In the modern mobile industry, there are very few high-quality gaming projects that have existed for years, continuously supported by developers throughout their lives. Today I propose to talk about Real Racing 3 – the best, in the opinion of many, game for portable devices – and, in principle, to discuss the current state of the genre of racing simulators on mobile platforms.
How it all began
Real Racing 3 was released on February 28, 2013 – over 4 years ago! Actually, this is how the topic of this article was born, when I recently caught myself thinking that I have been fascinated by this game for more than four years. This project interested me literally from the first trailers: firstly, the game for some reason seemed similar to the old (but rather curious) Need For Speed ProStreet from the same EA, and secondly, the Australians responsible for the development from Firemonkeys Studios did well recommend with good Real Racing 2 and Arcade Most Wanted.
On the day of the release, I even called a friend, also a huge fan of auto racing, with whom we competed in the hardcore Gran Turismo 2 back in the days of the first PlayStation, and having downloaded the impressive two-plus gigabytes of cache on the tablet at that time, I eagerly tapped the icon with the image of two sports cars.
To say that we were amazed is to say nothing. RR3 produced such an outrageous level of graphics and physics, which at that time could not even be dreamed of by many console and PC projects! In any case, so it seemed to us then. In the next year and a half or two, the game acquired many additions and improvements, minor flaws were corrected, new mechanics appeared, etc. Then a series of updates began, dedicated to various offline events from the world of real motorsport, which absolutely did not affect the gameplay in any way.
Ready, steady …
Now I want to talk about the most important thing – gameplay. Initially, the developers took the right position on everything from the balance between different car models to their handling, but over the years they did not fix some frankly annoying moments, for example:
– Tuning. I understand everything, you want more profit, and you will never refuse to install modifications in the time that is unobtrusively suggested to skip for in-game premium currency (in this case, gold), but could you at least improve the external tuning system? Moreover, there were attempts.
– Constant 'crush' at the start. Undoubtedly, with proper implementation, the presence of a large number of rivals on the track will benefit any race (even a mobile one), but with an overall excellent balance between different car models, in Real Racing 3 in every second race you find yourself in a situation where two of them collide on a narrow track. more than a dozen supercars, of which those that originally occupied the first starting positions are breaking ahead – and the player here always starts last, without a single chance to qualify.
– Money, money, money. Unfortunately, Firemonkeys still adhere to this strategy, devoting 90% of the updates to one or another sponsor event, trying to draw as much money out of their brainchild as possible, although the game has been loaded with gluttonous microtransactions since launch.
However, if RR3 were not great, and even a unique mobile car simulator, this article would not exist. And therefore, now we will dwell on several nuances of this project – but not just interesting features, but those components that this game brought to mobile car racing:
– Huge car park and a wide variety of tracks. As I already said, Real Racing 3 is constantly being fed with updates, and if in terms of gameplay these updates do not bring with them practically any innovations, then the amount of content thanks to constant support is growing literally before our eyes. A simple example is enough: at the beginning of the game's existence, there were several dozen cars in it, and now their number is approaching 200 – from the cute Nissan Skyline 2000 GT-R to the monstrous Koenigsegg One and Lamborghini Asterion.
– Optimization. From the very first version, the game worked for me almost perfectly smoothly, although the first year I played it on the not newest Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. In addition, it was with Real Racing 3 that I realized that such heavy projects of several gigabytes with complex graphics can work on Android no worse (and in some ways even better) than on iOS.
– Realism. 99% of the mobile car racing market today is pure arcade with no claim to be accurate. Most large projects for Android and iOS allow you to drift, twist somersaults, blow up rivals and do other mess.
By the way, about the competitors
Since today we are trying to find out what those few realistic car simulators on mobile platforms are capable of, then it is not worth touching on all sorts of Asphalt. I must say right away that all the 'contestants' were evaluated according to five criteria – reliability of control / physics, graphics, engine optimization, loyalty to the player in terms of monetization (abundance of In-App purchases, the presence of advertising, and so on), frequency of updates and the vastness of the vehicle fleet.
GT Racing 2: The Real Car Experience
This project from the well-known studio Gameloft on the mobile market was conceived as an open competitor to the creation of Electronic Arts. The release of GT Racing 2 took place at the end of 2013, and the main emphasis in the project was placed on the balance of realism and arcadeness, with a clear advantage in favor of the latter.
- Realistic controls: 7/10
- Optimization: 6/10
- Monetization: 4/10
- Refresh rate: 4/10
- Fleet latitude: 8/10
Gear.Club
Familiar to many from the very high-quality Test Drive Unlimited 1-2 and the legendary Need For Speed: Porsche, Eden Games has completely changed its profile, reorienting itself to mobile platforms. In their recent Gear Club, the French pay the most attention to car models worked out to the smallest detail (although in general, the graphics in the game do not shine with dizzying detail).
Otherwise, it's just a good mobile race that refuses to run offline.
- Realistic controls: 5/10
- Optimization: 8/10
- Monetization: 6/10
- Refresh rate: 5/10
- Fleet latitude: 7/10
Eventually
Unlike various platformers, puzzles, scrolling shooters and other extremely simple games, modern mobile car simulators focused on realism in the form in which they are now, without revolutionary new ideas, are doomed to remain entertainment for motorsport fans.
VR technologies, new types of controllers, or the refusal of developers from such a tempting f2p model (whatever one may say, without significant financial investments today you will not pass a single mobile race) can serve as a 'breath of fresh air' for this genre.