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However, I am a consummate, dyed-in-the-wool motorsports fan of nearly 50 years standing, and a press reference to a Mac computer game called Ford Racing 2 tweaked my curiously earlier this summer. The product logo featured an enticing red Ford GT with white racing stripes, and it got me thinking about the Ford Motor company's intensive involvement in motorsport, especially since the early 1960s, when the blue oval first competed at the Indianapolis 500, later moving on to power just about every team on the Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit except for Ferrari, and the company's $multi-million (in the days when $millions were really serious money) quest to win the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race and the World Sports Car Championship more than 40 years ago, which it succeeded in doing very convincingly in 1966 when three Ford GT40 Mk II race cars made history - finishing first, second and third at Le Mans. The Ford GT would go on to win Le Mans for the next three years in a row, and the 21st-Century Ford GT exoticar is a replica of that '60s racer.
Curious as to what a Ford racing computer game would be like, I contacted the developer, Feral Interactive, and they kindly I agreed to send me a review a copy of the software.
Now, I'm not going to pretend for a moment that I'm remotely competent or have the frame of reference to write an authoritative review of Ford Racing 2. As noted, it's the first and as yet only modern computer game I've ever sat down with. However, perhaps my neophyte impressions will be of interest.
Actually, Feral Interactive sent along two games, the other being the new Colin McRae Rally, a motorsport game even more advanced than Ford Racing 2, which has been around for several years I understand. Unfortunately, I don't currently have the hardware necessary to support running Colin McRae Rally, which requires an Intel-based Mac with a real graphics card and dedicated video RAM, so even Intel MacBooks, Mac minis, and MacBook Airs with their GMA integrated video support need not apply.
My most powerful Mac is a 2004-vintage 1.33 GHz G4 PowerBook with 1.5 gigabytes of RAM, which happily exceeds both the minimum and recommended system requirements for Ford Racing 2, which are 800 MHz and 1 GHz with 256 MB and 512 MB of RAM respectively.
Installing Ford Racing 2 is simple enough; just mount the program DVD and drag the application to your Applications Folder. I made the error of ejecting the DVD as soon as the program file transferred, and was obliged to reinsert it when the program informed me that it requires the DVD's presence in order to run - presumably a DRM thing. Tedious and an unwelcome hassle. There is also a well-written 11-page hard-copy quick start pamphlet to help walk you through the basics, which is good, because I have to say that I didn't find the menu structure especially intuitive or easy to negotiate.
The first screen on launch asks you to configure video parameters.
You can choose from a range of some 35 different Ford vehicles, historic and modern, for your virtual race car - everything from that Ford GT, or various trucks, to a Ford Taurus NASCAR stocker capable of 200 mph.
There are iconic Fords like a '49 sedan like the one pictured above that is a dead-ringer for the one a teenage chum's family owned in the mid-'60s, a '55 T-Bird, '68-'73 Mustangs and a '76 Gran Torino plus recent/current models, including a Crown Victoria like my hotrodder daughter's '03 Police Interceptor, and the unfortunately discontinued latest Thunderbird retrocar iteration.
I just couldn't resist the 56 Ford F-100 - 1953-'56 Ford pickups being in my world the best looking and most desirable light-duty trucks ever built. I at one time owned a '53 F-200 with a flathead V-8, and used to drive a friend's '53 F-100 (which had a 261 CID Chevy six powering it) a lot, so what looked like a faithful representation of a mid-'50s Ford truck speedometer in the game's readout bought back fond memories. I digress.
The closest thing however that I was able to find in the selection to my own Ford-built Mazda B-4000 4x4 pickup was the Ford Explorer Sport Trac, which is (loosely) based on the same chassis.
Ford Racing 2 lets you create a driver profile that logs your progress, best lap times, and other statistics. You can create new driver profiles or select an existing one from the driver profile menu to resume a previously played game.
The main menu offers for the game configuration options:
Quick race - A one-off race with no rewards
Single player - the standard mode of play
Multiplayer - lets you race in a split screen against another opponent using vehicles, tracks, and race types that have been won in single player.
Options - lets you adjust controller and game settings.
I chose the Single Player mode to experiment with, which seemed like the logical place to start. Ford Racing 2 features two different game types:
Ford Challenge is a series of pre-determined races and driving challenges that, when won, allow you to add the challenge's vehicle, track and race to your Ford Collection.
Ford Collection allows you to use the vehicles, tracks, and races that you have won in the Ford Challenge games to create your own races. If you beat a particular race type on every track, then you win the trophy for that race type. I quickly determined that this was not an issue I needed to concern myself with anytime soon! The challenge for me was keeping the car on the road, even at the minimum difficulty level. Ford Collection also lets you choose from among the entire virtual garage of vehicle types to try out.
Ford Racing 2 features eight different race types that can be won by completing Ford Challenge games:
Standard - a race for first place between one and five opponents covering between one and 9 laps.
Elimination - a race against five opponents over three laps; the last two vehicles are knocked out on each of the first two laps and the final lap is a head-to-head race to the finish.
Duel - a three-lap race in which you have to duel against three challengers in succession. Winning each lap starts the next with your new opponent
Drafting: you must get behind your opponent and follow them closely without touching; the power shown on the screen decreases as you hit your opponent but increases if you hit them.
Driving skills - there are gates (or chicanes) positioned around the track, and each gate you successfully pass through adds one second to a countdown. You must complete one lap before the countdown ends.
Seconds Out - time notices are positioned around the track and each one you collect takes one second off your lap times; you must beat the target time to win.
Racing Line - beat the target time while driving on the best racing line that is marked on the track - if you drive off the line it changes from green to red and you incur a time penalty.
Time attack - it's just you against the track: can you beat the target time?
Note: only standard and elimination races are available in Multiplayer mode.
If you choose Ford Challenge, racing setup will consist of two screens. : Challenge Theme Select and Challenge Select. if you go with Ford Collection, race setup will consist of three screens:
Race Type Select is where you choose the type of race you want to compete in, while vehicle select lets you choose the vehicle theme and then the vehicle you want to race. With some vehicles you can alternate color schemes by pressing the C-Key. Vehicle characteristics are also shown including Speed - the maximum straight-line speed of which their chosen vehicle is capable; Handling - how easy the vehicle is to control and how well it corners; Acceleration - how quickly it accelerates from rest; and Weight - how heavy the vehicle is and how tolerant of impact with other vehicles and road hazards.
Track select allows you to choose a track theme and the track you will erase on. There are six track types with two or three different race tracks for each theme: City Limits, Big Country, Spring Break, Lost World, Ovals and Race Tracks - a total of 16 tracks in all. Your choice of vehicle will partly determine where you can race it. Race cars are for race tracks only. Road vehicles can race anywhere except off-road, while off-road vehicles can race anywhere. Some race types only allow you to adjust difficulty in the pre-race menu, but others let you configure the number of laps, number of opponents, and opposing vehicles as well. Here's me in the '56 F-100, bringing up the rear as usual,
You can switch between two different views during the race by pressing the enter key. Bumper View gives you maximum sensation of speed, while Chase View gives you a detached prospective from behind your car. Speaking of which, this game provides a remarkably realistic sensation of what it's like to be in a real car at speed, such as riding in that aforementioned Crown Vic Police Interceptor with my daughter at the wheel.
On-screen readouts monitor your current position, show a track map of nearby track with you are kind location relative to it and other compiler competitors, lap statistics, your engine r.p.m., the gear you are in, and your current speed - a lot to digest, I found, while trying to master the challenge of "steering" accelerating, and braking with the arrow keys on my keyboard. One trick is to lightly tap the arrow keys rather than jamming them down hard - easier said than done in the heat of the moment. Handbrake (Space Bar) powerslides are also vital to cornering rapidly.
Hand-eye coordination has never been one of my long suits, and on the cusp of turning 57 (less than a month away!) I'm not getting any more adept, so I expect I would have to practice a lot with this game before I became even passably, competent, let alone ready to proceed to the advanced mode of play which enables traction control, ABS, and manual shifting instead of the default automatic.
It almost immediately occurred to me that one would really want a gaming steering wheel and pedals setup such as the Logitech MOMO Racing Wheel, in order to get the best out of what this game has to offer. Ford Racing 2 does reportedly support force feedback on the MOMO and other similar controllers, with the wheel applying pressure as if you are really in a corner. Note that when using a USB gamepad or steering wheel, you have to define the keys in the Options menu before using the device. Unfortunately I didn't have one available, so was limited to using keyboard commands.
However, despite my ineptness, I'm really impressed with the in depth and variety of what's available in Ford Racing 2. Notwithstanding my PowerBook's hardware mediocrity that today's standards, I didn't notice any hiccups in the animation playback even at the full-screen 1440 x 900 resolution (lower resolutions are optional), although I did manage to hard crash the program once on my first outing.
The graphics are impressive with dust, reflections on the cars, sparks when your vehicle scrapes a guardrail (a feature I "tested" regularly! - although the cars don't register damage - mine would have looked as if they were emerging from a demolition derby, especially early on) and other realism-enhancing effects. The crisply and vividly rendered, fill-3D scenery in the various themes themselves is always very good and often spectacular. The authenticity of vehicle details is excellent as well.
As is customary in these types of computer games (I infer) there is a background sound track. I wasn't smitten with the choices of music offered, which I found annoying and distracting, but mercifully you can just turn it off, which I did, and which allows you to hear the very decent vehicular sound effects like squealing tires and accelerating through the gears much better. As an aside here, I know I'm swimming against the current radically, but I've never been much of a fan of in-car sound systems for much the same reasons; I like music, but I prefer to listen to the engine, other mechanical, bits and road noises when I'm on the real road.
If you're a car freak like me, I can pretty much guarantee that you will like this game. In summary, I'm still not much of a gamer, but Ford Racing 2 is realistic and engaging enough that it has roped me in somewhat. I'm now itching to try out Colin McRae Rally, so hopefully I'll have a machine that can support it soon!
New in version 1.1: • Added Native Intel support, plays at full speed on any Intel-based Mac.
Minimum System Requirements
Processor: 800MHz
RAM: 256MB
Graphics: 32MB
Mac OS: 10.2
Hard Disk: 250MB
Drive: DVD
Input: Mouse
Recommended System Requirements
Processor: 1GHz
RAM: 512MB
Graphics: 64MB
Mac OS: 10.5
Hard Disk: 500MB
Drive: DVD
Input: Steering Wheel
Universal Application
Supports both Intel and PPC processors
$30.00 Demoware (Includes Free Shipping)
For more information, visit:
http://www.feralinteractive.com/fordracing2
Charles W. Moore
Tags: Games ď Game Reviews ď Hot Topics ď
Hi Fake Steve;
Not sure a comment like that merits a serious response, but a couple of observations:
1. Ford Racing 2 runs very nicely on my semi-ancinet 1.33 GHz PowerBook G4.It must really scream on a modern INtel Mac.
2. Ford Racing 2 won’t run on Vista at all - it’s a Mac-only program.
CM