For anyone who has read my previous article, 3 Great Sports Games for the Playstation 3, this will be familiar to you. For anyone who hasn't, I'd advise checking it out if you have an interest in sports games. Basically, I try to review quickly my 3 favourite racing games, and I'll try and outline why I think they are the games for you. Obviously I haven't played every single racing game on the Playstation 3, so I will only review those that I have played. Some of the games you may agree with me on, others you may not. Before I start, just want to let you know that I have played Race Driver: Grid, but it doesn't make this list. Also, the games aren't in any particular order, as each of the choices are very different styles of racing.
Formula One Championship Edition
To date, the only F1 game on a next generation system, unless I'm mistaken. It's a great start for the series, and it allows you to create your own driver, start on a small team and work your way up. In that sense, it's very similar to F1 Career Challenge. The game has stunning visuals, excellent pit lane system, great AI opponents, a nice variety of difficultly levels and enough variation in general, be it tracks, cars, drivers, weather conditions, to keep you occupied for a long time. Unfortunately, the online game play isn't that good, and you can't play as teams. Hopefully in the next F1 game, it will be possible.
Motorstorm
Motorstorm is almost the saving grace of the Playstation 3. The Playstation 3 came out with a pretty weak launch assortment of games. Luckily for customers, it did come with both Motorstorm and Resistance: Fall of Man. Motorstorm is very simple. There is no particular strategy, no pit crews, no fuel. There is 1 aim: Beat your opponents to the finish line, no matter what it takes. You can find different routes through the track, based on your vehicle. Mud for mud pluggers, high and dry for bikers. You can use a variety of short cuts, or you can use your boost. Just try to make sure don't blow up, because if you do, you'll lose a lot of time. Great for online play and offline play, the only flaw is the lack of tracks. Still, a great purchase for any racing fan.
Sega Rally
I'm weak before rally games of all descriptions. I really, really am. I just can't resist purchasing them. So picking this up for less than $15 on sale at GAME seemed like a pretty good deal to me. Luckily, I'm the only one in the house who likes it, so I never need to worry about anyone else playing it. It's just so addictive. Sure the camera angle isn't always the greatest, but people who love racing games will adapt to that pretty quickly. It's like Gran Turismo on dirt, permanently. If you can find this game cheap, it's undoubtedly worth picking up now.
