The Good
- Good-sized and varied career mode
- Great track designs with plenty of shortcuts
- Four-player split-screen supported in all modes
- Over 30 playable Cars characters.
The Bad
- No online play
- Voice samples become grating after a while.
Regardless of whether you enjoyed, endured, or avoided seeing Disney Pixar's Cars 2,
the racing game of the same name is a fun drive. It's also an unusual
one. This is a racer in which every vehicle is equipped with a jump
button, using the reverse gear is a legitimate race strategy, and
thoroughbred racecars rocking machine guns compete alongside
mine-dropping camper vans. Despite its disappointing lack of online
play, Cars 2 is also a game that's best enjoyed with up to three
friends. There are better racing games available, but none quite like
this one.
Like you, those friends should have no problem picking up Cars 2's controls; they're unconventional, but they're also uncomplicated and nicely explained in a series of brief tutorials that precede the career mode. Using a button to manually trigger your powerslides might feel unwieldy at first, but it works well enough that you're unlikely to switch to the automatic option. Similarly, using the right stick to instantly perform a 180 spin while simultaneously slamming your ride into reverse might take some getting used to, but it's a great system that makes dealing with pursuers especially satisfying. Vehicle handling is floaty to the point that none of the 30-plus playable characters ever feel like they're connecting with the track, but even this initially off-putting flaw is easy to overlook because, when all's said and done, it doesn't make the game any less fun.
Starting up Cars 2 for the first time, you might be disappointed to find that none of the game's multiplayer options are available from the outset. You have to unlock them by progressing in the C.H.R.O.M.E. Missions career mode, which spans some 40-plus events. All's not lost if you've got friends on your couch that want to get in on the action, though, because all of those career mode events can be enjoyed by up to four players simultaneously. Not all of the five event types that show up in career mode lend themselves to multiplayer, but having friends along for the ride is rarely detrimental to the experience.
Even regular race events in Cars 2 aren't as straightforward as you might expect. All of the cars are equipped with a turbo, but to acquire boost, you have to powerslide around corners or perform tricks. Powersliding is effortless because you're afforded a great deal of control while sliding; with practice, you might find that you're able to hold a single powerslide around multiple corners and even along straightaways. Powersliding is one of the easiest ways to accumulate boost, but it's also one of the slowest; the more adventurous and varied your driving is, the quicker your boost meter fills up. Driving in reverse is a pretty easy way to get boost as well, though losing your concentration for even a moment and forgetting that your steering controls are reversed can be costly. The biggest boost payoffs come when you perform flips and spins in midair by flicking the right analog stick after a jump and when you successfully navigate the slaloms located on every track while driving on two wheels. The right stick can also be used to deliberately hop sideways into other cars, though this tactic is best employed against opponents that are smaller than you.
Size matters far less in battle races because you have access to the same impressive arsenal of weapons playing as a speedy lightweight like Guido that you do as a slow heavyweight like Mater. If you've ever played a Mario Kart game or any of the countless racers inspired by that series, few of the weapons will come as any surprise. You can pick up machine guns, missiles, mines, oil drops, homing missiles (which are actually RC skateboards loaded with explosives), and orbital lasers, which, depending on the mode you're playing, can either home in on the race leader or cause straight lines of destruction in their path. Sticking your car in reverse to turn missiles and machine guns on pursuers is especially fun, and if you're not worried about seeing where you're driving you can look back at your target to improve your chances of hitting them. Cars 2 doesn't always do a great job of giving you weapons that are appropriate for your race position when you collect a random pick-up (rear-facing weapons for the leader, most powerful weapons for the racer in last place, for example), but many of the pick-ups clearly display which item you're going to get, so it's up to you to grab the ones that are most useful. There are no icons on the screen to let you know which weapon you have equipped, but you don't need them because the weapons appear mounted on your ride and are easy to recognize.
Like you, those friends should have no problem picking up Cars 2's controls; they're unconventional, but they're also uncomplicated and nicely explained in a series of brief tutorials that precede the career mode. Using a button to manually trigger your powerslides might feel unwieldy at first, but it works well enough that you're unlikely to switch to the automatic option. Similarly, using the right stick to instantly perform a 180 spin while simultaneously slamming your ride into reverse might take some getting used to, but it's a great system that makes dealing with pursuers especially satisfying. Vehicle handling is floaty to the point that none of the 30-plus playable characters ever feel like they're connecting with the track, but even this initially off-putting flaw is easy to overlook because, when all's said and done, it doesn't make the game any less fun.
Starting up Cars 2 for the first time, you might be disappointed to find that none of the game's multiplayer options are available from the outset. You have to unlock them by progressing in the C.H.R.O.M.E. Missions career mode, which spans some 40-plus events. All's not lost if you've got friends on your couch that want to get in on the action, though, because all of those career mode events can be enjoyed by up to four players simultaneously. Not all of the five event types that show up in career mode lend themselves to multiplayer, but having friends along for the ride is rarely detrimental to the experience.
Even regular race events in Cars 2 aren't as straightforward as you might expect. All of the cars are equipped with a turbo, but to acquire boost, you have to powerslide around corners or perform tricks. Powersliding is effortless because you're afforded a great deal of control while sliding; with practice, you might find that you're able to hold a single powerslide around multiple corners and even along straightaways. Powersliding is one of the easiest ways to accumulate boost, but it's also one of the slowest; the more adventurous and varied your driving is, the quicker your boost meter fills up. Driving in reverse is a pretty easy way to get boost as well, though losing your concentration for even a moment and forgetting that your steering controls are reversed can be costly. The biggest boost payoffs come when you perform flips and spins in midair by flicking the right analog stick after a jump and when you successfully navigate the slaloms located on every track while driving on two wheels. The right stick can also be used to deliberately hop sideways into other cars, though this tactic is best employed against opponents that are smaller than you.
Size matters far less in battle races because you have access to the same impressive arsenal of weapons playing as a speedy lightweight like Guido that you do as a slow heavyweight like Mater. If you've ever played a Mario Kart game or any of the countless racers inspired by that series, few of the weapons will come as any surprise. You can pick up machine guns, missiles, mines, oil drops, homing missiles (which are actually RC skateboards loaded with explosives), and orbital lasers, which, depending on the mode you're playing, can either home in on the race leader or cause straight lines of destruction in their path. Sticking your car in reverse to turn missiles and machine guns on pursuers is especially fun, and if you're not worried about seeing where you're driving you can look back at your target to improve your chances of hitting them. Cars 2 doesn't always do a great job of giving you weapons that are appropriate for your race position when you collect a random pick-up (rear-facing weapons for the leader, most powerful weapons for the racer in last place, for example), but many of the pick-ups clearly display which item you're going to get, so it's up to you to grab the ones that are most useful. There are no icons on the screen to let you know which weapon you have equipped, but you don't need them because the weapons appear mounted on your ride and are easy to recognize.
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