Pro Race Driver is
the best racing video game ever made for any system, bar none. Forget
Gran Turismo, Forza, NASCAR Thunder, or Flag
to Flag. Forget F-Zero. And for god’s sake, forget Mario
Kart.
Released in 2002 for Xbox
and PlayStation 2, Pro Race Driver was the newest iteration in
Codemasters' consistently stellar TOCA touring car game
series. While maintaining the precision control and realism of
previous TOCA iterations, Pro Race Driver adds a
revolutionary story-line element. You control the principal
character, steering him through increasingly prestigious auto-racing
series, all the while building his driving competencies. You'll go
from slumming it in NASCAR-esque stock cars to styling and profiling
in esteemed car types like unto F1. On account of this RPG-styled
progression, Pro Race Driver has sometimes been referred to as
a "Car-PG."
You learn to love your
main character. He's not just a faceless driver. His name is Ryan
"Octane" McKane, and you are given the opportunity to make
him all your own by editing his nickname before embarking on a
campaign. The immediate temptation is to go perverse while keeping
the rhyme scheme: your correspondent went with "Shit Stain";
your correspondent’s associate decided upon "Come Stain."
Either way, the matter of how Mr. McKane earned a nickname so
evocative makes for intriguing ludo-narrative possibilities.
These cosmetic
considerations aside, the appeal of Pro Race Driver is that
you are directing a real man with flaws and vulnerabilities that you
encounter over the course of the many raceways. Yes, Ryan McKane can
be shrill at times, but he's also persistent and exacting. You see
this in the car and on the infield, and you also see this in his
dating life. Indeed, one of the subplots has you courting racing
groupies (is the term "race rats"?). As you learn more and
more about Shit Stain McKane, the man, over the course of various
races and relationships, you start to wipe away the flaws and polish
up the propensities.
 |
| Also worth noting: the graphics are photo-realistic |
Each championship series
consist of around six races, approximately seven laps each. This is
just the right length, not too long or too short. The controls are
velvety and user-friendly, and the competition ultra-forgiving, so
you'll move through the game breezily. Less time redoing all the
racing leaves more time for relating with the ladies (at least
in-game).
Given its variety of
car-types, its innovative RPG-styled story mode, its realism, and its
accessibility, Pro Race Driver is a must-own of the highest
order. Beyond all this, it possesses a personality—an unvarnished
humanity—that all other racing games lack. This gritty
verisimilitude sets Pro Race Driver apart as the greatest of
all time. Pro Race Driver outpaces present-day racing games
and, best of all, few game sellers realize this—as such, it's easy
to find for cheap.