Total Immersion Racing Screenshots   The Final Say! Gameplay 8.9 Graphics 8.9 Sound 8.6 Value 8.9 Total Immersion Racing - reviewed by Andrew B Review Date: 25 November 2002 Review Score: 8.8/10  Distributed By: Vivendi Universal

"Finally a decent racer on the XBox that features licensed cars, official circuits and a great career mode that is sure to keep all gamers enthralled!"   Total Immersion Racing is the latest racing game by developers Razorworks and offers one of the most realistic driving experiences to hit the XBox. Total Immersion Racing lets gamers race official GT sport cars that start them from the lowest ranked racing driver in the world and will eventually lead them to the world championship.    Total Immersion Racing Features Game content mixes high quality driving game simulation technology with immediacy, immersion, and intelligence. Career based gameplay: start out as a rookie and climb your way to the top.  Revolutionary AI Technology: computer-controlled drivers each with their own personalities, memories, behaviours and grudges to bear. High-quality visual engine pushes each target machine to the limit: allowing for advanced fogging, particle effects, sun flare and other weather effects. Eighteen licensed GT class cars from highly regarded marques, including Lister cars and the Noble M12 Real-world racetracks including Hockenheim, Monza, Sebring and Rockingham. Unlockable game features and content, can you earn them all? Dolby Digital 5.1 Multiplayer Action (2-Players)   GT Racing puts gamers in the seat of a powerful 8 litre race car and lets them choose from 3 different classes of licensed cars that include the powerful Nobile M12 GTO, the sleek BMW M3 GTR or the lower end but well handled Audi R8. Apart from the official licensed cars, Total Immersion Racing offers gamers the ability to race around circuits that are based on their real-world counterparts such as Hockenheim, Monza and even Sebring USA.   What makes this game different than other racing games is the realistic racing AI of computer opponents. All the AI drivers have their own personalities and driving styles and the advanced AI system makes certain that the computer opponents perform the right manoeuvres for their personalities. In laymen's term, that means if you anger or tick off a computer opponent with the wrong personality, he will literally hold that grudge against you for a long time. Although you are racing in a point based system, the computer opponent may wait until you need the points to proceed with his vendetta against you or even wait until you are racing your last lap on the world championship.

There are a variety of different ways to play Total Immersion racing and you have the choice of a views such as an internal view (in-car) or external view of your car. If you annoy too many computer opponents, a A.I.Tude screen will appear on the car infront of you and show you how much he dislikes you, this meter is seen either red (for bad) or green for good. 

In its essence, Total Immersion Racing is an arcade racing car game that lets you choose a variety of different gameplay modes such as single race, multiplayer or career mode. Career mode lets you start from the bottom of the world ranking and if you proceed through your races with enough victories, you will soon find yourself in the world championship. The control system of Total Immersion Racing are extraordinary and everything handles perfectly. Project Gotham Racing had the graphics but unfortunately lacked the gameplay and Total Immersion Racing is probably one of the best car games out on the XBox at the moment. 

Graphically, Total Immersion Racing is a visual treat and offers a variety of different effects to keep the most eye candy gamer pleased. These special effects include a variety of different effects such as fogging, particle and even weather effects. The weather effects are extremely nice and help give a sense of seasons. The red skies of summer when an approaching storm is coming look's simply quite amazing. All the car models have an extremely high amount of polygons that give that extremely realistic look and add some reflective lighting on the cars and you have a match made in heaven. The courses have a true sense of depth and have been accurately modelled on their real world counterparts such as Silverstone or Hockenheim. 

The sound effects of Total Immersion Racing feature all the real sound effects of the cars engine and contains all the noises you would expect to hear in racing such as tyres being left on the road or the thud you would hear when you crash against a concrete protector at speeds in excess of 200 kilometres an hour.  With the right sound system and Dolby Digital 5.1 happening, you will almost feel like you are at a real GT race. 

Total Immersion Racing is a great racing game for the XBox and contains some amazing graphics and gameplay that will keep gamers of all ages entertained, whether they are seasoned racing professionals or not. Even when you have finished the world championship, Total Immersion Racing offers a variety of unlockable bonuses and game content that is almost impossible to earn on your first completion of the game. You'll definitely be playing this game for a while. Finally, a decent racing game for the Xbox! Highly Recommended!

- Andrew B