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GameCube | Driving | NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup

Boxart for NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup
NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup 6 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 4.0
  • SOUND: 4.0
  • CONTROL: 4.0
  • FUN FACTOR 4.0
  • AVG USER SCORE n/a
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 4.3

Review: NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup

Review by AIRHENDRIX | 09/24/2004 | 15:14:50 PM PST

The new Fight To The Top mode makes NASCAR start strong, but rocky pack dynamics keep it out of the winner?s circle.

EA Tiburon has spent a year toiling with the whirling-dervish intensity of a pit crew scrambling through a four-tire change, and that effort has paid off with a massive overhaul in the freshly renamed NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup. A dazzling new career mode called Fight To The Top is the star of the show, but some wonkiness in how the pack drives in response to the new hero/villain ratings takes some of the wind out of NASCAR?s sails. It?s an amazing overhaul, but it falls one key ingredient short of greatness.

When the White Flag Drops

A rich evolution of the career mode popularized by NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona, NASCAR 2005?s Fight To The Top mode is the kind of absorbing experience that should intrigue race fans of all stripes. Its variety, depth, and breadth of options are jaw-droppers. You start as freshly scrubbed rookie in the Featherlite Modified series, working your way up over time through the Craftsman Truck, Busch, and Nextel series. Along the way, you?ll run test sessions for other teams, settle your differences with other drivers by racing production cars on city streets, and even sign autographs for fans. You can remain a driver in all four series if your schedule permits, worrying only about your performance on the track, or you can spend your winnings to buy a team. Owners manage an enormous level of detail, ranging from staffing to sponsors to car construction. Progress is slow but satisfying, and this mode gives you a great reason to play this game for a long time.

The lone flaw in Fight To The Top is that you must lock in key settings at the start?difficulty, driver assists, yellow flags, and more can?t be changed once you begin, which becomes an absurd and frustrating limitation as your skills and tastes change over time. For a less intense experience, NASCAR 2005 also offers a fine standard season mode, a Chase for the Cup mode that drops you into the shootout during the season?s last 10 races, and four-player online matches on the PS2 and Xbox.

The Xbox version is the best of the bunch, offering the cleanest, most fluid visuals. The PS2 and GameCube editions have a slightly choppy feel?but as in years past, this series doesn?t deliver the eye-popping sensation of speed that you?d expect.

Gentleman, Start Your Grudges

NASCAR 2005?s Achilles heel is the impact of its rivals/allies system on the pack. Collisions or rough driving create grudges between you and other drivers, but any contact is always your fault?when another car wallops you, that driver gets mad at you?because he hit you. Over time, particularly in the early stages of your career when you?re driving a slow car and scrapping for every position, it feels nearly impossible to avoid pissing off much of the pack. Once you become a serious villain, races become a bumper-car affair where opponents drill you all the time.

A pack that responds to each race?s events is an outstanding concept that should elevate the gameplay, but NASCAR 2005?s execution of it too unbalanced to create the hoped-for effect. Having buttons dedicating to the fantasy tactics of ?intimidating? opponents or ?sharing draft? only strips away another layer of authenticity. In NASCAR 2006, EA Sports would do much better to ditch these artifices in favor of highly tuned pack A.I. that responds to a race?s events with a natural, lifelike feel, rather than burying the player in unrealistic meters and icons.

That said, many race fans and NASCAR fans will find the spectacular Fight To The Top mode so compelling that they?ll be willing to fight the good fight against the pack. This NASCAR series got a whole lot better this season, and with the right tuning, next year it could achieve Madden-like greatness.