Revs isn't an average run-of-the-mill
arcade race game, it's a fully fledged Formula 3 racing
car simulator. No grabbing the joystick and zooming
off into the sunset at MACH 3, oh no, plenty of practice
is needed before you can even get round a simple bend
in first gear! You have been warned.
Revs
simulates the Formula 3 Ralt RT3 Toyota Novamotor
and therefore, like a proper racer, has to be driven
with a certain amount of respect. No zooming around
corners at silly speeds, you just end up spinning off
the track.
The
specifications of the car have been copied faithfully,
although the computer version has no clutch and an engine
tolerant of abuse like excessive overrevving (otherwise
it would explode every time a novice played). There
are still five gears (and reverse), brakes and a throttle.
Steering is done by using two keys, and pressing the
space bar amplifies the steering motion. The car's aerilons
are adjustable, allowing you to customize the car so
it suits your driving best.
The
game is viewed from the driver's seat so you can see
the steering wheel in front of you with the dashboard
and all its dials beneath. The only dial that plays
a part in the game is the rev counter. This is used
instead of a speedometer since it shows the actual power
the engine is producing, rather than the speed the car
is travelling. This is far more valid when coming out
of corners, since the rev counter shows you whether
you're getting optimum performance from the car. The
car also has wing mirrors which certainly prove useful
at the beginning of a race when you want to see whether
a car is close behind.
The
car is controlled using either the keyboard, or keyboard
and joystick together. Although looking rather ominous
to a novice, with practice this setup soon becomes easy
to use and is in fact quite comfortable and logical.
Adrenalin
flows as the countdown to the race begins.
Don't forget to rev the engine to maximize acceleration.
When
Revs is first encountered, the car seems very
difficult to control, especially with the keys, but
once a driver has got used to the control method, zooming
round bends counter-steering skids and overtaking in
some really tight situations becomes second nature.
Using the gears is quite complicated too, but again
perseverance pays off.
Revs
has two famous British tracks to race around -- Silverstone
and Brands Hatch. These have been crammed into the 64
with attention to the smallest of details. All the corners,
straights, bumps and slopes have been reproduced, it
is claimed.
When
the game first loads you are given two options: to practise
or go for competition. Practise allows you to get used
to the 'feel' of the car and the track. This mode clears
the track of any other cars and is therefore useful
if you want to go for a track record.
Competition
mode puts you in a Grand Prix situation. Before you
can race you have to go through a compulsory qualifying
period so you can notch up a good lap time. How well
you do during this period effects your grid placing
at the start of the race -- the faster your time the
better your grid placing will be. You can adjust the
length of the qualifying period to last between five
and twenty minutes; obviously the longer the time the
better your chances of achieving a fast lap time.
Once
this period is up, the program asks whether you want
to race or go through the qualifying procedure again.
If you take the racing option you're then asked how
many laps the race is to be run. Once that's been settled,
your time is analysed, compared with that of the other
19 cars, and your starting position on the grid is calculated.
You're
then placed on the starting grid and the countdown to
the race commences. On-screen information during the
race includes your current position in the race, which
driver is in front of you and who is behind. Your lap
and split lap time is also displayed so you can gauge
how well you're doing. Once the race is finished, a
table of all the cars' finishing positions and times
are shown.
When
racing you must drive reasonably safely, otherwise you
might collide with another car or skid off. If you do,
then your car is dropped back onto the track at the
crash point and you have to start it up again, which
loses you valuable seconds. A nice touch is that if
you do hit a car, then it stays on the track for the
rest of the race, causing an obstruction.
Revs
comes impressively packaged with two manuals and a map
of both race courses. One manual explains the workings
of the car and gives hints and tips on how it should
be driven to give the best results. It also explains
the basic principles of racing, finding the optimum
line of a bend and the aerodynamics of the car. The
other, written with the help of David Hunt, gives a
corner by corner breakdown of the two courses and explains
the best method of tackling each one.
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