I have no idea why but I really cannot drive in games. I’ll crash pretty much anything that a game lets me drive; the more realistic the setting the more I crash. This is, in all likelihood, a result of my firm belief that you don’t really need to break that much when you go into a corner. It may also have something to do with Mario Kart teaching me that you have to do a burnout if you want the best possible start. Taking lessons from Mario Kart probably isn’t a good idea though, Peter just got mad when I threw a blue shell at him.
Of course it’s not just racing games where vehicles feature prominently, it’s just these are the ones I’m terrible at driving in. Forza? I might complete a lap if you turn all the assists on. Burnout? It’s a good thing that crashing is the idea, I’d just do it anyway. However, give me a Warthog in Halo and… well I wouldn’t say I become good, but I don’t actually crash all the time. If I’m lucky I might clear the vehicle sequence. Maybe.
That’s probably why I hold the Warthog so dearly as an example of how to do vehicles right outside of the racing genre. Halo manages to make the handling so simple and instinctive that you can almost do it without trying. Compare this to Battlefield 2, where attempting to control any vehicle with just the control keys was a nightmare, and it’s obvious just how right Bungie got their vehicles. I mean who wants to grab a joystick every time they clamber into a jet in the middle of a firefight? Just let me carry on as easily as if I was still running across the ground.
Of course even clumsy or bizzare vehicles can still be fun. For most people games are about fantasy, and whilst fighting your way through wave after wave of faceless enemies can be fun, for me it doesn’t hold a candle to jumping into some crazy contraption and blasting them away, or speeding around a race track in a flying car. I’d much rather fly some futuristic jet whose handling is a physical impossibility than drive around the Nürburgring in a supercar. Sure, I’m unlikely to do either in real life but if I’m doing something I wouldn’t normally do I may as well go all out.
However, given how strong the racing community is here at TSA I suspect I may be alone in my desire to toss realistic vehicles out of the window. Do you prefer a realistic handling vehicle, or would you rather fly in something that seems to have no visible form of propulsion? Of course context is a big part of it, you don’t want a hovercraft in GT5, but do you have a preference? Are you happy to drive anything as long as it’s easy to control?
3shirts
I actually love the two types of driving (arcade and sim) equally but what I hate is games that try to tread the middle ground. For me, this is what GTA4 did and it spoiled it a bit. I always felt like you had to learn GTA4’s specific way of handling.
wirralsman
Sometimes it is difficult getting used to yet another driving system in a different game. They all handle differently, and have different expectations of the driver – I have found that the way you brake into corners in different racing games (GT5, NFS) varies and so each game has it’s own style you must adapt to. It is always rewarding when you eventually conquer the vehicle and track though, and can race around those tight bends at high speed. And then they throw a different car your way!
Crazy_Del
Mario Kart
Modnation was the most fun I had out there, could be spend most time on creations than racing 0_o
At the moment it’s Burnout for me – Brilliant racing game and enjoyable one too!
rainydays458
I’m a big fan of sandbox games, so naturally with massive worlds you’ve got to have something to get around in. From cruising the streets of Liberty City to riding through the west in Red Dead Redemption, I love it! My favourite vehicals come from Red Faction: Guerilla. Sure the controls aren’t that good and the physics are quite floaty, but it’s just so fun!
KeRaSh
I’m actually not that much of a racing game fan. However I love the WipEout and Burnout series. I think it all comes down to how the controls feel depending on the kind of racing game you are looking at. I wouldn’t want Mario Kart to feel like a racing simulation and GT shouldn’t be the other way around.
As for vehicles in games that aren’t racing games: my most recent memory is from Borderlands, which is a great game but the driving mechanics were a real pain. Red Faction: Guerilla did a much better job and even managed to make the timed vehicle missions fun and frustrating at the same time. :D
Grey_Ghost13
I love all types of driving in most games like sim and arcade styles, but what I hate, with a venom, is on and off rails vehicle sections in FPS games. My biggest hate is on rails, but I loath both types.
I will try pretty much all racing games and sandbox games that have vehicles, but I wish devs would stop trying to beef out single player campaign’s with vehicle sections.
online4ntagonist
I absolutely hate the Warthog and every other vehicle that uses the same mechanics. You can’t look left or right without realising: OMG I jst wanna look down, i don’t wanna ride off the cliff…
GTAIV had a nice system going and I must say that the multiplayer BBC2 vehicles are better than their single player brothers and sisters.
Then again, the driving and flying in BBC1 was pretty good.
BTW: try racing GT5 for a while and then back toShift, feels like your car’s made of paper.
bunimomike
I’m currently enjoying GTA IV and the vehicles shifted far, far away from the previous incarnations. They made them too real, if such a thing can exist. Even as you plough through the game (and the pedestrians) there’s never a time where you feel truly comfortable with them. Fighting tooth and nail with every vehicle. It’s so unforgiving and definitely not like real life.
Don’t get me wrong, they are great to drive but could have been so much more. For my money, the balance would be between GTA IV vehicles and vehicles of old. Something that is fairly realistic but supremely entertaining for my own home-grown Police, Camera, Action! videos. 8-)
Regarding other games. The GT franchise still suffers from shocking sterility. Obviously if this sterility suits some people, so be it, but be under no illusion… driving these vehicles at those sort of speeds is hell-for-leather and GT misses out. Has Shift 2 got it right? I don’t know. I hope so but the jury’s out for now.
Then we look at the craziness of the earlier Burnouts and Wipeout franchise. Twitch-based driving (in the latter races) where being hopped up to the eyeballs on sugar whilst simultaneously playing the entire game in a bath of Optrex so you don’t have to blink, is the only way to succeed.
There’s a happy medium in there somewhere and you’ll find me residing there all cheery and screaming with joy.
bunimomike
Oh, and if you want truly shit driving? Use a mouse and keyboard.
lukieboy1981
I love karting games especially mario kart. I like GT5 but I am awful at it but it looks pretty lol. Wipeout is ace but I seem to have lost what few skills I used to have in the old days with the current one.
Vehicles outside of racing games can be a pain, I think MAG does a good job with its vehicles and GTA IV also is also a pleasure to drive in.
cc_star
Warhawk – Vehicle perfection
They’re all perfectly balanced to take each other out in the game, handling-wise they’re all very arcade which is both fun & frees your mind up to concentrate on other more important things.
As far as the racing genre goes, Split Second & Hot Pursuit are perfect for me, brilliant fun, precise & fun