Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

by Keith Schleicher

Usually car companies don’t like having their cars in a racing game unless the car can’t get damaged for any reason.  That’s why you usually see generic-named or indestructible cars in racers.  They say that there is no such thing as bad advertising though, and that might be why you are seeing more licensed cars in racers.

Ford Bold Moves Street Racing (FBMSR) is the fourth game in the Ford Racing series.  Some might question why the first one was even made, but if a budget title makes money then you can’t blame the company for making more.  Budget titles are usually given a little slack, but the question remains whether this game is a real bargain in the end? Ever wonder what a high resolution PS1 game might look like?  This is probably the best example of what the game might look like.  As you drive through the streets you get generic buildings that all look similar.  The trees all look the same.  The lamp posts all look the same.  The backgrounds are all rather bland.

This wouldn’t be so bad if the cars looked good.  This just isn’t the case though.  The car diagrams are rough with plenty of jaggies on the screen.  There aren’t many details on the car.  You can choose to give your car one of five colors, but other than some white stripes on the car you won’t be able to make it two-tone or see any designs on the car.  There isn’t any shine on the car either, making it look like it was painted with a dull finish.

All is not lost in the graphics department though.  Cars do leave skid marks when you brake hard.  The car gets scratched up as you run into other objects.  Headlights and taillights break when they are hit.  Still, the game is anything but a graphical tour de force. Ever wonder what it might be like to race mopeds in a video game?  Well, that is pretty close to what the cars sound like in FBMSR.  You do hear the cars rev up and switch gears, but there isn’t anything special about the sound of the cars.  You only hear your own car on the race track and never really get an idea of where the other cars are until you hit someone.
 
There is some music during the menus, but you don’t actually hear any while racing.  Most other racing games offer up a radio or some kind of soundtrack selection.  While some might be happy not to be subjected to some corny J-pop while driving, FBMSR sounds incredibly silent. The controls are a bit different from other racers.  The default setup has you steering with the left analog stick.  Acceleration and braking can be done with X and Square or by pushing up and down on the right analog stick, respectively.  Triangle lets you change your view.  L1 shows the rear view, and R1 activates the handbrake.
 
There are also a few team orders you can give in race.  The L2 and R2 commands let you select your vehicle and call for either a team block or a team draft.  Circle cancels the team order.  You can also switch which team vehicle you are driving by hitting up or down on the D-pad.
 
Do you notice any commands missing?  If you said to yourself, "I can’t manually shift the car," then give yourself a pat on the back.  Manual shifting in a game like this can be the difference between first and last place.  Not being able to shift when you want is very frustrating.
 
This wouldn’t be so bad if the controls were good.  Unfortunately, they aren’t.  Hitting the handbrake often means you are going to go into a spin as if you were driving on ice.  Steering is an adventure as well.  The cars don’t handle very well.  When you think the car should be turning quicker, the cars seem to go straight.  When you want to make a quick turn, the car seems to want to take its time to turn.

When you start the game you get the options of Quick Race, Team Racing, Solo Racing, Multiplayer, Options, and Profile.  Quick Race lets you get into the action and run a single solo race.  Solo Racing lets you race a single race or race in a series of races in the Championship option.  Multiplayer lets you play against another person in split-screen.

The Team Racing option has a few more options behind it.  Here you race with a team against another team.  You can participate in a single Team Race, a Team Championship which is a series of races, Challenges that test your driving skills to win credits, and Tutorials to learn the basics behind team racing.

Once you select the type of race, you can set the number of AI opponents, number of opponent teams for team races, the opponent type and whether or not they use the same car as you, the difficulty, and the number of laps.

The different options are sparse for the game.  It doesn’t help that only two cars out of six in the three classes are unlocked at the beginning of the game.  Eighteen cars are available in the game, but only six are available when you first start the game.  The number of tracks is equally low.

The AI in the game is very dumb.  It feels like the AI drivers have their own specific line that they follow.  It’s very easy to get into the path of one of the other drivers and get hit.  It doesn’t feel like the drivers have any flexibility at all.

Crashing into objects does slow down your progress, but the object still stays where it’s at.  Running into a post doesn’t cause it to fall over or get destroyed.  It really ruins any illusion that hitting something will cause damage.

There are eighteen cars in the game, and they are all made by Ford.  If you are a big fan of Ford cars, then you might appreciate the cars in the game.  If you want more variety though, you should look elsewhere.

The box says that there are 24 courses, but some of those are the same course driven backwards.  You aren’t going to get a lot of variety in those.  Some of the courses are just different routes on the same street. As such, you wouldn't be out of line assuming there is zero creativity here.

Overall, even with the budget price, there are no compelling reasons to play Ford Bold Moves Street Racing with the terrible gameplay, awful graphics, and controls that are even worse.  Maybe if you are the most ardent Ford fan, or know someone who is, then this game could be enjoyable.  If you aren’t, then look over this title and grab something else. Anything else.

Gaming Trend Score

29

1. Graphics: 45
2. Audio: 30
3. Controls: 40
4. Gameplay: 20
5. Value/Replay: 20
6. OVERALL:29