: GT-Legends : A review of the game by Atsuko News at RaceSimulations

GT Legends a game for Historic Racing lovers.

Breathe in:
When this game was announced, some time ago, it immediately draw my attention, and I followed its progress with a lot of anticipation.
Why? well for 2 reasons in particular: first of all it is made from SimBin material, the same guys who gave us GTR, a popular high guality game published by 10Tacle Studios.
Second, and that is a more personal note, I am a historic racing fanatic and many of the cars in this game are some of my all time favourites.

Who did it:

This game is made by SimBin Development Team AB from Vara in Sweden, a global distributing company with focus of the highest simulated gaming realism for all leading gaming platforms.

Their award winning GTR – FIA GT Racing game stands as a landmark for their portfolio.

And their quest for the unequalled level of realism is reflected in GT Legends even more.

GTR2 is presently under construction.

Money:

Here in the Netherlands the PC version of GTL will set you back an amount between 40 and 50 Euro depending on where you buy it. I heard that in Britain it is offered in a bundle with GTR for 30 Pounds. Forty Euro is a common price for such games and this sim is worth it’s salt.

What do ya get:

In my opinion a top notch game with first rate real graphics, very accurate modelled cars racing on 11 well known circuits. Those 11 circuits come in 25 different shapes like a GP track and a shorter “National” variation.

What cars then??

At first I was a bit surprised to see the various cars of different classes which were bundled in this game. I thought what has a small Mini Cooper to do against the might of Detroit steel like a Ford GT40 or a Chevy Corvette?

But after taking a closer look it made some sense; still there remains some reservation regarding the choices SimBin made in mixing several classes. But okay they all are such tremendous cars, you do not want to miss any of them. Three different classes are offered:

A. TC65, tin top touring cars, varying from the small Fiat Abarth via the Lotus Cortina upto the hefty Ford Mustang and Falcon.

B. GTC65 is mainly consisting of GT cars like the tiny Lotus Elite, TVR Griffith upto the almighty Ford GT40.

C. GT-TC-76 is a mix of predominantly big touring cars like the Ford Capri, Ford RS 2000 and BMW CSL upto a sports prototype, the Porsche 906. The latter is the odd one out.

My personal choice in the mix of cars would be rather different because there is no match between an Abarth versus a big Ford Mustang or a Ford Escort against a nimble 906 Porsche.

Gameplay:

Varies from single player, single race to a cup challenge in which you can make your progress in 5 cup stages from a small touring car driver to mastering the big guns.

Garage, pit, setting up you car, it is all there.

The multiplayer function allows to compete in a LAN/IP mode or through the internet.

Instant replay is always at hand.

Physics and Sounds:

Well I am not a physicist, but I do have experience from the real world of racing, there is a Lotus Cortina in the family and I used to race my Lotus Super 7.

And when I project that on the handling of the cars in this game, I must say pretty accurate.

For those who are only used to simrace F1 cars with pseudo traction control physics and other computer intervened aids (as if they run on rails), BEWARE!!, because these cars have none whatsoever.

Also tire technology was of a complete different standard when these cars were racing real time.

You can really crank them up to the point where you feel the rear stepping out, or a mix of understeer and oversteer, but go just a small step too far and before you know it you are facing uncoming traffic.

A bit of good sim rally driving experience could be helpful.

One outstanding point in the physics is the way these cars go progressively sideways; they really slide as it should, and if you catch the first slide you will encounter an even more difficult 2nd counter slide which takes a quick reaction to control; very realistic!

Don’t try thundering around in a powerful Ford GT40 if you cannot yet master a small touring car.

My advice is: don’t brake too late and only brake in a straight line; enter a corner as an old lady and exit the corner as a young goddess.

The sounds of these cars ring like music in my ears, and again I must confess very accurate. From a screaming Ford Escort BDA, to a howling BMW CSL and the rumble in the jungle V8 big block engines.

My personal favourite is the sound of the Porsche 906, I remember the sound of this car whilst I was watching Gijs van Lennep racing this car at Zandvoort. It is the progressive hollow howl which builds up to the max as revs rise. Beautiful!!!

The good and the bad:

I may be prejudiced but I like this game very, very much. In the whole of my vast racing sim collection it shot up to a number 2 spot, right behind the ubiquitous F1C game , thereby overtaking the modding platform rFactor.

The strong points are: tremendous graphics all around, great cars, fine physics, extremely accurate sounds, good gameplay and absolute value for money, adding on cars and skins is easy to do.

On the down side: some strange mixes of cars and classes, and some great touring cars like the Renault Gordini or the Ford Anglia are surely missed. (Gordini becomes available)

Add on cars and skins as well as tracks:

They come by the truckload, I installed 90 add on cars in the last two days.

Circuits like Zandvoort, Croft, Misano and Le Mans to name a few, are there for the taking, and there is more, much more

I personally rate this game 9.5 on a scale of 10.

Breathe out:

Enjoy!!!

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