TrackMania Forever (PC) Review
Posted by Chris Evans on 04.24.2008
A review of the amazingly fun TrackMania Nations and United Forever games. One is free the other is not!
TrackMania Nations Forever and TrackMania United Forever are the latest versions of the TrackMania series from French studio Nadeo. The Forever add-on/update adds a great amount to both games and takes the game another step forward.
The TrackMania series is one that will confuse those with little knowledge of its history with numerous different TrackMania titles available. All you need to know is that Nations is a free version while United is a retail purchasable version with a whole heap of features not found in Nations as well as everything already in Nations. Forever makes some big improvements to both versions of the game.
In Nations there is a big boost in the number of tracks playable with 65 progressively more difficult ones available. The Stadium environment and the solo mode also are expanded in Nations. The final big bonus is that both Nations and United players can now play together on the Stadium tracks. United sees the same new tracks as Nations does, new blocks for use in the track builder as well as some major graphical updates for the Desert, Snow and Rally game modes.
Gameplay
TrackMania is a racing game that like AudioSurf and Trials 2 is all about getting to the top of the rankings. Like those two it is originally a fully fledged indie game, and depending on your methods of classification it may still be…oh how I love my indie games!
The basics of TrackMania are undeniably simple, get from the start to the end of a track or complete numerous circuits of a track in the quickest time possible. Even in Nations there is a massive variety of different track types, they range from simple point to point races with some wacky bends and loops but not much else to similar courses that are littered with a huge variety of obstacles along with stunt tracks requiring some special driving to get to the finishing line.
In United this is taken a step further with a whole host of different environments in which to race from start to finish with the Stadium environment that is ever present in Nations along with Rally, Snow, Desert and a bunch of other great styles to race on. Along with these races there is a stunt mode which requires you the racer to get to the end of an extremely tricky course with the least crashes.
All round there is a great variety of different tracks and game modes in which to play, and that is just for the single player. While you receive single player ranks for your area, country and the world it is multiplayer where the most fun lies.
Stepping into the multiplayer part of the game is like stepping into a different universe with intense competition from people across the globe for the top rankings while racing on both the official Nadeo tracks and a massive number of user created tracks. Competing with the best really is a challenge, so if you are new to the game playing with some lower ranked people is for the best to avoid possible humiliation from the pros.
Yes pros there are, well maybe not really pros but TrackMania does have a thriving competitive scene in the online game with a whole variety of clans or teams all over the place. This is just one facet of the community spirit present in TrackMania; if you have United you are able to earn credits in the solo mode. You can take these credits and, while using an in-built browser find a whole host of tracks, skins and much more besides to purchase and download for your own use.
Chatting poses an interesting challenge when you are racing, but in TrackMania it just seems right that you should be able to effortlessly chat and race at the same time, well it is more likely to occur after you have taken a wild ride over the edge of the track and landed miles away from where you should be. It is just another small thing that adds up to make this game so enjoyable.
The driving itself is effortless, this is one of the few racing games where using the arrow keys actually works! Shocking I know but that just goes to show how wild and wacky this game can be despite its serious online sections. While a 360 or another type of controller may improve your performance, it really isn’t necessary to play and have some fun with this game.
For a racing game to be so playable with just the keyboard is something which makes it so much more accessible than any other racing game. This is a large part of the attraction of TrackMania, the fact that you can start it up and be racing so quickly and so easily is just brilliant.
I have talked so much about the tracks already, but I have one last thing to talk about regarding them, that is the Editor. The Track Editor is one of the key things in the game outside of the actual racing. This is where you are able to make a track as wild and wacky as you can imagine. The Editor is based on the principle of blocks of track. You can have literally hundreds of different types of blocks in your track ranging from the basic straight bit of road to turbo sections along with loops and jumps. Heck pretty much anything that comes to mind can be found in the Editor.
Watching you car get splattered with mud on the dirt tracks in the Stadium is just a brilliant sight to behold and just goes to show how much work Nadeo have put into this game. Throwing you car wildly off the course or having a major crash are both fine examples of the fun you can have with this game.
I do have some issues though, mainly the fact that you are never really racing anyone. You are racing ghosts of the competitors even when playing online. Not being able to fight wheel to wheel for victory is an annoyance, though with this being a fastest lap is the winner type of game the need for wheel to wheel racing is lessened.
Lasting Appeal
There really is so much to do in this game it is unbelievable even if you are just running Nations, the sheer number of courses to play is fantastic, there are some really quite mind boggling tracks out there, both Nadeo and player made ones. This sheer depth in the amount of courses on offer is really great, it just shows what can be done when a development team are given the chance to take their idea and run with it.
Fun Factor
TrackMania is a whole load of fun, there is noting about this game that makes you think "oh this isn't fun..." as you are constantly racing around outrageously crazy tracks making your car do stuff that shouldn't be possible but that just is brilliant to witness. The actual driving is fun purely because you are not worrying about gears, downforce and all the other stuff that comes in racing games today. Without a doubt this is the most fun you are going to have with a racing game for a long while. The only way to make this more fun would be if you were actually racing the other cars, but that would damage the flow of the game.
Graphics
While the graphics lack the sheer majesty of games like DiRT they are definitely very impressive in TrackMania. The cars and tracks look very good, especially on the higher settings. Even running on low settings everything looks very nice, though at times things do slow down a bit if your machine isn’t quite up to scratch.
Sound
On the sound front the game is decent enough but nothing really stands out, the cars sounds meaty and full of engine but it sometimes comes across as being a bit bland. The same can be said of the music, it is good for what it does but really is nothing spectacular. Play some of your own tunes if you can.
The 411
Despite some of these issues this is a really great game, the issues are only small and niggling and are not anything to really worry about. The depth of things to do even in the free Nations edition is immense and this just expands with United. Actually getting out on track and racing is really good fun and is easy to do. If you are looking for a real fun racer and are not looking for the full on simulation of many racing games out there right now then TrackMania is for you.
Pictures from Steam
Graphics
8.0
Really impressive at times, not quite up to par with the big boys but really quite good.
Gameplay
10.0
The racing is immense fun, building tracks is great. All round great gaming.
Sound
7.0
The one area that lets this game down sadly.
Lasting Appeal
9.0
There is really so much to do in this game it is unbelievable. Go make your own tracks to add on more hours of gaming!
Fun Factor
9.0
Really is great fun, especially online with your mates.
