- 159
- FaRhOuL
Hey there!
Yesterday, when I was browsing through the Android market my Xperia x10 Mini Pro (great phone đź‘Ť!) I came accross an interesting app: GT Racing Motor Academy.
At first I thought this was just an app like any other with a list of all the cars in GT5. However when I read the description,
I then quickly headed over to GtPlanet to see whether there was anything new (which there wasn't
) and to check if anyone knew about this game (which they didn't 
), after which I took my phone again and started up the GT app (named GT Racing in the menus).
The game started up with a really nice video taken from what I think is footage of GT5 (it has PS3-like graphics). After the video (which you could skip, which I did not đź‘Ť) the logo of the producer came up, not Polyphony Digital but GameLoft.
I was prompted to download the "Game Data" (150-200MB) and when the game was finally ready, I was presented with 3 empty profile slots. After making a new profile I could finally start and fill my GT hunger.
On the main menu, there are 3 race modes to choose from; Career, Arcade and Multi.
I started with Arcade Mode and selected an Audi R8 and the Black Forest track.
After a quick ride with some smooth drifting (extremely easy in this game), I headed back to the menu and into Career Mode. It was feature-filled and seemed pretty similar to the menus found in GT3 & GT4.
The game's Career Mode (more known as GT Mode / GT Life) lets you start off like is typical in the GT series, with a certain amount of money and a dealership to buy your first car from.
The dealership is well organized, with cars sorted by brand, ranging from ordinary VW cars to prestige Veyrons.
One thing about this dealership is that you require licenses to buy certain cars, much like in GT5 you require a minimum player level. To buy my first car I needed a C license, and so I headed over to the "Licenses" (license center).
The licenses are like in any GT game, only a lot shorter. The tests range from long boring straights to simple corners to finally complete laps.
The options in this game are pretty varied too. You can access them from the in-game menu or via the pause menu when you are racing. Like on the console, you have many different view angles. Some include cockpit view, bumper/hood view, distant view, ground level view...
The game provides many different riding styles too (as in controls), ranging from motion via the accelerometer to touching the screen edges.
Controls Menu:
During loading screens, a hint is displayed to help you improve upon driving as well as to learn some general tactics or known mistakes.
Another feature in this game is online play; this works via Wifi. I have yet to try this feature since no-one owns this game [yet], but it appears rather promising; that is if enough people will actually play online (who knows
).
I'm not going to spoil anymore, at least not for now; but here is a pic of "Race Center" (Events, basically).
Summary:
The driving experience was rather impressing, a lot better than what I was expecting from an android racer. I can't compare the physics to the console version of GT1 or GT2 (valid comparisons) as I've never tried them out, however I can say that the physics are better than those of NFS: Shift (for Android). One would state that you can't compare a simulator to an arcade game, but honestly no Android racer can be considered a simulator [yet] (yes, not even GT).
This game has great potential; I recommend it to any GT fan owning an Android phone. I would place it by the top racers on the Android (while I haven't tried a whole arsenal I have tried the most popular ones and those with good reviews)!
Review (Droid Gamers):
Gameplay: I was blown away by this game. By far the best racing simulation game on android. The depth of this game is what sets it head and shoulders above the rest. Having the ability to upgrade and further tweat things like your downforce and weight distribution is mind boggling for a mobile phone game. With a choice of over 100 cars and heaps of tracks, its hard to see where this game could possibly go wrong.
When entering races, you have a wide choice of directions you can go in. You could enter the GT Touring Championships with your chosen car and earn some credits, another option is to enter the Driver Contract section and race a pre-selected car against the same car or a mixed grid. There is also a choice of contructors races and special invitational events.
Controls: Usually for me, the whole tilting the phone to turn corners doesn't really work, but you'll find that this is very responsive and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. After I turned the sensitivity down, I found the steering on par with the likes of Need For Speed Shift. The overall controls for the whole game are of a very high quality and because of this you'll find its very hard to get bored of trying to throw a Bugatti Veyron through a succession of S-bends at 150 MPH.
Graphics and Sound: This game is a huge piece of eye candy for petrol heads. I found myself funneling through the car list, looking at every car within the game because i was stunned at how good they all look. All the cars in the game are stunning and one of my personal favorites is the Ferrari California, I think once you've seen that car within the game, it really sets the tone for the quality you will undoubtedly enjoy to the max. The way the menu in career mode is set out really looks droolingly good and i honestly can't find one part of this game that I think doesn't look good.
When it comes to the sound in the game, the soundtrack has an excellent selection of songs and is very high quality.Hearing the engine roar as you throw your chosen car through the corners is probably the most enjoyable part of the in game sound. Although the soundtrack is good and the car sound effects are a joy to hear, now and again I found the engine sound would drop out on certain cars and at certain speeds which is annoying but you can't expect everything to be perfect.
Overall: What can I say but wow! This game has really ticked all the boxes for my petrol fuelled addiction. Excellent selection of car, career mode with a lot of depth, old fashion drag strips and the ability to tune any car in the game really makes this stand out by miles. I really hope this pushes the development of more in depth racing sims because so far no racing game comes close to this. If you love cars as much as I do, this will fill your android racing needs and then some. No more talk, just buy.
Remember, Gameloft games are not available on the Android Market and are not compatible with every Android device. Head over to the Gameloft store to see if your device is compatible and for purchasing GT Racing Motor Academy HD.
Rating: 4.8/5
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Find out more about GT Racing: Motor Academy HD here!
Credit:
SE Xperia X10 Mini Pro - Used for First Impressions (this thread).
******* - Download Source.
DroCap - Capture Software Used On Phone.
GameLoft - Producer of Game + Some Pics.
Yesterday, when I was browsing through the Android market my Xperia x10 Mini Pro (great phone đź‘Ť!) I came accross an interesting app: GT Racing Motor Academy.
At first I thought this was just an app like any other with a list of all the cars in GT5. However when I read the description,
I thought this sounded too good to be true, and so proceeded to buy and download the app to at least give it a try.
I then quickly headed over to GtPlanet to see whether there was anything new (which there wasn't
) and to check if anyone knew about this game (which they didn't ), after which I took my phone again and started up the GT app (named GT Racing in the menus).
The game started up with a really nice video taken from what I think is footage of GT5 (it has PS3-like graphics). After the video (which you could skip, which I did not đź‘Ť) the logo of the producer came up, not Polyphony Digital but GameLoft.
I was prompted to download the "Game Data" (150-200MB) and when the game was finally ready, I was presented with 3 empty profile slots. After making a new profile I could finally start and fill my GT hunger.
On the main menu, there are 3 race modes to choose from; Career, Arcade and Multi.
I started with Arcade Mode and selected an Audi R8 and the Black Forest track.
After a quick ride with some smooth drifting (extremely easy in this game), I headed back to the menu and into Career Mode. It was feature-filled and seemed pretty similar to the menus found in GT3 & GT4.
The game's Career Mode (more known as GT Mode / GT Life) lets you start off like is typical in the GT series, with a certain amount of money and a dealership to buy your first car from.
The dealership is well organized, with cars sorted by brand, ranging from ordinary VW cars to prestige Veyrons.
One thing about this dealership is that you require licenses to buy certain cars, much like in GT5 you require a minimum player level. To buy my first car I needed a C license, and so I headed over to the "Licenses" (license center).
The licenses are like in any GT game, only a lot shorter. The tests range from long boring straights to simple corners to finally complete laps.
The options in this game are pretty varied too. You can access them from the in-game menu or via the pause menu when you are racing. Like on the console, you have many different view angles. Some include cockpit view, bumper/hood view, distant view, ground level view...
The game provides many different riding styles too (as in controls), ranging from motion via the accelerometer to touching the screen edges.
Controls Menu:
During loading screens, a hint is displayed to help you improve upon driving as well as to learn some general tactics or known mistakes.
Another feature in this game is online play; this works via Wifi. I have yet to try this feature since no-one owns this game [yet], but it appears rather promising; that is if enough people will actually play online (who knows
).
I'm not going to spoil anymore, at least not for now; but here is a pic of "Race Center" (Events, basically).
Summary:
The driving experience was rather impressing, a lot better than what I was expecting from an android racer. I can't compare the physics to the console version of GT1 or GT2 (valid comparisons) as I've never tried them out, however I can say that the physics are better than those of NFS: Shift (for Android). One would state that you can't compare a simulator to an arcade game, but honestly no Android racer can be considered a simulator [yet] (yes, not even GT).
This game has great potential; I recommend it to any GT fan owning an Android phone. I would place it by the top racers on the Android (while I haven't tried a whole arsenal I have tried the most popular ones and those with good reviews)!
Review (Droid Gamers):
When entering races, you have a wide choice of directions you can go in. You could enter the GT Touring Championships with your chosen car and earn some credits, another option is to enter the Driver Contract section and race a pre-selected car against the same car or a mixed grid. There is also a choice of contructors races and special invitational events.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Find out more about GT Racing: Motor Academy HD here!
Credit:
SE Xperia X10 Mini Pro - Used for First Impressions (this thread).
******* - Download Source.
DroCap - Capture Software Used On Phone.
GameLoft - Producer of Game + Some Pics.
Last edited:
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