XboxGameZone.co.uk

I’m going to be very honest with you all. Trackmania 2 is quite possibly one of the most straightforward racing games I have ever had the joy of playing. And by straightforward, I do really mean it when I say that this is “pick up and play” at its finest. In a genre bursting with Simulation racers and hardcore realism, Trackmania 2 is a welcome change from all the seriousness, choosing instead to focus on an easily accessible and highly addictive experience.

Simpler does sometimes equal better. Your keyboard’s directional buttons control steering, braking and acceleration…..and that’s pretty much it. For those with a console background, the game supports the vast majority of direct input devices (providing you have the correct drivers installed) I felt right at home using my wired Xbox 360 controller, and after some initial button mapping, I was zipping around a number of tracks at breakneck speed, pulling off some spectacular stunts and posting lap times. It should probably be mentioned at this point that the handling in Trackmania 2 is superb and very responsive. Drive within the limits of the cars and the game will reward you with a vehicle that stays glued to the road. If you decide to push the envelope a bit (either by design or otherwise) then you’ll probably end up sliding, crashing, rolling or flying off a cliff somewhere. But here’s the good news. You have the ability to restart a track just by pressing the required button. No waiting, no loading, just instant respawn gratification. As such, you can concentrate on improving your times either against the CPU or other players with no penalties.

Speaking of opponents, you get to test your skills either against the CPU in single player mode, or against other humans in multiplayer. The former sees you attempting to beat “medal times” in a series of increasingly crazy tracks. As there are no collisions in Trackmania 2, you just select which medal time you want to gun for, and then do your best to beat it. Assuming you keep the cars pointed in relatively the right direction, most tracks can be cleared in less than a minute. The real challenge comes from trying to best the times on harder difficulty settings.  Multiplayer however will pit you against numerous other human players, all with the same goal – crossing the finish line in the fastest time. Again, there are no collisions here, and you can reset back to the start of the course at any time you wish, and as many times as the server time limit allows you to. With tracks ranging from the sublime to the downright ridiculous, I suspect that the restart feature will be one of the most used throughout the game’s lifetime.

The staggering variety in the game’s tracks are a direct result of the massive online community consistently supplying user created content. The game’s Track editor is extremely easy to learn and use. So much so that many players will find themselves hooked on this feature, attempting to create ever more ingenious courses for their peers to try out. My triple death loop course went down a storm with the players who tried it.

In direct comparison to the original Trackmania game, this sequel retains quite a lot of its predecessor’s charm, while updating other aspects of the franchise to bring it in line with today’s demanding crowd. The visuals are breathtaking in places, and the cars gleam and glow in the Canyon sunshine like they were waxed with some tender loving care. And all of this will run on most computer setups. In fact, given the modest disk space and system requirements, combined with accessible and addictive gameplay, it is any wonder why you’d want to go and play a simulation racer again.