Nascar 2008 (PS2) Review
Posted by Andrew Mellick on 09.22.2007
Another year and another Nascar title. Can EA find a way to breathe life into a tired franchise and a dying console? Read on to find out.
Ah Nascar, the eternal left. For years this sport has been calling out to white trash hicks like a whale in heat and for years they have answered the call. Yes, no doubt you’ve heard the cries of “Junior” or “number (insert # here)” or the argument that men in there fifties driving around in a circle are “athletes”.
Despite my obvious distaste for the pseudo sport, it has captivated a good part of this nation. So it should come to nobody’s surprise that if there is a trend, passion, love, hate or anything in between for any subject that there is most likely a video game series dedicated to said subject.
We’ve seen a good many incarnations of the Nascar series come out, so the question is can this game find new and creative ways to take the checkered flag or while they take the pit to monotony and repetitiveness.
Editor’s note: Get ready for racing analogies!
Graphics
In Nascar 2007….wait, this is supposed to be 2008. Well you can hardly tell when you’re in the driver’s seat. Graphically this game is a repeat, no two ways about it. Surprisingly, the graphics that were decent a year ago have aged! Now they look very dated and repetitive. If you don’t believe me just fire up the “Earn your Stripes” mode and see what happens. If this feels familiar it should. You see last year Kenny Wallace introduces himself to you and becomes your ally. Apparently, Mr. Wallace has a short-term memory (or EA hopes you do) as the exact same scene takes place in ’08. Here’s a hint, if you want to tell gamers “This is just a cash grab” that’s the way to do it.
If you’ve ever read my reviews before you know I am always looking for realism in graphics. In racing games this comes down to one thing; crashes. Now I’m not asking for flying body parts or a funeral program or anything. But let’s face it; there is a decent portion of racing fans that watch for crashes. However, for whatever reason EA always waters down their crashes into what looks like two senior citizens testing out Nerf cars. Unfortunately 2008 is no different, this only adds to the already dated graphics.
Bottom line is this is a PS2 game, so don’t expect any graphical revolution to start here. But, that doesn’t mean that taking last year’s model and pasting it to what is supposed to be a “new” version is nothing short of ludicrous. Seriously, is EA even trying here?
Gameplay
Again it’s racing and its what you’d expect. The controls for the most part are pretty arcade like, which is just fine by me seeing as I have little racing experience to help me here. You’re given the option to tweak your car in various ways to help performance. These options while realistic, don’t feel like they have much affect on your car. This differs from the PS3 version which is a lot closer to a simulation in that respect.
Nascar 2008 does provide a variety of different racing modes to sate your lust for left turns. You can create your own driver and put him through time trials in an effort to wow racing teams and garner big time bucks. For the most part these options are the same as last year but they can provide some fun nonetheless.
What perhaps is most surprising overall about the 2008 experience is the game isn’t a watered down version of its PS3 counterpart. No, instead it’s basically a new paint job on last year. So rather than be mediocre the normal way by providing a B level experience of the A level PS3 title, EA decided to take last years B level experience and use it again. It really is remarkable. I mean we’ve all seen perennial games have the occasional rehash but this game really takes that to a whole new level.
Sound
To go along with the recycled graphics, EA chose to bring back the beautiful canned sounds of roaring engines and squealing tires. It sounds realistic enough but it still feels stale and monotonous. The engines sound like the dull droning of a jet engine as opposed to the balls-to-the-wall screams of a motor on the brink of explosion a Nascar should have.
You’ve got your pit crew chief in your ear telling you a bunch of crap about your car that you don’t care about. “You need to pit, your on fire!” Hey, sorry EA, I don’t speak Nascar. In all seriousness, the voice acting here is serviceable. Expect to hear that southern drawl from a guy who sounds about as excited for the race, as he would be for a vasectomy. But I’ve never been a crew chief before so maybe it isn’t that exciting.
Just like last year all the cut scenes are ridiculously overacted and cheesy sounding. However, this kind of fits in with the overdramatic use of oven mitt hand motions while talking. It’s what you’d expect from a game a year ago…wait a minute!
Lasting Appeal
Well, it’s lasted a whole year so I guess it’s got some. Seriously, if you bought last year’s incarnation, you have no reason to buy this one. Unless you are just looking to update your racers (do new racers come that often?) you’re just buying the same game.
I suppose you could argue that the “Car of Tomorrow” you can drive is a pretty cool feature. It really is, it’s a blast to drive and it does put a new spin on the tracks. However, despite the fun, there is no way its worth buying the same game again.
As far as multiplayer goes; it’s their and its reasonable. It is nothing special mind you but it is reasonable. If you actually have enough friends interested in Nascar to play this game with you, you should be able to find what you are looking for.
Fun Factor
Like I mentioned earlier the “car of the future” is here and its hella fun to drive. Combine that with a few other new tweaks and modes and there is some fun to be had here.
Unfortunately the repetitive game play and the recycled graphics make this a bit hard to get into. This game is the closest thing I’ve ever seen to a replica of the previous year. Too bad because the game actually does have a few glimmers of hope that could have been built on to make a decent title for the PS2.
I really would have liked to have seen some ingenuity in the career mode. Why not make it possible to jump teams, start rivalries, and work with sponsors? It wouldn’t take much; just a few interactive options during an interview and a guy could really stir up the pot. You have to be inventive when you are working with a pretty repetitive event like racing.
The 411
Nascar 2008 is the only game in town when it comes to Nascar simulation so that de facto monopoly puts it at the top. Still though, a lot could have been done here to create a fun and engaging new edition to the staple racing franchise.
With me this game loses a lot of points due to the out and out recycling of key elements in the season mode. It’s downright insulting to expect gamers not to notice this. For a company as big as EA to show such disregard for its fans in an effort to save a few bucks is pretty pathetic.
Yes, there are some things here that will definitely appeal to racing fans but this game is basically Nascar 2007 2.0. So if you’re a racing fan with last years edition I’d take a hard look at this title before buying. If you’re not a racing fan, this game isn’t going to get you in the pits anytime soon. Ultimately it’s a throw away title on a dying console.
