User Reviews (1 - 11 of 19)

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LE MANS FAIL TO EXCITE

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: September 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is an embarassment to the power of the PS2 console.The graphics looks like psx graphics.The handling is the worst.The tracks are narrow.The games loading takes a long time.The so called car settings are minimal.The AI on hard mode are doing some ridiculous lap times.I am sorry I would not recommend this game to anybody.It had a lot of potential and asssitance should have been sought in the games' development.
I am sorry the truth is the truth.

Worst racing game I have played

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I played this game for about 20 minutes and it sucked from the beginning. Maybe I didn't play it long enough but shouldn't a game impress you from the beginning? The load times where unusually long and the graphics were less than impressive. I was hoping this would be similar to GT3 but it is no where near. In short, rent this one first and judge for yourself.

Awful, a joke. Someone should be fired at Infogames.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: August 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

When you compare this with GT3, you're left wondering whether the publisher released it early just to ride the wave. I was one of the people dumb enough to buy it rather than rent it. My copy will be making its way to ebay shortly. If you like graphics that look like they lifted right out of a VIC-20, this is the game for you.

This game rots!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 3
Date: September 22, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Decent Graphics. The worst gameplay I've ever seen. This game looks like the engine comes from a starwars game. The car glides above the pavement. There is no tire contact feel at all. Mine will be on E-bay very soon.

Too Expensive for what it is

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 4
Date: December 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Graphics are fine, but so limited, the cars dont sufer any damage when they crash, pit stops you dont see nobody, there is only 3 types of views you cant see if you have a car beside you, this game needs to be updated or patched soon, because is not a big deal at all

find another racing game

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: November 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

no comparison to gran turismo 3, graphics are shakey and the sound is terrible, wish i hadn't bought this game

Long load times, annoying save scheme, terrible sound

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: October 13, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I haven't played it much yet, but there are some immediately obvious annoyances. Obviously, the load times is one. The save scheme is another. If you change the options, it saves when you leave the options. If you do a time trial, it saves when you leave. I haven't gotten to any races yet, but I assume it would behave the same. It would be nicer to have a save item in the menu, or even making the save optional, instead of being forced to save.

I found the graphics passible, and, as with GT (and GT2 minus its slowdown and other problems), it looks very bad compared to GT3, but isn't an issue once I get into the gameplay. Nonetheless, of the 4 PS2 games I own, it's easily the one with the worst graphics.

The sound is really bad. The cars sound like wind-up toys, and the music is better left off, which, fortunately, is an option.

I'm going to keep playing, since the gameplay has elements that GT3 is weak at, such as more involved pit strategies, a field bigger than 6 cars, weather and time of day. However, GT3 (and GT and GT2) will definitely get more replay time.
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After playing some more, the load times are still extremely bad. Some load time for tracks is understandable, but it's still extreme. Having to wait through the load screen to go from the track to the race standings or the menus is not understandable. Also, the "Race again? Yes/No" menu misses the point, as it doesn't circumvent any of the loading. The auto-save is annoying enough that I pull the save card out until I want to save my progress.

The racing itself is quite good, though. The weather effects are pretty impressive during the race, the clouds rolling in, or the muted sun though the thinning clouds. The rainy night racing isn't as well done, as the fake headlights do nothing to light up the road, so it means driving blind over certain segments of the tracks. The replays have graphical glitches, particularly when it's rainy and foggy, but I've never noticed any such problems during the actual gameplay. The chunky graphics, however, does affect the gameplay when on an unfamiliar track, as it's hard to tell whether the next turn will be a left or a right until it's too close to set up the correct line.

The normal mode AI is about as stupid as the GT3 AI. I haven't tried the hard AI.

There is only rudimentary tuning, so there's nothing like the Formula GT in GT3, where each track needed different settings for success. However, the downforce and tire grades can be changed in the pits, so the weather, tire wear, and fuel usage all factor into the racing strategy.

Great for Racing Fans

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 31, 2003
Author: Amazon User

But everyone else should avoid it. It features long tracks and races that will feel like they take 24 hours to complete. Just depends on what your tastes are I suppose.

Not bad, definitely not great

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: December 11, 2001
Author: Amazon User

It's a racing game...my favorite kind. It's why I own a console. However, graphics like this aren't acceptable anymore nowadays. Go license the GT3 engine, and come back with a newer product.

The game play is good, and I love the accelerated dusk-to-dawn approach.

Infogrames is on the right track.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: December 23, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Having tried the original Lemans PS1 game by Infogrames I was ready for a disappointment. This game is a quantum leap in realism & playability. If you follow sports car & endurance racing, chances are you will find this game a blast.
You are given a choice of road-racing tracks from around the world including Road Atlanta, Donington, Brno,Bugatti circuit & of course the Circuit de la Sarth at LeMans. The LeMans circuit is very accurately modeled right down to the resturants on the Mulsanne straight. Its possible to match the lap times of the real cars that run the 24 hour race. The assortment of cars is very good & includes GT & sports racers. All the cars that ran in 2000 are there right down to the Deborah sports racer! As you progress you unlock hidden cars. Several very fast group C cars from the 80's are available including the Jag XJR, Lancia LC2 & Sauber. The vehicle modeling is very well done but the rendering of the surfaces varies from good to mediocre. Overall the graphics fall somewhere between Polyphonys' GT2 & GT3. There are some jagged lines & the cars are not as artfully rendered as in GT3 (Compare the Panoz GT & Corvette C5R from both games) This is not to say the graphics are bad, they are OK. If Infogrames can achieve the graphics level of GT3 they will have a better game than GT3.
Gameplay is very realistic, with handling akin to real competition cars. You cant sling these cars around & keep up with the AI vehicles in the hard mode. Just as in real racing, you have to learn the proper braking points, corner apexes & keep wheelspin to a minimum. In the normal AI mode, you can easily outpace your competitors. In the hard mode you have to work your tail off to compete. I found that I could beat the other cars thru the corners & under braking but your teammate driving an identical car ,has a 10MPH top speed advantage down the straight. Hey, who dropped the anchor? It is possible to draft competitors once you pass the 150MPH mark , but a proper rear view mirror would be nice. At times there are up to twenty cars on the track at once & unlike another game, you dont have six cars that would never appear together on the same track in the real world. Here,the choice of vehicles adds realism (that is until you beat the 2000 Audis with your 1988 Jaguar XJR)
The games' weakest feature is the sound. Whoever is responsible has obviously never heard the real thing. The Audi & Porsche 911's sound like dremel tools & the Nissans sound like emasculated mopeds. They did get the Panoz & Mercedes CLK sounding close to the throaty rumble of the real cars thereby avoiding an 'F' for sound.
Pit strategy comes into play & it's neat to enter the pits & have a realistically modelled pit crew spring into action. Unlike GT3, this game has the human touch. You actually see drivers & pit crew, no creepy driverless vehicles here!
The night racing mode is still there & weather conditions are realistically modelled, including a convincing torrential downpour complete with resulting fog. Unfortunately the night racing suffers compared to the PS1 version. Headlights no longer illuminate the surrounding scenery & you dont encounter the oil slicks or burning 911's by the side of the track . As reported,load times are fairly long & parts of the save procedures are a bit clunky. Still, these are minor complaints given the overall fun of this game. If you love Sports car racing, this game is for you! The good features far outweigh the bad & the game is fun to play.

Infogrames, with some more work ,you could have had a 5 star game here. Let's see a third PS version with updated cars, better sound & graphics.

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