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FIM Speedway
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Graphics & Sound:
These days, extreme games are starting to take the main stage, while traditional sports such as baseball, basketball, and car racing are taking a back seat. Motocross, while not necessarily a 'new' game by any standard, is one of the front-runners in the extreme game takeover. Rightly so, we have seen plenty of motocross and dirt bikes in the video game world, as developers try to give gamers the excitement and rush felt by real time racers. FIM Speedway is one of those offerings. FIM racing revolves around dirt bike racing on traditional oval tracks through ten officially licensed FIM, obstacle-driven racing tracks. With twenty-two actual racers ranging from some of the best in the United States, fans can take a shot at living the life of an FIM champion. There's no questions asked, graphically FIM Speedway cannot compete with any other dirt bike/motocross game around. This one is just too realistic. Everything from the exhaust clouds at startup to dirt flying in every direction, FIM Speedway's beauty in the mud cannot be an understatement. Riders, exquisitely modeled, exhibit emotions and trouble when falling off their bikes. A replay mode has been included to let players watch the successes, failures and follies of their characters throughout a match. Changeable angles and complete control gives players the choice to play in extreme realism or complete omnipotence. Sound effects also help to carry the imagery in FIM Speedway to success. Bikes and engines rev and growl as races occur, and even riders tend to make their discomfort obvious when crashing off the bikes. Strangely however, background music is not present, and an announcer's voice is only found at the beginning of races. Because of these minor defects, FIM Speedway feels more like sitting right behind the biker, and hurts itself for players who expect their game to play like a ESPN commentary. |
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Gameplay:
In typical motocross or racing games, the idea is to race against hordes of racers, trying to beat out fifteen to thirty racers on a single race for a series of circuits. FIM styled racing is somewhat different. Racing against four bikers at a time, racers generally compete for times against a number of different 'sets' of racers. After each set has completed, times are tallied to determine who will advance and the overall results. This is something of a breather from traditional racing games, and the arrangement can be quite inviting. For instance, if a players messes up in one race because racers are just too quick or agile, you may actually get the chance to win in another race when competing against a completely different set of racers. With added benefits, also could come some discomfort. Because most gamers may be content with the traditional gaming style, this new method comes off as odd initially and will probably take some getting accustomed too. However, I would believe that if a player were accustomed to this style of racing, it would be difficult to switch back to the traditional arrangement. Nevertheless, the rules system is pretty straightforward, and settings cannot be altered or tweaked to help or hurt a player in any way. These rules are not limited to only the layout of the race. One very unnerving issue is the fact that it is much easier to become disqualified from a race in FIM Speedway races. Anything, from falling out into the grass or running over a border line can mean disqualification. Even at the very start of the race, by running over the starting tape, you can be taken out of the race with no allowance to start the race over. However, these rules do have some positives to them. As mentioned earlier, instead of starting all over from the beginning if you lose, playing in heats lets racers move forward in a much more simplistic manner. Players can also make minor adjustments and alterations to bikes throughout heats. FIM Speedway races also tend to revolve around more simplistic arrangements. For the most part, every race in FIM Speedway centers around four laps on different oval tracks that look blurringly similar. These tracks just aren't different enough to allow players enough change and originality to play much past the first few tracks. |
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Difficulty:
Because of the harsh restrictions and rules, actually completing a race in a prominent placement could take quite some time to accomplish. Even at its easiest difficulty setting, a lot of tries will be wasted trying to control your bike enough to finish a heat without being disqualified or forced to try the track again with a different set of competitors. The AI characters also lend to making FIM Speedway a terribly difficult game to work through. Nearly flawless in their actions and movement, the AI racers make live players look dreadfully amateurish. Bumping them will likely cause you to fall while they move right along, and even if they do get shoved a little, they often react quickly and manage to regain control of their bikes well before they could come close to disqualification from a race.
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Game Mechanics:
FIM Speedway seems to be full of advantages that can quickly be seen as a drastic flaw depending on the experience and expectations of the players. When dealing with mechanics, this problem again is present. Players are allowed to customize their bikes, though the feature is not as detailed or deep as other racing titles. Customization seems to be limited mainly to the engines, chassis, and wheels by making minor tweaks that could make fairly significant improvements in the overall experience in a race. A multi-player option also is present, but is not Internet based. Instead, players are forced to huddle around a single keyboard in a four-player split screen scenario. The feeling is more prevalent of a console title, but the keyboard layout is nowhere near as compelling. Overall, FIM Speedway succeeds in its originality but fails in its differences. While these words typically can be taken as the same thing, one look at the features in FIM Speedway will show that they can be taken in completely different frames. Some people may consider some features of the game to be positive while others negative. Those same features may then again be seen in an entirely different light by a different set of gamers. Repetitiveness and unclear objectives adds to the feeling of discontent in this title. However, great imagery and a somewhat stable format gives FIM Speedway easy access. Much like the state of professional motorbike racing, FIM Speedway speedway is still struggling to make its voice heard, even after years of motocross and advances in the field of this style of gaming.
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-==Boy, GameVortex Communications AKA Kyle Prestenback |
Minimum System Requirements:
Windows(r) 98/ME/2000/XP, Pentium III 500 MHz, 128 MB RAM, 500 MB Hard Disk Space, DirectX compatible Graphics Card with 16 MB RAM, DirectX Compatible Sound Card, DirectX 8.1 or Higher, 4x CD-ROM |
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Test System:
Windows XP, Athlon XP 1800+, 1GB Ram, 64MB Gforce4 TI 4200, 16X DVD drive |
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