Video Game Nascar 2011 the Game for PS3 Review

 I had seen all the prerelease trailers for the video game, NASCAR 2011 The Game and was excited to find out that it was to be made by someone other then EA. Mind you that EA has made some pretty good games based around other sports but just lacked something when it came to duplicated NASCAR.

From what i had seen in the prerelease trailers, I was pretty sure the game was going to be a winner. The graphics are ASTOUNDING to say the least. It is almost like watching real NASCAR on your TV.

I had surfed around online to see if I could find out  anything at all, from maybe a Beta tester or any "leaked" videos on YouTube. But other then the official released videos and articles there was nothing. so with crossed fingers I headed to the store on the release day.

I arrived at the local Wal-Mart early and found that all the nascar 2011 games for the PS3 console were already sold out. So I went to the next city over and found a copy at Game-Spot.

 As I fired up my 42 inch LCD flat screen and turned on my PS3 console, I wished I had a wheel instead of a Dual Shock 3 controller. The opening to the game was the same video that has been seen on YouTube since the announcement of it's release date.

Then it takes you to the garage view where you see your car and there are your options on weather you want  to play multiplayer or single player. (to a certain degree)

As a single player you have the option to either play in career mode, or a single race. 

As a Multiplayer you have the option to play split screen or online.

And I was pleasantly pleased that the graphics were exactly what I was expecting they would be from watching all the prereleased videos.

 At first I didn't even know where to begin. So I selected single player and selected a car and tried out the first track. the detail to the track was amazing. I don't know how many videos and pictures the staff took of the tracks but it is obvious that they took a lot! right down to the cracks in the tar and the tar patch jobs.

 There are a bunch of optional views you can race from. such as in the driver's seat (you see "your" hands on your steering wheel)  Dashboard View, above/behind your car view, hood view and front bumper view.

Design your own paint scheme by going to the garage and selecting car and design your car.

You have the option to unlock and used many different paint schemes that are official race car numbers and designs and also some that were made exclusively for this game by the developers.

Or you can paint and add decals (from a list of premade "stickers") You can spend literally hours in this section creating your personal design. (afterwards you can take pictures of your car with the camera option)

The physics and graphics of the Nascar 2011 the game, are fantastic.

However, with that said there are a few issues I would like to see changed in either an update patch or by the next edition of the game in 2012.

The cars do not show alot of dents when wrecked, instead they have pieces missing.

Example, the front bumper and hood rip off in even the tiniest of bumps,  tap a wall going into turn 3  and just graze it and you have lost your front bumper and hood. where in real racing you might end up with a cracked front bumper and the front right corner dented in.

So it would be nice to see a more real damage set up.

in career mode you go thru all the tracks in the same order that real life NASCAR does. And you have to be in the top 12 by the end of the 26 race in order to be in the Race for the cup.

There are some pins and medals you can unlock and "win" for reaching certain "milestones" but I would like to see a few more challenges like in a few past nascar based games I've played. Where you are put in certain situations and you must succeed.

That would be a nice adition to see. But that would just be a plus.

Ok, now about the online portion of NASCAR 2011 the Game. It has potential but as is now, it's horrible. i realize that some things you can not control, like player's Internet connections.

But what I've witnessed is much more then that. and thanks to the use of headsets I can hear others seeing and experiencing the same thing I am the majority of the time.

Example, the waiting for the track to load and then to see you are all ready in a huge crash and the green flag has not even waved yet.

Or the lack of the caution flag coming out even tho 4 cars are all on their roofs after flying thru the air for bumping a "bad spot' in the track.

For the record, I have read that the developers are working on fixing the known bugs and hopefully a patch will be released shortly.

With that said, I give NASCAR 2011 the game a 7/10 rating and would bump that up to a 9/10 once the bugs are fixed for the online section of the game.

For what it's worth, I have only played NASCAR 2011 The Game on PS3

How it all performs onany other platform I do not know.