Test Drive Le Mans: Pole position for Infogrames

Overall: 9
Graphics: 10
Sound: 10
Gameplay: 9
Replay Value: 8
Concept: 8

Ever since the success of Gran Turismo and its sequel on the Playstation, many gaming companies have thrown their driving titles into the ring. With dozens upon dozens of driving titles now available, the genre has been divided into further sub-genres. These include:

The Racing Simulator:
This includes games like Gran Turismo and Sega GT. These games involve a career mode of some sort where you progress through the game, earning cars, money, or both.
The Driving Simulator:
This type of game simulates real-world driving, often having racing characterstics thrown in. Infogrames' aptly named Driver and Microsoft's Midtown Madness are good examples.
Arcade Racer:
This type of game often uses superfast and fantastical vehicles, and relies mainly on learning shortcuts and secrets to win, rather than skill as in a Racing Sim.

Test Drive: Le Mans is something of a hybrid in this playing field. Lacking any kind of true career mode, many pick it up as an arcade racer. However, this game relies on driving skill just as much as any racing or driving sim, combining the shallow learning curve of arcade racers with the deep and challenging gameplay of sims.

The game has four main modes: Quick Race, Time Trial, Campionship, and Le Mans. You begin with roughly 10 cars available (out of around 50 total), and each mode challenges you with the reward of more available cars.

Quick Race lets you choose any car you have available and race it on any track you have unlocked. At first, only 4 courses are open, but after placing first in each, you open more, until 10 tracks are available in total. Place first in every race in Quick Race mode and you are treated to a special bonus car.

Time Trial mode lets you race against the clock in any car available and on any track you have opened in Quick Race mode. Beat the record time and you unlock a new car.

Championship mode takes you through varying levels of Le Mans style racing. At each level, you have certain cars available, determined by thier class and what you have already unlocked. You win points in each race, and if you are the points leader at the end of the series, you are treated to new cars and can move on to the next level. There are 10 levels or classes in total.

Le Mans mode is by far the most interesting. You race the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race using any cars you have unlocked. You can choose to complete the race in a time ranging from half an hour to a full 24 hour race (you can save by taking a pit stop in longer races). Time passes from day to night to day again, and if you choose less than a 24 hour race, it speeds up to accomodate. Completeing the longer races unlocks even more cars.

By far, the best aspect of TDLM is the physics engine. The cars used are real Le Mans style cars, from Porsches to McLarens to prototypes, and they have realtisic, though not real, handling. Unlike driving these supercars in real life, there is room for error, but unlike arcade racers, if you don't drive properly you'll spin out and land in the dirt. In addition, on longer races it may begin to rain, and wet surfaces are tough to drive on. You can pit to change to special rain tires, but the weather has a real effect on your car.

Yet, at the same time, this is a very technical game. There are a variety of driving aids available, from automatic transmission or braking aids. New or inexperienced gamers can turn some or all of these off, but don't expect to break any lap records unless you not only turn all aids off but also drive flawlessly.

The graphics are superb. Car models are flawless, and the courses are wonderful to look at. The replay mode is a joy to watch, and you may even think you're watching a real race on TV. I'm not a fan of flash, but small details caught my eye: Contrails appear at high speeds, and during hard braking, you can see your rotors glow cherry-red. Very nice touches.

Sound is perfect. Engine sounds are wonderful, and the music, while somewhat bland, is unobtrusive. Screeching tires and collision sounds add to the depth of the game.

As far as concept, there really isn't anything new here. What the game does, is put everything together in a very nice package. Probably the nicest feature of this game is the multiplayer mode. The game quality is exactly that of the single player, instead of being choppier with poorer graphics as in most racing games. I haven't seen any slowdown at all in 2-player mode. It's possible to play up to 4 players at once split screen, though I've only had the chance to play 2-player. Truly a way to waste an entire night with some buddies.

One feature that is sadly missing is on-line support. It would be nice to compare times and ghost data with other gamers, as in Sega GT. This is hardly missed, however. A port of this game was released on the Playstation 2, however most gamers prefer the Dreamcast version for some slight differences. Both versions share the excellent gameplay.

Overall, racing games don't get much better. This game is easy to get into and learn, and has plenty of features to keep players interested. The 2-player mode is what really keeps it going though, and without it there wouldn't be too much replay value. A must have for racing fans, and a great game for anyone else.