Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Race 07 had a glorious few years in the sun as one of the best sim racing games on the market, but over a decade later - is it still a good title?
I admit the idea of an officially licenced and realistic racing simulation based on the FIA World Touring Car Championship was the sort of thing that would grab my attention back in 2005/6/7, and certainly Simbin Studios AB very much achieved that sort of reaction, releasing first the 'Race' standalone touring car sim and then later Race 07, Race On and the various DLC packs that would follow.
You have to remember that the years initially covered by Race and Race 07 (2006, 07, 08, 10) where arguably of the time when the World Touring Car Championship was at its very peak - drivers the talent of Yvan Muller, Andy Priaulx, Alex Zanardi, Gabrielle Tarquini, Alain Menu and Nicola Larini gracing some of the finest race tracks of the world for works team from BMW, SEAT, Chevrolet, Volvo, and strong independent outfits running competitive Alfa Romeo's and Honda's all combined to make a simply phenomenal championship, one that is hard to argue against as some of the best racing on offer of that era.
Keen to tap into the growing popularity of the series, along would come SimBin Studios and the 'Race' franchise of games, attempting to recreate the championship in virtual form, and taking sim racing by storm as one of the most popular on and offline racing titles of its time... even running trackside "eSport" series facilitated by your very own RaceDepartment! (remember this was before eSport was even a thing...).
In the first of a series of new videos (video at the top of the article), I thought it might be fun to blow of the dust from my copy of the game (ok that's a lie, I've got it on Steam), and see how it compares now, over a decade after initial release, and also use the opportunity to ramp graphics right the way through the roof and see how it looks in a way my original rig would never have been able to manage back in the day.
Hope you enjoy the video, and keep an eye out on our YouTube page for more from footage of olden but golden racing sims in the coming weeks ahead...
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Have you fond memories of the now classic Race 07 title? Do you still play the game? What are your favourite moments from the sim racing series? Let us know in the comments section below!
Have you fond memories of the now classic Race 07 title? Do you still play the game? What are your favourite moments from the sim racing series? Let us know in the comments section below!
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