Image via Natural Motion
Mobile gaming is always thought of as the younger, less capable sibling of console and PC gaming — every time there’s an app version of a big title it sort of feels like when its mum has forced the PS4 and Xbox version take their little brother with them down the park.
CSR Racing 2 could change that — just look at this video:
Yes, that really is a game that runs on Android or iOS, that looks as good as your Gran Turismos or Forzas. And that isn’t pre-rendered cut-scenes or anything, it’s actual gameplay. It’s the sequel to the original CSR Racing, which has had over 190 million users since it came out in 2012. We got to get our hands on the game at developers Natural Motion’s offices in London, and we can confirm it looks absolutely lit. We were demoing it on an iPad Pro, so it was obviously going to look it’s best — but it’s been configured to run on anything from an iPhone 5S (or equivalent Android) upwards, though obviously it won’t look quite as nice. Natural Motion claim to have brought together the greatest team of racing game developers on the planet, with people from fifteen different countries, who’ve worked on franchises like Need For Speed, DiRT, Grid and Forza Horizon, and it certainly shows on-screen.
What’s the catch? Well, the game isn’t exactly the same as Forza — you don’t actually steer the car at all, as it’s all about straight-ahead drag racing. That sounds a bit lame on paper, but there’s a reason for it. This is a mobile game after all — the developers said that the thought that people on the go didn’t have time to sit down and play several laps while waiting for the bus or sitting on the toilet. So instead you play 20 second long Fast and the Furious style street races, by revving the engine and taping to increase the gears when the meter hits an orange marker. It’s a lot of fun to play in practice.
The actual racing only takes up part of the game — the whole experience is actually more like Pokemon with supercars and the majority of your time will be spent building up your garage. This is where the graphics really shine — you can spin the car around a full 360 degrees, and even look inside the engine. Natural Motion have licensing deals with tons of car manufactures, including Ferrari, McLaren and BMW, and recreated the vehicles down the tiniest details, so it’s basically car porn for petrolheads. The game is freeminum, annoyingly, meaning that you might end up paying for some of those, but the developers promised that you can enjoy most of it without shelling out.
Those graphics tho.
CSR Racing 2 is free on Android and iOS now.
