Platform: Playstation 2 (PS2)

Genre: Racing

Publisher: TDK Interactive

Developer: Steel Monkeys

ERSB: E (Everyone)

Released: Q1 2004

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Pros:

-A $20 dollar mistake won't make you go bankrupt

-Car models

Cons:

-Loooong load times......I'm pretty sure it's still loading

-Drab environments

-Control is so loose that it could lose you races

-Repetitive races get old after 30mins

-Forgettable sound

-nearly the same fun factor as watching paint dry.......for 48 hours straight

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"Unless you are obsessed with Corvettes and feel the need to own anything that bears the logo, it does not warrant a purchase."

The Corvette is a very prestigious car. Most of us want it, yet very few of us can afford it. Steel Monkeys and TDK Interactive have teamed together to bring the Corvette to those of us with very little disposable income. Priced at around $20 compared to the thousands of dollars a Corvette would cost, it seems like a reasonable choice, but in the end you get what you pay for. A budget game.  

In the game you have the choice of several modes: Career, Arcade, Quick Race, Special Events and Multiplayer. In Career mode you start of in a first generation Corvette and work your way up by winning races all the way to the newest Corvettes. Each race is on a track between you and five computer AI opponents except for the last race in each generation of cars. The last race is a one-on-one challenge by one of the opponents you faced in earlier races. This time however the race is on the road with traffic and police officers trying to impede your progress. Arcade mode is nearly the exact same but instead gives you prizes like different Corvettes for Quick Race Mode. In Quick Race mode you pick a track, the number of laps and opponents, and your car. Special Events Modes are unlocked by finishing first in every race in a generation of Corvettes. These modes range from time trial, to circuit endurance races to a custom Vette challenge. In multiplayer you can face a friend and pick a track and a car to race with. Unfortunately certain cars are limited to certain tracks so your choices are limited and you cannot always race in your favourite car.

The most annoying part of Corvette is the load times. This game features some of the longest load times since Stuntman. You will spend more of your time staring at a spinning disc than racing a Corvette. (Slight exaggeration ahead) In fact I'm writing this review while 

the game loads so I have about an hour of free time after I'm done writing. If any of you think that's a big exaggeration, go play the game and prove me wrong.  

If there is one redeeming point of Corvette, it would be the graphics. But even its only positive has a downside. The cars glow with an incredible shine especially in multi-toned paint jobs. The cars look beautiful, naturally as they should, from the first to the last generation.  Unfortunately that's the only thing that looks good in Corvette. From the drab and repetitive environments (you will 

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go through the same types over and over) to the suspect inanimate objects littering the track doesn't leave a good impression on you. I'll be generous and say the visuals are endurable.

Corvette is not the game for a hardcore racing fan. I wouldn't even recommend it to a casual fan.  If you're a hardcore fan you'll be disappointed to learn that you cannot customize your Corvette past paint colour. You can win licensed parts for your ride but you will never see a physical representation or be able to adjust them. It just tells you own the parts but there's not even a noticeable difference from the first upgrade level to the last. For the casual fan trying to get into racing this is not the game to start with. Although the game is about Corvettes which boast tight handing, the control in this game is so loose that you will never truly feel you are driving a Vette. Especially in the older generation models, you will spend more time fighting the steering than actually driving the car. There's also a noticeable lag from the time when you press a button and when the action is displayed. A hard racing game should be difficult because of challenging AI not challenging controls. Also nine out of ten times you will get the worst out of a collision with AI controlled cars even if you clip them from behind which would run anyone off the road in real life. It seems that Steel Monkeys tried to remedy these problems by making the AI so easy that you could screw around for a couple of laps and still manage to win by a 5+ second margin.  

Corvette blows a tire in sound as well. The soundtrack is so out of place in a racing game that it actually detracts from the limited presentation that Corvette has. In fact, if by some miracle that you get so enthralled by the game that you feel you are actually behind the wheel just hearing the soundtrack will snap you back to reality. A harsh cold reality of playing a horrible game. The rest of the sound effects are uninspired and basically consists of burning rubber, crunches from collisions and the roar of your engine. This was a very poor and disappointing audio effort.

Corvette, in the end, is simply a bad racing game. The only good thing about it is the price but you can find many more quality games in the same price range. Unless you are obsessed with Corvettes and feel the need to own anything that bears the logo, it does not warrant a purchase.  I do not recommend this game to anyone.

-Stefan Shetty

(May 14, 2004)

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