Before starting the article, I would like to popularize the “house car” in the title for friends who are not familiar with this game series. It is not the kind of “house car” that everyone knows is huge and can fit three bedrooms and one living room inside, but it seems a bit cumbersome to drive.
But it is a very common category of cars called “touring car”. Most civilian cars (hatchbacks, sedans, and station wagons) can be called this way because four-door sedans were named “touring cars” when they were introduced to Hong Kong, so they have been used according to custom until now.
Touring car racing, due to its mandatory requirement to modify mass production models, is positioned differently from formula and sports cars and is more affordable. It has attracted major car manufacturers from all over the world to join. After all, if we talk about advertising, winning a race with a modified “grocery car” is much more convincing than developing a racing car that people usually can’t drive.
Even if the car overturned, it can prove that their safety performance is in place, right?
Today’s review of this ” Super Touring Car Race : Legend (Grid Legends) ” can also be said to be an old IP in the history of racing games, starting from the 1997 “TOCA Touring Car Championship” has launched 11 works, the first three are also focused on Touring Car events, starting from the fourth generation has expanded to a variety of racing sports will be mixed, becoming a true hodgepodge of works.
By the way, Codemasters, who created this series, is also the production company of the Dust and F1 series. The difference between “Super Touring Car Racing” and the other two series lies in the pursuit of its thrilling track racing and very detailed vehicle damage effects.
By now, you should have realized that many racing games such as Need for Speed and Wild Racing use “refreshing” as their promotion. Even Microsoft’s “Forza Racing” series has removed many hardcore gameplay and mechanisms from its offshoot “Horizon”, bringing a more entertaining gaming experience. At least in the racing game circle, “refreshing” is hardly the core selling point of a game.
As for the vehicle damage system, the game’s screen performance is constantly improving with the update and iteration of hardware and the increasingly powerful graphics software. The newly released racing games, not to mention that every dent in every collision can be perfectly simulated , at least In the eyes of non-core players, it can be considered as the level that can be seen.
The selling points of “Super RV Race” are not outstanding now, perhaps because this series experienced a brief hiatus from 2014 to 2019.
In fact, the latest installment in the series that I’m going to talk to you about today, “Super RV: Legend,” has brought me such an experience. Its selling points are average, but it has also been carefully polished.
Chat about the picture
Although the improvement in visual performance of this generation is not significant compared to “Super RV Race 2019” more than two years ago, it is also due to the previous work’s outstanding performance.
Its picture is not bad, after all, it uses the same ego game engine as Dust Rally 2.0 , and the image quality performance such as light and shadow and modeling belong to the first echelon of racing games. The particle effect of raindrops hitting the car window glass and the vehicle scratching the guardrail on rainy days is also very real.
It is worth mentioning that the vehicle damage system of “Super Touring Car Race: Legend” is indeed much better than competing products, whether it is the original metallic color of the car body exposed after scratching, or the dirt road will be covered with different shapes of stains, or the engine cover and other components will be sunken, deformed or even fall off the car according to the intensity of the impact.
These all have corresponding performances in the game, very realistic, probably to the extent that even as a car owner, I would feel a little sorry for them.
Chat about the gameplay
If you want to describe it, the current racing game circle is like a happy family, everyone is you in me, I have you, each between each other’s strengths, 10 years ago, it was more popular to distinguish between realistic/entertainment racing games, and now in addition to these two types of a few Kanban IP, most of the remaining games have long been less fundamentalist.
After all, whether it’s realism or entertainment, player experience comes first.
It seems that the “rewind system” has now become a standard feature of almost all racing systems. If you are not satisfied with the performance in any section of the competition, you can quickly rewind to a certain point before, such as using this system to practice the best cutting angle and speed in a certain corner. This is also included in this work, but there is a limit of three rewind times.
By the way, this system was actually introduced first in this series.
In “Super RV Race: Legend”, there is also an influence system similar to the “Horizon” series. Following this indicator line to run laps, a small drift with a good angle into the corner, overtaking at close range when the opponent is caught off guard, and maintaining the leading position for a long time will all receive very intuitive “praise” rewards in the game, providing stronger positive feedback in the game and richer bonus rewards after the race.
Compared to the original intention of this series – touring cars, the number of cars that can be experienced in this game can be said to be the culmination. Of course, I am talking about the culmination of Codemasters. In addition to modified versions of Audi A4, Volkswagen Golf, and other mass production civilian cars, we can also experience GT racing modes such as Subaru BRZ and Mazda RX7. Even open-wheel racing cars such as Formula 1, mounted trucks, and electric cars can be tried. In the initial version, more than 50 models can be experienced.
It’s like mixing “Super RV Race”, “Dust”, and “F1” into the same work, and it’s like having a lot to eat.
Similarly, the cars in “Super RV: Legend” can be modified, but the system is not particularly complex. We don’t need to understand the relationship between complicated parts and car performance. Instead, we use an easy-to-use RPG numerical system. The modification of the engine, suspension, and brake pads corresponds to the improvement of power, acceleration, braking, and handling attributes, without the need to make trade-offs between acceleration performance and handling performance.
▲ Full on!
It doesn’t have many modes, only three – plot mode, career mode, and multiplayer online. Each mode has obvious differentiated experiences but can also leave a clear impression on people.
The plot mode is like a thrilling drama that incorporates racing gameplay, unfolding in the form of plot cutscenes and races. The characters in the cutscenes are all real people, which is a feature created by this series since “TOCA Race Driver”.
You play the role of the “chicken” racing driver No. 22. You, who amazed the world with a single brilliant feat at the beginning, were discovered by the manager Marcus Addo and became the ace of the league step by step in training and competing with other ace drivers. The plot experience is the kind that you can guess the ending just by looking at the beginning, but it’s also exciting enough. With 36 different types of races, it’s more than enough for beginners to follow the tutorial.
Career mode is more free, you can redefine your identity and name, you can create a new team to participate in the league, starting from the original newbie league, all the way to the professional league, and enter the championship hall of the racing world;
You can also enhance the skills of your team’s managers and engineers, allowing them to provide you with more revenue-related benefits during the race (such as improving scores and attracting unique sponsors).
Multiplayer online is not just an online version of single-player gameplay. We can use the Race Creator system in this game to modify the track and various competition rules, allowing “Zhuzi Ge” to throw a stunning AE86 tail at the nine-point hairpin turn. It can also allow RVs, GT cars, supercars, and F1 cars to compete on the same stage, uncovering the mystery of “who is more powerful” for car fans.
Between entertainment and realism, this work has also found a good middle ground.
Let’s talk about the unique sense of immersion of this generation
Looking at the current car, gun, and ball games that cater to the mainstream player market, let’s not talk about ball games. Their main focus is on team competitive experience. After the success of COD’s script performance in shooting games, many similar games also add teammates to cooperate in single-player mode. Therefore, in racing games, every driver is alone, and their goal is to compete for first place. Team competitions are not common.
“Super RV: Legend” is a bit different.
For example, in the plot mode, you finally have a teammate in the same team, her name is Tian Zhongyouya. Maybe you can’t accept such a non-anime Japanese girl. I admit that she doesn’t look very likable, with exaggerated eye makeup and tattoos on her neck, just like a hot girl who just came back from a gathering with her sisters and would scold you with “Uncle, what are you looking at?”
However, if you have also encountered the following scenarios in the competition – she will use her car as a shield to help you block the opponent who wants to overtake from behind, and kindly give up the lane when you want to win first place. Her driving skills are also quite good. If escorted properly, Youya can often take the lead and help you score.
So I think you will definitely, like me, shamelessly announce to your colleagues around you after putting down the controller that she is my “wife (face-covering limited) “.
In career mode, you can also choose different teammates for yourself. You can preset skills and tendencies for this faceless teammate, choose to strengthen his offensive ability (turning speed and acceleration desire) to become your flying thigh, or improve his protection ability to become a good “wingman” who cooperates seamlessly.
In addition to adding teammates and cooperative gameplay, in single-player mode, you can also feel like you are racing against a group of real drivers. The “revenge system” that received many positive reviews in the previous game “GRID (2019) ” has also been retained in this game, called the “archenemy system” in this game.
When you closely follow a car for a long time, causing pressure or colliding with other vehicles during the race, you will be judged as your archenemy by that opponent, even though it is a racing game with laps, which means you will not be surrounded and beaten by more than a dozen drivers after the race due to various “have no martial arts ethics” operations.
For example, I like to use other people’s cars as guardrails and not slow down when turning
However, after being identified as the archenemy of a certain driver, your opponent will also use the same means to suppress you in the race, including but not limited to hitting and confronting you in the same brutal way, being more aggressive when trying to overtake, often rear-ending or even causing accidents, and not letting you out of the lane or deliberately blocking you when you want to overtake.
This “karma” system was really interesting when I first encountered it. By presetting racing styles for different AI drivers, a race will give corresponding feedback based on your behavior, bringing a completely different racing experience and introducing many random variables to the race, making it more entertaining.
However, at the time of “GRID (2019) “, the famous driver Fernando Alonso was invited to guide the development of this system. After two generations of polishing, the feedback from AI drivers is still somewhat rigid. For example, the first big collision after the start of the main group is inevitable. I often have several enemies out of thin air because of this, and I often feel that all the drivers in the field are targeting me.
AI drivers do not affect each other. If you can take the lead, the drivers behind you will basically drive separately. This system also has a bit of a virtual flavor.
It can only be said that Codemasters’ idea is good, and the starting point is not off track. It would be even better if the system could be polished more carefully.
Summary
In the mouths of many veteran players, the games produced by Codemasters are often referred to as the “Dark Souls” of the racing industry. Hardcore and high difficulty are synonymous with the games produced by this game company. However, in recent games, whether it is ” Dust 5 ” or “Super RV: Legend”, we can also see Codemasters’ determination to embrace a larger audience.
“Super RV Race: Legend” thoughtfully presets route guidance, fully automatic shifting, rewind system for each player, and can also choose 5 levels of difficulty before the game starts. Even those who have never played a racing game can easily pass the level.
However, this does not mean that this series is cutting off from fans who prefer hardcore experiences. On the contrary, turning off all of the above functions and reaching the highest difficulty level, even the opponent’s exhaust cannot be smelled. It’s really like a No. 22 driver (referring to the ranking) who can still make me exclaim “right”.
Especially after logging into Steam, “Super RV Racing: Legend” has received a “mostly positive” recommendation from 75% of players. The overall difficulty has decreased, various gameplay has been added, and the new adversary system has been recognized by most players. I also believe that every car enthusiast can find their own happiness in this car carnival.
