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Everybody
knows what the Tour De France is, a marathon bike race around France,
but who thought a game would be made of it? Don't let the fact that
racing bicycles are a bit less glamorous than F1 cars put you off;
this game is made by Konami and has seriously good gameplay.
The
most instantly accessible part of TDF is the arcade mode. You select
the course you want to race on, the time of day, weather conditions,
your team, the setup of your bike and then you're off. The controls
of the bike and the mechanics of the actual race are what make this
game great. The bike steers like a real bike would, using the analogue
stick. To pedal you hold down X, to coast (stop pedalling and let
the bike run on its own momentum) you let go and to hammer on the
speed you tap the X button repeatedly, to make your racer stand
up and pedal really heavily. The harder you pedal however, the faster
your stamina bar goes down. You can replenish it slowly by coasting
or by using some of the water from your water bottle. You can drink
it for a gain of stamina or if your racer is very beat, you can
pour water over his head, at the cost of twice the water. The races
are highly tactical and require strategic thinking to get the best
out of them. You can employ tactics like coasting down hills and
then belting up the next one to lose no momentum, saving your strength
to the final stretch and overtaking everybody that has already tired
themselves out; everything you would do in a real bike race to get
ahead you can do here.
The
racing conditions actually affect the race, as wind can blow you
off course slowly or slow you down and hotter conditions sap your
stamina quicker. Wind is accurately modelled and the feeling of
the wind is represented with transparent streams of colour that
shear off the other racers. If you can get between these, you can
avoid it and slipstream behind, to the side or even in front of
another racer, depending on which way the wind is blowing.
The
graphics seem to be the part that lets a game down in strategic
racers, but it's not quite the case here. The bikes and bike racers
are fluidly animated, moving like real people and employing aerodynamic
techniques, wavering when tired and the graphics themselves are
very crisp and well animated. However, the scenery and backdrops
can be quite bland and lacking in detail, which is a real shame,
as it would be nice if you could kick back and admire the gorgeous
views for a moment when you're coasting downhill. This is a straight
PS2 conversion and the graphics could have been better by PS2 standards,
but with the power of Xbox to hand some detailed scenery and truly
breathtaking backdrops could have been created, which would really
have added to the atmosphere of the game. However, the scenery is
passable and isn't a major part of the game.
Apart
from the addictive Arcade mode there are many other modes, including
a two player mode that will quickly win its way into the ranks of
Tony Hawk's 3, Pro Evolution Soccer, Time Splitters and Soul Calibur
in the list of games you challenge your mates at. Time trial mode
allows you to try and beat your previous times on any unlocked track,
with the all-important option to tweak the settings on your bike
for optimum performance. Practice mode allows you to practice any
track, working on your tactics and learning the tracks as much as
you want to.
The
real substance of the game that will keep you playing for a long
time is in Tour De France mode, which is comparable to the Gran
Turismo mode in GT3. It's kind of a realistic mode that counts the
progress of the virtual days and years as you train your rider to
compete in the Tour de France. You create your character from scratch
and can train to improve your stats in power, stamina, turning,
braking and toughness at any time through a series of themed challenges.
Your stats have an impact on your performance in races, so it's
advisable to train up before a difficult race.
You
can completely customise your bike (with money of course), which
is a gear-head's dream, changing the wheels, frame, pedals, gears
and tuning. You can compete in local races, which gives you an opportunity
to get some prize money and improve your ranking for the main event.
What races are available and when they occur can be looked up in
the race schedule. When there isn't a race you can pass the time
by training or resting to regain your health, should it be depleted
by any means. As you move up the ranking your respectability will
rise and you can transfer to a better team if you so wish. This
mode is as involving as you want it to be and is where most of the
time on the game should be spent, as it is very rewarding.
Tour
De France is a sleeper hit that should be picked up based on its
superb gameplay, fun and longevity, supplemented by the fact that
you won't have anything like it in your games library. It's a breath
of fresh Bastide air in the tired sports racing genre.
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