makes you want to compete.

The sound effects are also good. Apart from engine buzzing, you will hear some pretty decent sound effects when falling into the water (Can you tell I did that a lot?), being fired upon by military personnel, and various other things. Overall, very good.

Funfactor

This game is more frustrating than fun. It has its moments, and it definitely looks great, but its just not very fun to play. There are only so many times I can lose a race because I hit a rock. If they made it a bit easier to get back on track after hitting an obstacle, it would be better, but that isn�t so. Furthermore, if this was a console game, and I could play with a controller rather than a keyboard (it does support controllers, but not everyone has one) it might also improve a bit.

 

 

Conclusion

It should have been a console game. Even then, though, it wouldn�t be a great game. Decent? Yes, but not great. In its current form, it�s not worth the money unless you like frustration.