Product Reviews

SimBin has made a string of superb racing games, including GTR, GTR 2 and GT Legends. Few other games give you such a feel for what it's like to race real cars around real circuits.

Last year's Race was disappointing, though. Although it accurately modelled the 2006 World Touring Car Championship, it felt a little off the pace of its predecessors. Realising this, SimBin has shifted up a gear for Race 07, which features not just the 2007 season, but also 2006 and 1987. You also get BMW Mini racing, Formula BMW, Formula 3000 and Radical SR3 and SR4.

As you'd expect if you've played any of the earlier

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games, each car looks and feels realistic inside and out. The touring cars have plenty of understeer and sound exactly as they do on TV. The open-wheelers have oodles of grip and must be driven with care to avoid damage and endless spins, although you can enable the usual driving assists to help you.

It's great to see new tracks, including the fast and twisty Zandvoort, plus Anderstorp and Pau. Although each circuit has been reproduced with careful attention to detail, we couldn't help feeling there had been little progress since the last version - a disappointment after the slick intro video. We like the new Target Frame Rate option, though, which can adjust the quality settings automatically until the game runs at the frame rate you set.

Another bonus is the helmet camera, which is a great view for driving, and there are more multiplayer options than before. After a few hours of play, we noticed that the AI drivers were making more driving errors, but we never experienced the often-frenetic wheel-to-wheel action and crashes that you see on TV.

Race 07 doesn't have the best graphics we've seen. However, it is good fun and offers a variety of racing styles for your money.