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Bring the excitement and beauty of endurance racing home!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 26, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to see fifteen of the 24 Hours of Daytona in February 2001, both because it was the first and only time NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt could participate in the event, and because it was my introduction to the beauty of endurance racing. Le Mans 24 Hours brings this latter aspect home. With over 70 cars available (most must be unlocked), players can try out the different classes in endurance racing. Very impressive are the day-to-night and night-to-day transitions, which are so naturally subtle as to be largely unnoticed as players (hopefully) concentrate on the race. Twelve courses (plus three reverse courses) are included in the game, so the focus is not strictly on the Le Mans race itself. Just as great is the addition of the Petit Le Mans (held annually at Road Atlanta). This ten-hour race is a great "tune-up" for the full Le Mans. This semi-simulation racing game will certainly challenge anyone, without being so difficult as to scare away racing-game novices. Overall, Le Mans 24 Hours really deserves SIX stars :-)

Great Fun!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: December 08, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is a superior driving experience. I love it. I find the graphics to be impressive, but it's the game play that keeps me coming back. Let's just say you're playing with the AI set to "hard" and you qualify 9th on the grid. You will have to race your heart out to move up positions and you can just about forget about winning: just as you would in real life. But you can have a heck of a good time trying. The computer lets you know at intervals how you're doing to cars in front of and behind you. I'll never forget how I had a 5 second lead over the second place car and how hard my heart was pounding as he slowly ate into my lead; a half a second a lap. If I had not got around traffic that later held him up, I would have lost. As it is, I won by a fraction of a second. That is game play, friends.
Other strengths: Beautiful physics. If you don't take a proper line going into corners you will lose time. Get on the power too fast and you will spin out in very realistic ways. And braking. There's no throwing these cars into corners and sliding through arcade-style. You must brake effectively to win. The best cars are those with great breaking. And speaking of the cars, the games set ups DO make a difference, high or low downforce plays a big factor on different tracks and different weather conditions. The cars that are unlocked later in the game are truly a pleasure to drive. Different cars have different engine signatures, which I love, and tire wear is very realistic.
Pit strategy is also a factor. Several times, I've managed a win by taking on only a limited amount of fuel at the beginning and planning a two or three pit strategy. The extra seconds do count.
There are a few negatives that keep the game from being note-perfect. The default music is horrible, but it is easily turned off so as to hear the engines. The AI on "hard" is almost ridiculously difficult. I have managed to beat it, but only after getting to be perfect on a particular coarse. There is no way a GT car should be able to catch my Panos open prototype car. There are no rear view mirrors, even though the manual says there are. This can be annoying when racing close. Hitting the rear view is not an option in these situations.
It's a cliche, but I really can't recommend this game highly enough.

In praise of Le Mans 24 Hours

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: September 25, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I read some of the early reviews and it didn't look good for the PS2 version. But I bought it anyway. What sold me was the chance to drive Road Atlanta, never offerred on any previous title. At first, the game was a disappointment. The controls didn't feel good, the graphics weren't spectacular, and the load times were extreme. But I continued through the different modes, learning the tracks and earning new cars, and at some point this game took on a new appeal. With the AI on normal, it is too easy. Put it on 'hard' and it becomes a real challenge. The controls are tight once you get the hang of it. The graphics are actually quite good, especially in replay mode. This is one of the highlights of the game. The replays are awesome. I've been racing video games since the Sega Genesis, and this is one of the best! I was surprised to find a Group C Jaguar available and it is fast! So don't be fooled by all the negative reviews here and elsewhere. Get this game and drive it. Le Mans 24 is a gem!

Test Drive Le Mans

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 6
Date: July 27, 2001
Author: Amazon User

If you don't have a Dreamcast you don't know what you are missing. You are however lucky that Le Mans 24 hour is coming our way via PS2. It will have more cars, better graphics, and probally more tracks. It will not have the Dreamcast control because Sega has made the perfect driving controller. The triggers give a more precise feel than do the thumb sticks of the PS2.

Most Excellent Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 27, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The graphics are awesome, the handling is pretty easy and we found that the roads are challenging for novice players. A definite negative is the loading time-it does take longer than other games. All in all, we found the game to be quite entertaining and recommned it to any racing fanatic.

Narrow focus, but well-executed

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: December 30, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If you're into sportscar racing you'll enjoy this. The physics engine is good, and the structure of the game is well-thought out. It's not strictly linear, but does makes it pretty clear what you need to do at any given time. The tracks are well-rendered. Having been to a number of them, I can say that they did a good job of capturing the feel and atmosphere, especially of the Le Mans track. Highly recommended.

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.

Great Value! Gameplay vs. Graphics... you decide.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: July 17, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Great Value! Lots of Fun! Even now in 02 this Game is still a lot of fun. The only thing is the graphics.... the are very good but not excellent. Especially behind the wheel looking at the track but then the replay mode is beautiful and to drive into the night is fantastic! Pit stop is better than a lot of other racing games. The Cars feels real and oversteer can make you spin quickly. I can recommend this, it is real fun and good value especially now for a low price. I still love playing it and we have 7-02. Game Hint: For qualifying reduce you fuelload to a minimum ( like in F1 etc ) .

looks good

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 16
Date: July 16, 2001
Author: Amazon User

i love le mans but i happen to miss all of it except the lat 10 minutes i love the cars and the speed it is so much better than nascar "hey lets go around in a circle for 500 miles."i hvent played it yet but i have a feelin it is going to be like GT3 witch i ordered. i'mgoing to rent it and see what its like when it comes out. If you like the GT series ii would concider this.

i like it

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: August 30, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I like this game... this game is a 1 of a kind. You have to get into it b for u like it. At first i did not like Le mans but my brother played it and he kinda liked it so we started to race then after 1 or 2 times of playing it i liked it too....But it is not up to me if u like the game or not so i say rent it first.

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