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An interesting arcade/simulation mix that is restrained from greatness by a few integral inadequacies.

Slideshows. Great for business meetings, lectures and tutorials. Bad for games. Playing Cross Racing Championship for the first time with a PC that exceeds both the minimum and recommended specs, I was quite literally playing a slideshow. And this was at a mere resolution of 1024 x 768, with options set to high. However, knocking the res back to 800 x 600, and notching down a few of the options turned CRC into the silky ride I was anticipating. It is a system-hog though and no mistake!



However, this is just a minor gripe compared to the biggest disappointment of all. CRC is made by Invictus, the developers of one of my favourite racing games of all time – Insane. It was an absolutely magical game, immensely enjoyable to play and packed with so much detail and so many game modes that it simply never got boring. And now Invictus bring us CRC, which pointedly fails to live up to the Invictus standard I was expecting.



How so? First and foremost I am a keyboard racing purist. Yes, certain games are better played with the wheel, and occasionally the analogue gamepad, but for most racing games, even simulators, I find my deepest rut and yet greatest skill in using the keyboard. CRC however, has other plans.



There are many, many different steering tweaks that you can use to hone the game into your style, but to put it into basic terms, the handling in CRC is just too twitchy. Any kind of digital input, whether it be keyboard or digital gamepad, is simply rendered useless by the grotesquely configured steering system.



The initial dab of steering will always be too strong, too wild for the nature of the game for any reliable period of racing. Not only that, but when digital steering, it feels as though every car has a hippo sitting on the bonnet, and a swathe of helium balloons tied to the spoiler. Top-heavy and out of control.



In an arcade game this might just about be acceptable. But CRC treads a strange line between arcade and simulation; think somewhere between Colin McRae Rally and Richard Burns Rally. And sadly, such handling traits are disastrous for all racers who use digital steering. However, plug in your racing wheel, and CRC becomes a whole different kettle of fish.



With its somewhat rare arcade/simulation feel, it manages to combine what many would say is the best of both worlds. The true feel of a rear-wheel drive car is an unbridled joy to those that can successfully push it to the very outer limits without them, and CRC paints us a very accurate reflection of that. It isn’t anywhere near the depths of GTR, but it provides a more accessible racing experience that can still give the same thrill.



Tracks are quite well designed, but allow for very little adventuring from the beaten path. Stray a little too far for the game’s comfort and the auto-reset utility will come into play. This happens frustratingly often, even when you are in full control of your car and where it is going.



The scenery is detailed by the trackside, but just turns into a solid wall when you get closer to the edges. Fields of wheat are simply giant boxes with a wheat texture on them. And a few parts of the tracks feel unfinished. I drove off a bridge into a lake once (purely for evaluation purposes of course…) but it did not have the physical properties of water, allowing me to drive around as though on dry land.



Plus, there are too many indestructible trackside objects that should simply shatter under the weight of your speeding race machine, but somehow come away without a scratch. Have you ever knocked off a wheel simply by mowing into one of the aforementioned fields of wheat? I have.



Speaking of destruction, Invictus have at least managed to replicate and even supersede their marvellous damage system they used in Insane. Especially on the higher difficulty levels where the damage is set more realistically, your car crumples like a coke can in the paw of an enraged yeti. A high speed knock can ruin your car, tearing wheels off, and bending the bodywork nicely.



There is music playing in the background, the genre of which I would not like to guess. Suffice to say it becomes very annoying very quickly, so turn it off and stick your own mp3 playlists on, which is actually a supported game feature.

You also have a commentator who has an uncanny knack for stating the obvious. Some of his choice phrases include: “The player is going very fast”, “The player has chosen to reset their car”, The player has damaged their car”, and “The player is going to ram a red hot poker up my backside if I don’t cease my inanely futile witterings”.



And so you race through a championship, unlocking better cars, parts and tracks as you go along, all of which keep you occupied sufficiently, and gradually improve your racing experience. 65 tracks later, there will still be multiplayer to keep you occupied, although sad to say, it only has three available modes to choose from, and not half my favourites from Insane.



I hate to keep drawing upon the same comparison, but CRC just lacks the style, substance, and production values of its beloved forebear. It certainly makes an attempt to advance handling, damage modelling and graphics, but really even these advancements are marginal.

Here’s the plan Invictus. Take the bits that worked from CRC, and stick them onto Insane 2. That way everyone’s happy. Oh yeah, and we like slideshows at 50 frames per second for future reference.


Review by Adam Shirley.