Speed Online Game Overview
On July 1, 2009, Nival Network announced the start of open beta testing for the racing simulator "Speed Online". To start playing, you only need to register for free on the portal and download the client, after which you can join thousands of other racers. That's exactly what I did yesterday. Before starting the game, I logged onto the portal and briefly read about what the game is about.
"Speed Online" features three game modes, over a dozen cars, an advanced tuning system, as well as a variety of tracks. Dynamic competitions on city streets and racetracks, a battle for supremacy, and adrenaline.
The game includes three different modes:
SIMULATOR
A race for serious players who prefer realistic driving and complex vehicle physics. In this mode, cars can crash, and there’s a good chance you won’t make it to the finish line. Races take place on both closed circuits and open tracks.
The main goal for the player: to cross the finish line first.
ARCADE
This is a simplified mode for beginners. Here, you’ll find it easier to control the car, as road conditions and vehicle state do not affect handling. In this mode, you can easily recover from a skid or brake sharply. You don’t have to consider a large number of factors affecting acceleration, braking, or tight turns compared to the Simulator mode.
The main goal for the player: to cross the finish line first.
BATTLE
The main task for the player is to reach the finish line first, using any means available on the track, such as knocking over barrels and poles, as well as cutting off and crashing into opponents. But the main feature of the mode is the use of various road curses that will slow down or even stop your opponents. Lightning, oil puddles, exploding gas tanks, and other harmful items can be used after purchasing and placing them in your car's trunk. The player's car trunk has two sections: for passive and active items. Active items are divided into three types: attack, defense, and traps. To use harmful curses from the trunk during the race, you should use hotkeys. Additionally, there are triggers scattered across the track that activate the active curses in the player’s trunk for a limited time.
Triggers come in three colors:
red – activates attacking items;
yellow – activates trap items;
blue – activates defensive items;
The main goal for the player: using active items from the trunk, as well as track items, the player must cross the finish line first.
CARS
Players are offered a wide selection of serial models from various brands – from modest sedans to sports cars. Cars are acquired and tuned using in-game currency and points.
In the garage, you can modify and adjust the car for specific modes and change its appearance. Don’t forget to check the in-game store – where you will always find a wide selection of tuning parts. In fact, there aren’t that many cars; here’s the list available in the library:
HEXAN GT
MAZDA MX-5 MIATA
NISSAN FAIRLADY Z
COBRA COUPE
INVICTUS CORALL SPIRE GTI
CORUS S3 1.3 VVT-S
KAWANA K-660
LION EXECUTIVE SEDAN
MIYATO WIZZ 1.5 TSPORT
QUADRO SF-6
MAZDA RX-7 GT-LIMITED
NISSAN SILVIA KS S14
MAZDA XEDOS 6 V6
TRACKS
Races take place on tracks located in various parts of the world. The game features several dozen tracks. A variety of rural landscapes and city streets will keep things interesting, as races occur any time of the year, day and night.
Be careful! There are many obstacles on the tracks in the form of poles, flowerbeds, signs, tables, and much more, and many of them cannot be hit.
Tokyo – tracks in a large city with many streets and turns.
San Francisco Bay – tracks in the most prestigious area of San Francisco.
California Canal – the racing tracks in California are waiting for the roar of car engines.
California. Downtown – speed through the heart of a giant metropolis.
Construction Site – numerous construction vehicles and obstacles.
TUNING
Any available car can be tuned. The in-game store always has a wide selection of body kits, vinyls, and styling to give your car an exclusive look. Numerous upgrades to the engine, suspension, and transmission will give you a tangible advantage over competitors.
There are various bonuses that can be placed in the car trunk. Don't forget about the girls, who contribute not only to the aesthetic look. Their presence in the car adds special bonuses.
They wrote beautifully on their website, let's see what it's really like.
We downloaded the installer, quite a nice icon.
Unpacking
installer window
Installation completed, launching the game. First, it updates the files.
Then we click "Start Game"
Loading window
Next, we are prompted to enter the login and password (we registered the account on the site).
Music started playing, it said it was Face 2 face, but in reality, it's some kind of eastern clubber nonsense. Take a look at the girl ;-) how do you like her? I found her completely unappealing.
Next, we are asked to choose a server, only the first "No Traffic" is available. I understand the others will open later when I gain some ranking.
Since I passed the initial stages, I immediately appear in the garage. I was informed of an error and told that the game would shut down in 20 seconds.
Not wasting time, I launch it again. In the screenshots, you can see the maximum graphics settings; at the first launch, minimum settings were set, and some parameters cannot be changed without restarting the game. It was not possible to select the screen resolution right away – a glitch. So, we load for the second time. We see a new girl, everything as if by order; she’s better than the previous one.
Garage
A rather colorful interface.
My car
Available competitions, separately for each mode
Chat
Game menu
My statistics
Control buttons
Game modes
Next of interest - The Store.
To avoid overloading the article graphically and not to describe each mode in detail, I will participate in a competition and take screenshots to show the gameplay.
Next, loading the map, the game crashed again, not the first time. I log in once more (I blame all the glitches on my Win 7; the developers mentioned possible problems with Vista).
It’s important to note that during loading there’s a store window where they offer to buy everything that will help us in the race, including a mini-map, nitro booster, and turn indicators, as well as much more. You can buy everything, but if you don’t buy anything, it will be difficult to play. Last night, I did 5 test runs, finished third in the first, and first and second in the rest. I wasn’t trying too hard, plus the game was noticeably lagging; apparently, I should avoid playing on maximum settings. I was loaded first but had to wait for the others.
Then there was the standard presentation of your car from all sides.
So, the race begins, in first-person mode. I didn’t like racing like that, so I switched right away to third-person view.
When pressing the PrintScreen button, the game lagged for a second, making it uncomfortable to play. I attempted to hit poles and trees (even the tiniest trees are indestructible), but I couldn't do it; the damage system seems mediocre, as things that should destroy the car don’t, and I couldn't flip over. In the end, I finished last.
That concludes my brief review. One cannot judge the game too harshly; this is just a beta, and we are all recent participants in a closed beta. To an ordinary user, the game seemed overly bright and gaudy, which is a downside. At first, it was a bit difficult to understand what to click, how, and where. I also wasn’t clear if I needed to buy anything in the store, or if I could play without it; I would prefer to try everything once before deciding whether it's necessary. I recommend everyone to try this game and make their own conclusions. I think the game is a direct competitor to the yet-to-be-released NFS World Online and has all chances to become better; beta testers will help.