''TOCA Race Driver'' (''DTM Race Driver'' in Germany, ''Pro Race Driver'' in North America and ''V8 Supercars: Race Driver'' in Australia) is a 2002
racing video game
Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic raci ...
developed and published by
Codemasters
The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name: Codemasters) is a British video game developer and former publisher based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts and managed under the EA Sports ...
for
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
,
Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
and
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
. It is the fourth game in the
''TOCA'' series. The racing elements of the game continued to receive positive reviews and the game went straight to number one in the UK game charts. Xbox and PC conversions followed in March 2003, with a further Xbox version released several months later at budget price adding
Xbox Live
The Xbox network, formerly known and commonly referred to as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Gaming for the Xbox brand. It was first made available to the origina ...
support.
Gameplay and plot
''Race Driver'' took the game in a new direction, since the main game mode featured a plot (leading to the game being labelled as a "Car-PG") where the player would take on the role of a fictional race driver called Ryan McKane, trying to make a name for himself in a multitude of car championships, all the while under the shadow of his more successful older brother and haunted by the death of his father on the racetrack (as witnessed by Ryan as a child).
The British Touring Car Championship (TOCA) which gives the game series its name, returned for this game. The real-life championship had undergone a transformation after most of the manufacturers had pulled out, and crowd numbers dropped, so TOCA asked Codemasters to include the series to boost the audience interest. However, the return was short-lived. Many tracks were added, and some of the "World" tracks were not continued from ''
TOCA 3'', despite their popularity, such as
Watkins Glen and
Surfers Paradise
Surfing is a list of surface water sports, surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in Glossary of surfing, tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wind wave, wave of water, whic ...
. The game continued with random grid positions and no penalties for bad driving.
Reception
The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions received "favourable" reviews, while the PC version received "average" reviews, according to video game
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
.
[
In the UK, '' Official UK PlayStation 2 Magazine'' gave the PS2 version a score of eight out of ten and said that it was an "ultra-realistic racer with top visuals";] they also listed it in their top 100 games and awarded it a Bronze Medal.
Sequel
A sequel, ''TOCA Race Driver 2'' was released in April 2004 for Windows and Xbox and later for PlayStation 2 in October 2004. Two more platforms were also released: a mobile version was released only in North America in February 2005 and the PlayStation Portable version was released only in Europe in September 2005. The North American version also uses the redesigned ''Race Driver'' name.
Another ''Race Driver'' sequel was released in February 2006.
See also
* V8 Supercars in video games
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
2002 video games
Codemasters games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
PlayStation 2 games
Sports video games set in France
Sports video games set in Germany
Sports video games set in Italy
Sports video games set in Japan
Supercars Championship
TOCA (series)
Video games developed in the United Kingdom
Video games set in Australia
Video games set in Austria
Video games set in Barcelona
Video games set in Belgium
Video games set in California
Video games set in England
Video games set in Mexico
Video games set in Scotland
Video games set in Sweden
Video games set in Tennessee
Video games set in the Las Vegas Valley
Video games set in the Netherlands
Video games set in Vancouver
Windows games
Xbox games