Big City Racer

Big City Racer is a Windows-based game that offers a variety of races throughout Europe cities.

Big City Racer will appeal to anyone who enjoys street racing within some of the most beautiful cities on the planet. The premise behind this platform is simple. The player will need to win or place highly in these races in order to win prizes, money and upgrade his or her vehicle. As this is an online competition, one's skills can be pitted against another player within a real-time scenario. This is much more appealing than computer-based competitions alone.

Three Cars and Five Cities

When beginning a race, the player can choose from three different cars. The are a Volvo, a Ford Focus or a Volkswagen Golf. The five cities to be featured are Rome, Berlin, Vienna, London and Paris. Unlike some other racing games, there are no pedestrians or other cars. This is meant to signify that the streets have been cordoned off for the race. Although the vehicle graphics are adequate, many will fall in love with the realistic landmarks within the cities themselves. This aspect tends to add much more realism and variety than would be encountered circling around a traditional racetrack.

Drawbacks

There are still some notable disadvantages to Big City Racer. At a file size of just over 340 megabytes, some of the graphics and physics are a bit disappointing. The vehicles are not as responsive as in platforms such as Grand Theft Auto while the constant humming sounds of the engines can become annoying over time. Collisions are also an issue. There are times when cars will simply "bounce" off of one another while other instances may actually involve a vehicle becoming stuck in nearby scenery. This will force the player to reset the game and valuable time is ultimately lost. Note that each will start off with 100 credits that are allocated towards a race. If the race is lost, so are these credits, More will need to be obtained.

The Conclusion

Ultimately, this is a moderately impressive racing game. While not offering the high-definition amenities and handling that more powerful platforms possess, Big City Racer can nonetheless be a great deal of fun.

Pros

• Completely free to play online
• Easy to control the vehicle
• Chat functions are available during the game

Cons

• Inadequate physics
• Average graphics
• Problems with irritating sounds