by:	December 18, 2004

It’s amazing that since Bethesda Softworks’ debut Xbox game, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, they can’t always get it right. Of course Morrowind, and Morrwind GOTY Edition were spectacular titles, but then we get titles like Pirates of the Caribbean, and now this. The game is an official product of the IHRA, a niche variation in the popular sport of racing. For the most part it gets the job done.

The simplicity of the title though is baffling, and I don’t know how but in some way it could have been made a lot more complicated. You simply line your vehicle up with the starting line, and when the light turns green, pull the right trigger and get to the end of the line before the other car does. The Arcade Mode allows you to go right into it, and start racing. It has three difficulties, but the difficulty stays mostly the same, and the only variation is that the light turns green faster.The most variety in the title is the Simulation Mode. In Simulation mode you have to the license for each individual car type before you can proceed to that car type’s races. There is Pro Stock, Pro Mod, Funny Car, and Top Fuel (think Indy car). Each has to get through the same four simple tests, and then you can go on to the actual racing. Single Race is how it sounds, and is similar to Arcade Mode except here you can unlock raceways and earn money. Events is also similar to Single Race except there is a bit more challenge into winning first, and you win depending on your best two races out of three. The 2004 Season takes you into the Word Finals and you win money through completing each race. If you are having troubles winning, all you have to do is go to the garage and tune up, this is probably the most interesting part of the game, but if your not a gear head it could get a bit confusing as it isn’t as easily set up as say Gran Turismo 3 on PlayStation 2.

The control in this game is minimal at best. This is probably the only racing game you could ever play with just one hand. If you steer, your disqualified or you run into the wall or your opponent therefore forfeiting the game. Your path consists of a straight path, and you just hope you get to the line at the end before the next guy. You pull the right trigger to go, the left to break, and the A button to reverse back into position. The ironic (or sad) part of this is, one of the games features is the ability to use a steering wheel controller.

Visually this game is a total disappointment beyond any words, but I can try and sum it up for you. I had always imagined that to make a car shiny in a game, was a relatively easy trick for developers, but not in one instance is it here. There are different raceways to go on, but you really can’t tell them apart, they all have the same cardboard cutout figures, and stale washed out environments as the others. The only thing brining the raceways to life are a few sponsor posters here and there. You would think a game that has restrictions already due to the genre of sport it is attempting to imitate, would make up for that with visual power. Also, the game is powered by the Havok Engine, a tool used to make it easy for developers to create fantastic visuals (maybe you have heard of a little thing called Halo 2?). To the games credit, each individual vehicle stays true to their real-life counterpart. Also the menus within the game are done pretty well.

The sound is equally atrocious; as you hear the same annoying guitar riffs over and over again no matter were you go in the game! The music almost never changes beyond that. It would have at least been courteous to the player to allow for some custom soundtracks in here. The actual sounds of the vehicles are the best, and but do not vary much between the different car types. It is also disappointing that the cars make loud cracks when revving up rather then thunderous roars.

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IHRA Drag Racing 2005 is definitely a let down for me since I am interested in drag racing, and will definitely be a letdown for anyone else into drag racing. Unless you’re a hardcore fan who needs a collectible, you should definitely stay away from this game.

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