Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo

PS2 review by Philip Morton, published on Friday 17th June 2005

Of all of the gaming genres you could concoct with your Renderware chemistry set, Black Bean’s CARPG is probably one of the more unusual outcomes. Part racing game, part RPG, it somehow aims to mix a driving simulation with role playing elements to produce a unique creation; Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo.

Officially licensed by Alfa Romeo, SCAR only features cars from the Italian manufacturer. This presents a real problem for the developers; since the Alfa cars aren’t as appealing as they maybe used to be, so any game featuring them must have additional selling points to make up for the lack of vehicles. The solution? Alter the gameplay to focus on the driver instead of the cars. Certainly a good concept, but how that translates into practice is another matter.

Before you can add any RPG elements to the game, the core driving mechanics need to provide a solid base to build on. Unfortunately it’s here that SCAR’s problems begin and it isn’t the last you’ll be hearing of them. Firstly, the game lacks any sense of speed. You’ll be driving towards a corner and then brake where you judge to be appropriate, but much to your surprise, you’ll go flying into the wall beyond. Try it again, and you’ll notice that you were in fact doing 80 mph, even though it felt like 40. SCAR seems like it’s off the pace most of the time and this gives it a real disadvantage in a genre full of adrenaline fuelled racers.

Apart from being a bit on the sedate side of things, SCAR also suffers from an underdeveloped and primitive handling model. Cars roll with far too much horizontal body movement, sometimes alarmingly so, whilst the steering occasionally locks up completely. Your car never feels connected to the road and the handling seems to give the impression that you’re never fully under control of what’s happening down on the track.

However, it’s the AI that takes the coveted award for being the game’s worst element though. Your opponents rely on an odd set of rules to handle standard situations, allowing you to manipulate them as you see fit. Sometimes they brake far too early into corners, sending everyone swerving and crashing into each other, and you can instigate a pile-up at the first corner without even trying. Overtaking is another big weakness of theirs, as they’re dumbfounded by any blocking maneuvers, occasionally opting to drive off of the track instead of attempt to pass you on tarmac. The list goes on, but ultimately the AI is just another of the game’s failings, if a humourous one at that.

On a more positive note, let’s have a look at the RPG elements Black Bean have tried to integrate into SCAR’s somewhat mediocre racing mechanics. Your driver has a set of nine abilities ranging from vision and anticipation to acceleration and handling, and just like an RPG, you’ll gain points during the game to level them up. On the track, each car has two bars above it indicating the driver’s health and the car’s damage. By racing close to the car in front, you can intimidate your opponent and the former bar will begin to decrease. The very same thing can also happen to you and when it reaches zero, you are ‘knocked-out’ and the screen blurs as your driver is caught in a fit of fear. As comic as it may sound, it’s an interesting idea, although quite why you’d be intimidated by such idiotic AI is another matter.

Another addition to SCAR’s gameplay is the ‘Tiger Effect’, which gives you the ability to rewind time just like you can do in Prince of Persia. Activated by the tap of a button, it refills slowly as you race on, so you’re encouraged to use it only when needed. The Tiger Effect does help to cut down on the level of frustration though, allowing you to take another shot at a corner you’ve misjudged the braking on or where the AI has swerve madly in front of you. It doesn’t detract from the core gameplay and can prove useful when you make mistakes, so here Black Bean have got it right.

SCAR presents you with the obligatory Instant Action mode, but you’ll soon realise that almost everything is locked to begin with, so your only real option is to head into the game’s Dynasty Mode. Quite why it’s called that I don’t know, but it follows the usual structure of tours, challenges and time trials, with different events and competitions forming much of the racing. While there are cars to be won, the focus here is firmly on gaining experience and enhancing the skill of your driver. There’s a decent amount of variety to be found including an online mode, but SCAR gameplay simply doesn’t so justice to these CARPG elements.

Another real weakness that drags SCAR down are its graphics. I’m not sure whether they’re meant to be in the style of a cartoon or that they’re just bland and blocky, but either way it doesn’t look good. I’ve been playing Forza Motorsport for the last week and when you compare the Laguna Seca track in that to SCAR’s version, the latter attempt is really laughable. An unfair comparison maybe, but I’m sure that even Gran Turismo 3 looked better than this. SCAR does have some cool effects like the blurring of the screen when you crash, but this isn’t enough to enhance what are essentially the graphics of yesteryear. I’m not sure what is more complimentary; to say that SCAR looks like a bad PS2 game or a good PSOne game.

You know, I wonder whether they started out with the CARPG concept and then needed a license to make it sell, or they got the Alfa Romeo name and then built on the RPG enhancements to give it an edge on the competition. Whichever it is, the resulting game doesn’t do justice to the Italian manufacturer or the role playing concept. Squadra Corse Alfa Romeo fails to convince with a sloppy handling model, a set of dated graphics and a poor implementation of its CARPG idea. No number of game modes, tracks, cars and unlockables can right those three fundamental problems. On the Xbox it’ll be trounced by Forza, on the PS2 it’ll be run down by GT and so the PC remains its only real chance of success. Ultimately, SCAR suffers from poor execution and design, leaving it very hard to recommend even at its reduced price. Great racing games only come along once in a while and this certainly isn’t one of them.