FirstCuts: Revving Up NASCAR 09

Around a month ago when EA Sports had its NASCAR 09 premiere event here in Charlotte, it was all about the fanfare. I chatted with Elliott Sadler, Jeff Gordon and also got some hands-on time with the game itself well before its June 10 release date. The game seemed solid that night at Whisky River, and even as I wasn’t sitting in a new, trendy nightclub, the gameplay holds up as an excellent racing sim.↵

↵↵The combination of two driving modes for novices and experts, combined with great depth in tracks, drivers and personal customization give any NASCAR fan a sim they’d be happy to drive around the track for hours on end. Hit the jump for what works, as well as a few minor stumbling points.
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↵↵Although I enjoyed the “pro” mode more personally, EA was wise to include the normal mode. I gave it a try before diving into a career with “pro” mode, and it was far more forgiving. It certainly handled more like something you’d expect in an arcade, where taking the incorrect lines on the track didn’t necessarily mean you were bound for a wall.↵

↵↵Ultimately, the toughest thing about driving in “pro” mode was patience. It wasn’t unlike the frustration I experience playing UEFA Euro 2008. Just as there’s a tactical approach to advancing the ball in soccer, there’s a element of tact that’s needed to move through a crowded race track at 150 miles per hour. Occasionally, I was little bit like an exaggerated Kyle Busch, taking out any car in my way. I even experienced a few dreaded black flags.↵

↵↵You’ve also got the ability to tweak all sorts of settings like how tight or loose the car feels, the suspension and downforce. This was one of those places where my total lack of NASCAR understanding sort of kept me from fully utilizing all of the adjustments. (At the premiere event, my eyes nearly glazed over when Jeff Gordon started talking about adding spring. He might as well have started speaking a foreign language.)↵

↵↵The visuals are outstanding. I don’t know NASCAR tracks the way I’d know say a football or basketball venue, but accuracy questions aside, things look great. Changing your in-car view is easy, like always, by tapping the Y button.↵

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↵↵In the department of details, you’ve got the drivers you’d want to use at all of the tracks you’d want to visit. It’s standard and what you expect.↵

↵↵Just as I was impressed with the “Battle of the Nations” feature in UEFA Euro 2008, I was equally – if not more so – by the Paint Booth in NASCAR 09. If you checked out my hands-on first look from the premiere event, I mentioned it there as well. What I didn’t realize at the time was how extensive the Paint Booth feature really was. If you go to the NASCAR 09 web site you can actually download a template where you can go beyond the paint options available within the game, uploading photos and creating your own car for use in the game. User generated content is gold, and EA Sports seems to get it by instituting this feature.↵

↵↵The career mode allows you to build up your character while earning reputation and performance points. Reputation unlocks sponsorship and team opportunities. Performance points improve the performance (duh) of your car and you distribute them like skill points across the varieties of tracks you’ll race. I started off in the Craftsman Trucks Series and moved up to the Nationwide Series. If you get tired of trying to advance your own career, you can jump online and give out punishment on the track against other drivers.↵

↵↵NASCAR isn’t my sport, so I don’t have the patience to sit go through a full career from the trucks to The Chase, but NASCAR fans who don’t find these things tedious because of repetition after a few hours should eat this game up. Between the endless possibilities of the online Paint Booth and the number of tracks you can hit in career mode, the replayability for true fans will be outstanding. NASCAR 09 is in stores now for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3.↵

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