Indianapolis 500 Evolution

Originally posted by TedSGN

Adam, I'm having a good experience.  That being said I don't think anyone who did not already have an interest in that type and period of racing would find this a good game.  It's absolutely a niche title.

I like the atmosphere of the game.  There is 60's and 70's style music playing in the background on the menus and during the race.  The songs are very similar to real songs in maybe they have a slightly different chord structure or are in a different key, but you can recognize which tune they are trying to imitate right away.

The options are pretty limited, but the greatest part of those is the ability to save a race mid-race and race length options are 10 laps, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and full length.  View options are front bumper, hood, cockpit, and close chase.

I'm not knowledgeable on that era of racing even though I do like the look of the cars.  The racing years are 1961 to 1971 inclusive.  There are six tracks.  Indy, of course, Trenton, the Milwaukee Mile, another Minnesota track, and two others I can't remember right now.  I've raced on Trenton (which is a fun track because kidney shape) and Indy.  Framerates are excellent.  However, this is not a high definition title.  It's better than an xbox title graphically, but the sharpness and clarity just aren't there like in Dirt 2 or even Nascar.  It's an in-between kind of thing.  Cockpits and lettering on the chassis are lower resolution than what we're used to now.  

The driving physics of the game are less than contemporary titles as well.  You were asking about push and Web is right in that the cars do get some oversteer depending on the make and year.  The problem with the traction is that any time there is oversteer or understeer you see the car pivoting on an invisible pole though the center axis of the car instead of the individual tires or axles losing the grip themselves.  So from a chase point of view it looks odd.  From a driveability it probably make it easier to drive the cars not harder.  It's easier to get out of a skid situation then in other games as far as I can tell.

Before I forget....this game LOVES the 360 racing wheel.  The standard controller is a little sensitive, but the wheel is so natural and the game really shines when using it.  The game also sorely lacks rear view mirrors.  With contact avoidance being so crucial it would be great to have a HUD option for that even if there weren't mirrors on the real cars.  The only option is to use the controller to look around, but with the wheel that is difficult.  The other option is to drive in chase mode, otherwise you never get a warning that another driver is close in your blind spot or trying to pass.

The racing is solid, but too easy on normal.  You guys know that I'm truly a back-half-of-the-pack guy skill wise and I have to put the difficulty on this game all the way up to have a competitive race, otherwise I can easily beat up on the competition as long as I don't  hit anyone.  And it's easy to avoid contact.  The one bad part of the difficulty is that damage and the AI are on the same button.  You can't separate the two so if you want competitive AI you have to choose the hardest damage setting.  Usually not a problem except that I think the damage model is overdone on hard.  The slightest (and I mean slightest) contact with another vehicle will cause you to have engine damage or overheat your radiator or oil.  It just doesn't seem realistic, but  the only solution is to play it this way because normal is just too easy and I can qualify 3 to 4 seconds better than the next best driver on normal.  To compare, I qualified 7th at Trenton on hard and was within a second of the pole.

The AI is fun to race against and you start to recognize the names of the other drivers and who you can pass easily and who will race you for position and be more aggressive.  You'll be racing along and come up on a guy that you know either doesn't have much car or is passive so you make a clean pass and know that he's not going to show up on you again as long as you don't make mistakes.  Then there are other guys that you know are better and even when you pass them they are going to race back hard and try and take that position.  It makes for a little more thinking during the race and also the ability to just run some good laps for awhile and not feel pressured.  I race longer races so I generally find the cars as singles or in small groups of 2 to 4.  So you can work your way from pack to pack or just stalk in between two packs if you like.  Also, any aggressiveness on your part and not running clean will start to get other drivers mad and they can end up hating you.  Right now most are "dismissive" of me, but I have about 5 haters who I've had a few incidents with.  The only gripe I have with the AI is that things seem a little pre-determined.  The qualifying grid always looks in the same order and the AI generally finish close to their starting positions as long as there are no accidents.

I don't know what reality was back then, but fuel tanks are huge in this game.  You can make the full length race at Trenton (100 laps,150 miles) with one fuel stop.  Tires are another issue though and I seemed to need tires about every 20-25 laps and I don't think I was being hard on the tires because I was using the racing line and avoiding squealing them around the turns.

Setups?  There are none.  Just get ready to race with what you bring to the track.  You can try different combinations of engine, chassis, and transmission and that's it.  I haven't tried any yet because the options in 61 are limited.  I think I can only buy different chassis's because I only see the 4-speed tranny and the Offy engine available for sale.

There aren't any yellow flags when things come apart.  Were there no yellow flags back then?  So you are going to be racing right through incidents and wreckage.  Some of that wreckage even stays on the track.  There are black flags although I haven't gotten one yet.  I also see a blue flag??  occasionally in my HUD, but don't know what it is for and I don't have a manual for the game.

I can see the career being fun because you have 11 seasons of 6 races each.  So 66 races.  I'm a career style gamer so I think I could play through that  and it would be interesting to see how it turned out.  It's also really neat how the cars evolve through that decade and even in 1971 there are cars on the track that look like pencils and pinewood derby racers right next to more modern winged vehicles.

There is no customization of you chassis that I can see.  I think you are stuck with the number 71 and your name is your gamertag.  There just aren't a lot of personal bells and whistles with this title.

I wish I had something for you about multiplayer, but sadly in the half dozen attempts I've made to play it online I can't even find a random game.  Nobody seems to be playing this.  I'll be holding on to it to try it with Web and see if there is lag and if you are still interested I'll hold it.  I hope we can play like Flatout or Dirt2 and not be restricted like Nascar.

I would not recommend this title as a purchase because it seems to be getting a lot of hate from gamers (2.6 rating from gamefly ) which I think is unfair.  I think if you have any interest in indycar racing or racing from that era its a good bet as a rental.  I think it is definitely a try before you buy.  Seeing as GF has a keep it price of 21 and I have a $5 coupon I'll probably keep it since I like Indycars.  I know it's stupid, but I like this game better than Dirt2 and given the option I put in Indy 500 over that title.  I know Dirt2 is better, but I like Indy more.