My Auto Club Revolution experience(free-to-play racer) - bluengold34_OS's Blog

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My Auto Club Revolution experience(free-to-play racer) Stuck

Posted on May 8, 2013 at 10:10 AM.

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�Free-to-play.�

By now most gamers understand this term and its meaning. It simply refers to a game or social application that has no cost associated with it to play or use. While this type of genre is becoming more and more popular, there are companies that do it wrong, and some that do it right.

I had the chance this weekend to take on �Auto Club Revolution� a free-to-play racing title for the PC, by the European based developer, Eutechnyxs. If I am being honest, I am usually not a fan of free-to-play games, as they typically end up being �pay-to-win� titles. Meaning that if you are willing to pony up the coin, than you will most certainly have a distinct advantage over the poor sap who is just using the absolute basics that the title initially comes with.

As I fired up Auto Club, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of options that are available for doing nothing more than just signing up and wanting to play. I was impressed at the initial graphics options that allowed me to race window-based, or full-screen, and also was surprised at having the ability to adjust the graphics to the point where it looked as good, if not better, than most of the racers I had actually purchased.

Initially Auto Club offers a full tutorial, and I am glad it did, because it needs one. This is not your typical bare-bones cash-grab that one might expect. It offers a full community of racers, the ability to chat with each other, the ability to join an �auto club� and send and receive friend requests. If you take the time join one of the many clubs that seems right for you, its more than just a group of guys racing, as it has many perks and rewards. There are stats, rankings, and even a weekly credit payout(these are important)for individual club members who achieve and accomplish certain feats.

One of the nicest surprises was the fact that Eutechnyxs has given the individual the chance to either buy(real-life money) each of the over 50 real-life cars available, or you can "purchase" or rent them with the credits you earn for racing, and completing challenges. As you start, you are gifted one free car(Opel Corsa POC) and have 25 free tracks ready to tackle. These are real-life destinations such as Daytona International Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Hockenheim, Silverstone, Spa, and Sonoma. As mentioned before, it does require you to complete a 4 part tutorial, that helps the player familiarize themselves with the controls and physics.

Speaking of controls, Auto Club gives the user plenty of options when it comes to navigating your way around each course. I actually tried all four, in the keyboard, mouse, wheel and controller. You have the option to remap your buttons, and you can also calibrate your controller or wheel to your liking. I found the best results using my Logitech wheel, but it was easy enough to maneuver around each course with a controller also. The mouse was OK, and the keyboard, well it�s a keyboard � what do you expect from it? The game also offers a bevy of assist options for people who are newer to the racing genre, but each assist can be turned off for the �hardcore� driver out there.

Regardless of what any game offers in the frills department though, a racing game is only as good as it�s physics and handling, and I will cover that, the paint booth, and the wide array of vehicles Auto Club offers in part 2.

Have you tried any free to play games like Auto Club?