Sim racing offers plenty of titles to choose from. One that tends to get overlooked is RaceRoom - so Emily jumped in again to see if the sim still holds up well in 2024.
Images: KW Studios
What if I told you there was a racing sim outside the usual suspects of iRacing, Assetto Corsa, and rFactor 2, that we had one of the most experienced simracing developers of all time continuously working on updates – and best of all, it was technically free?
Let’s have a look at RaceRoom and see if it is still worth playing in 2024.
What is RaceRoom?
RaceRoom Racing Experience is an extremely large racing sim created by KW Studios, who you may remember as SimBin. They created GTR, GTR 2 and the RACE WTCC games.It is based on the isiMotor2 engine which has its roots in rFactor - the same engine used in the RACE games, and the original Automobilista, which may have aged, but is very, very good.
On top of that, RaceRoom uses its own graphics engine, so it looks a lot newer than the physics engine might indicate. Basically, RaceRoom is an evolution of RACE 07, one of the great sim racing games.
It is worth mentioning that RaceRoom was released in February 2013. So it is now over 10 years old, which makes me feel really old as well.
Pricing Structure
Technically, RaceRoom is free. I think of it like the iRacing model, only much cheaper. There is no monthly subscription fee, so you get the base game and a few cars and tracks for free, and you can race them whenever you want. To access extras cars and tracks you need to buy them, but unlike iRacing where each piece of content is around $15, on RaceRoom it is around AU$2 to AU$3 (or about €3 to €6) with some exceptions, so much more economical.On top of that, you can buy packs for certain series and themes to save money. And in addition to that, you can but the Premium Pack, which includes everything in the entire game - except for the Ferrari 296 GT3 for some reason - for $108 Australian dollars (roughly €100).
So unlike iRacing, where buying all the content will costs over AU$3000, in RaceRoom you can pick it all up for a fraction of the cost.
You can buy it all from within the game as well. The store is a little clunky compared to iRacing's, but it is a lot more straightforward than trying to find the DLC section for a game from within Steam.
Furthermore, you can save even more by using RaceRoom's vRP currency. 100 vRP equal €1, so you would need 10,000 vRP to buy the Premium Pack. Coincidentally, the largest pack of vRP you can buy at once is just that amount, and it is only €69.99 instead of €100 at the time of writing.
Content: Cars & Tracks
Well, I hope you like DTM, as these cars are the stars of the show in my opinion. You have the modern GT3-era DTM cars all up to date, but you also have the amazing Class 1 cars that were raced right up to 2020. These cars are really great, and I will get into how the feel shortly.In terms of other series, you have every WTCR series from 2022 all the way back into WTCC in 2013. You also have GT Masters if you want to race various GT3 cars, or GT1 cars from the late 2000s. There are protoypes like the Audi R18, and a bunch of open wheelers, featuring fictional versions of modern F1, F2, F3, Indycar, and some historic early 90s F1 cars as well.
As for classic cars, there are vintage DTM race cars, GTO classics, Group C prototypes and Group 5 rockets, all the way to a bunch of Touring classics even featuring Godzilla, the R32 Skyline.
It does not stop there: RaceRoom also features Porsche Cup, Jimmy Broadbent’s Praga, even a racing truck.
When it comes to the locations, you can feel the European and German base of this game. There is a bunch of DTM tracks like the awesome Norisring, Sachsenring, and Lausizring. Of course, all the usual suspects of a racing game are on board as well, like Monza, the Nordschleife, Bathurst, Daytona, Imola, Spa, and more.
Additionally, you also get to race numerous tracks that are rarely seen in other sims outside modding. There is Assen, which is an awesome track – plus the Salzburgring, Brno, Dubai, and the excellent street tracks Pau and Macau.
My favorite Circuit to run laps in recently has been Autodrom Most – which I have not seen as first party content in any other sims.
Handling
Of course, any sim stands and falls with its handling. In RaceRoom, it is generally very good. The cars feel like you can drive them hard, and you can slide them a little bit. The driving is more rFactor than iRacing in that you can kind of dance around a bit of slip angle every now and then.The cars are super fun to race hard though, and I have had so much fun smashing the DTM cars around the Norisring against the AI. The cars have DRS and all.
The wheel rotation is a little weird in game in that you set it in the garage menu, and for each car, it is different. That is probably the most confusing part of the setup for me.
More importantly, however, the driving makes sense for me. I am not at an esports level at all in this game, and I do not know the tricks to really get speed out of each car, but I have had a lot of fun going up to the limit as much as possible.
It is worth saying that the devs have had real-life drivers like Bruno Spengler, Daniel Juncadella, and Kelvin van der Linde giving feedback on the physics, so it has some good experience behind it. Plus, the developer is owned by KW, which is a well-known suspension manufacturer – so you better believe they are receiving some good suspension data to work on the physics.
Graphics
On to one of the most frequently criticized parts of the sim. Personally, I think RaceRoom looks fine. It definitely looks really good for a game that came out a decade ago, but it is not up to scratch with the modern sim games we have, such as AMS2 and even the upcoming Assetto Corsa EVO. It looks good, honestly good enough for a racing sim – I do not find myself noticing graphics when I am focused driving, but it is not as good as some of the newer games.RaceRoom does have VR support so if you are up for immersion, this game will look after you. It was rumoured to go to Unreal for a long time, but then there was radio silence for a few years, so I assume that is not happening.
Sounds
RaceRoom uses their own custom audio engine. A lot of people including some here at OverTake think that it is the best audio in simracing.Honestly I think it sounds good, and I can see why people rave about the sounds. Nothing jumps out to me like as amazing, but I think it is very good.
AI
How about the AI in singleplayer mode, though? Well, it is very hit or miss. I find it really depends on the car and track that you are driving – some are very well tuned, and some are a little all over the place. Also, the difficulty levels can really vary from track to track.Another thing I have noticed is that the AI cheats sometimes – I think. Itmight also be just a skill issue. But there is at least one corner that I just cannot take it flat without running off the track, and the AI just stays hard in it and turns way more. So maybe it sounds like a conspiracy theory, but I did notice it.
We actually created a video recently on our channel comparing the AI in a bunch of major simracing games including RaceRoom, so you can check that out if you want to see it compared to other games.
All things considered, the AI is good to race against generally – and you might be doing a lot of it because of our next point.
Multiplayer
In multiplayer, for starters, there are open servers. These allow you to jump in and find someone to race against just for fun.There is ranked racing as well, and at the moment the way to enter is through the RaceRoom Discord server where they have a bot setup which will automatically place you in a race -which is pretty neat.
There are also special events they put on, like their 2.4hr of Nürburgring alongside the real 24-hour race, which features a bunch of official cars and content.
The racing, though, is mostly against European drivers, so it is hard to get a race with good ping in my timezone.
This game has historically had really good esports competitions, the biggest one probably being the DTM Esports Pro Championship which was recently won this year by Tim Jarschel. Previously, it also featured a bunch of top simr acing talent like Nikodem Wisniewski, Kevin Siggy, and Moritz Löhner.
Should you buy it?
Well, RaceRom free to try for starters. You can give the game a go, see if you vibe with the physics, then decide if you want to buy more content.I really think this game is in competition with AMS2. It is a much cheaper, less intensive AMS2 with slightly less features. Still very good, and worth it if you want to drive some awesome cars at some great tracks. I think it is great for singleplayer racing, and in multiplayer, too - if you are in Europe.
What is your take on RaceRoom in 2024? Let us know on Twitter @OverTake_gg or in the comments below!
