GTR Evolution

When I saw GTR Evo at Amazon, I jumped at it thinking "Finally. An update to GTR2." I was wrong.

GTR2 is probably the best racing simulation game out there. It has all the detail and depth you might want from a simulation: the physics system is excellent, AI cars are appropriately aggressive and smart, car setup and configuration options are extremely detailed, and there is an excellent tutorial system that will educate you as a simulation racing driver. In short an excellent simulation and a must for any racing simulation fan. However, GTR2 is now several years old, so an update is possibly in order. This, unfortunately, is not it. Still, that's not all bad.

Compared to GTR2, Race and Race 07 were both good racing simulations but not designed to be as realistic as GTR2. GTR Evo is an extension of Simbin's Race and Race 07 game franchise. Like Race 07, GTR Evo takes the existing game and adds some new cars and some new tracks. (So, if you buy GTR Evo, you will have all the Race 07 game features, cars, and tracks.) Anyone who is familiar with the Race franchise will feel right at home with the menus, options, and general look and feel of the game.

The additions to this game are primarily GT-class cars such as Corvette, Aston Martin, Lister Storm, and others. (Conspicuously absent are Porsches and Ferraris, both prominent in GT racing.) The game also includes some "fantasy" cars. For example, the Audi R8 supercar is included, although Audi has not confirmed racing plans for it yet. Also there is a set of WTCC Extreme cars, that give the touring cars from Race 07 600+ horsepower, just in case you wanted to know what a 600 HP front-wheel driver was like.

The game adds some new tracks and combines them with the old ones. However, there is one addition here that, by itself, is worth the price of admission: The Nurburgring. The game includes the 'Ring in all its 16-mile, 8-minutes per lap glory. This is a challenging track; sweeping curves, fast sections that drop to slow corners, the famous Karussel; it's all here. If you think you're as good as Sabine Schmidt, "Queen of the Ring", here's your chance to find out.

Like Race, GTR Evo features car setup that, while not as detailed as GTR2, allows for customizing of your car's handling and performance characteristics. GTR Evo does carry over Race 07's great preconfigured files feature, that provide a good starting setup for each individual car for each track.

Drivability is very good and the physics engine gives good approximations of real-world driving characteristics (like front-wheel drive oversteer). Simbin has improved the sound effects, adding to the realism. The AI drivers are good if not quite as aggressive as you might like.

The traditional multiplayer, championship, and practice/time attack modes are still there, with the addition of a R-Arcade quick race mode.

Bottom line: This is a good simulation for those wanting a realistic racing sim. This is a good extension of the Race franchise and fans will not be disappointed. However, hard-core racing enthusiasts may want to stick to GTR2.

GTR Evolution will install Securom copy protection software on your system.

A description of Securom by another Amazon customer:

"The primary concerns are these:

- Securom is an undocumented program that is designed to, can, and does alter the function of a computer upon which it is installed, and it is installed without the user's knowledge, consent, nor control.
- It actively runs without notice to the user, has access to the computer kernel, utilizes the user's computer resources, the user has no control over its operation, and it transmits unknown information over the user's internet connection without the user's knowledge.
- Securom installs hidden files, folders, and undeletable registry entries upon execution, but does not fully uninstall when the associated software is uninstalled.
- Securom is not named, notated nor fully documented anywhere on packaging nor digital download description at point of purchase."


The boxed DVD contains two versions of the game, an Offline and an Online Steam version. The offline version will definitely install Securom. Even after allowing the system changes identified by antivirus software as an "invader" the game still would not launch.

I then tried the Online version. After installing the Steam software and registering the CD key, the Steam install screen said it would take 2 days+21hrs to install from the DVD, an apparent symptom of trying to verify every single file. It appears the online version was using Securom disk verification as well.

A separate issue is after manual installation with help from Steam Customer Support "updating" the game with Steam requires a 4GB download, 7 hours via a DSL connection. Apparently you have to download the full game even with the purchased DVD.

There is a number of pending class action lawsuits regarding Securom use by other game manufacturers. I have games like GTR2 that use older versions of Securom with no problems, but the newer 7.3x versions seem of particular concern. My copy of GTR Evo was using Securom v7.37.


Do some research before installing this game.

Since the game play details have already been extensively discussed in prior reviews here, let me discuss what I consider a major flaw in the implementation of GTR Evolution that not one reviewer has covered.

The game comes in four parts:

1) Steam
2) GTR Evolution Offline
3) GTR Evolution Online
4) Race 07 Dedicated Server

Installing ALL aspects of this game eats up approximately 9 GBs of hard drive space!

The Steam application is used to look for online games (not just GTR Evolution games) as well as chat with your buddies and everything else, except the kitchen sink (basically, it's another version of GameSpy bloatware). You MUST install Steam in order to play online.

GTR Offline only contains the game made for offline playing and there is no way to play online once you have loaded this version of the game. Instead, you have to exit the offline version and load in the online version of the game. This is a ridiculous implementation and the first time I have seen such a convoluted design in a game. The load times are horrendous! I have a 4 hard drive (7,200 RPM) RAID array and it still takes a fair amount of time to get the game up and running.

GTR Online is the EXACT SAME GAME as the Offline version, except it contains the Multiplayer menu option. It seems that the designers want you to think you have to install the Offline version of the game in order to play a Championship, but this simply isn't true. You can play the exact same Championship in the Online version of the game as you can with the Offline version (Championship mode has nothing to do with being online or offline). The silly thing is, if you start a Championship in the offline version, the online version can't see your saved progress (and vice-versa). So, you can actually have two entirely separate Championships going, one in the offline version of the game and the other in the online version of the game (remember, being "online" has absolutely nothing to do with the Championship mode).

Here's the really STUPID part of this whole mess... If you launch the Online version of GTR Evolution and have the audacity to actually host a game you are LOCKED INTO PLAYING THE SAME TRACK OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND... well you get the picture. There is absolutely no way to change tracks if you host this way. You need to stop your server from within the Online version of the game and start a new server with the next track you want to race -- your buddies will also have to rejoin your server. Pure genius programming. What you have to do is...

Install the Race 07 Dedicated Server application. Basically, what this does is launch a window on your desktop where you select the cars, tracks, rules for the races, etc. that you want to use on your dedicated server. This is a stand-alone application and has no relationship to actually playing the game yourself. Once you launch the Dedicated Server, which takes forever to get up and running on my well-equipped system, you then have to launch the actual GTR Evolution Online game and look for your dedicated server (either in the LAN or Internet areas of the interface -- LAN will give you a better ping to your own game, obviously). Here's where the fun really begins... The dedicated server will always start at the first track in the list of available tracks that you have set up and will go through them one by one in order. There is no way to tell the dedicated server what track to start with or to simply be able to pick a specific track you want to play at any given moment. Instead, what you have to do is either step through the tracks in order from within the Online version of the game or go back out to your desktop and step through the tracks one at a time until you get to the one you really want to play. Here's the real gotcha -- every time you change tracks from either within the online game or the dedicated interface on your desktop, the system loads each of the tracks into the game, even if you don't want to play that track -- too bad for you. So, here you and your buddies are sitting and loading maybe 5, 6, or 7 tracks in order to get to the one you actually want to play. Guess what? There's no way to go BACKWARDS in the list of tracks you have selected to be available! Let's say you have 10 tracks available and after playing the first two you want to skip to track 8 in the list. You have to skip, one track at a time, up 6 tracks to get to number 8 (all the time loading in each track as you go, which is a lengthy process). Now let's say you are on track 8 and want to play track 7, LOL, guess what again? Now you have to loop your way up to track 10 and start at track 1 until you get back to track 7. Yikes!

One more thing... once you select a specific car to race online there is no way to switch to a different car unless you exit the server and rejoin (selecting a different car at that time).

Finally, I absolutely love playing this game. It is a total blast to race your buddies online and the graphics are awesome, but the implementation of the game as a whole is one of the most retarded bits of programming I have ever seen and I've been playing computer games (console and PC) since the early 1980s. Buy this game and enjoy it, warts and all, but just be thankful it's a budget title and you didn't lay out $50 for it.

The Simbin development team are synonymous with the racing simulator genre and their latest incarnation, GTR Evolution, is a visual and aural feast of fire breathing car racing mayhem on some of the world's more challenging tracks.

Disappointingly, for fans of GTR2, Evolution is more of an add-on of Race 07 rather than an upswept stand alone version of GTR2, nevertheless there is still plenty in this package to get excited about. All of the tracks from Race 07 are present, but so are some reverse options and most excitingly, the Nurburgring. Oh, and the game advertised on Amazon is the complete version, you don't need to purchase Race 07 as well.

Visually and aurally, the game is suitably impressive. The tracks are highly detailed and with a good force feedback wheel you'll feel every bump, off-camber curve, and that rather uncomfortable feeling of: how fast can I go around this corner I'm not really familiar with on the "ring"? It's a simply superb game for this, the elevation issues of not being able to see over the brim of a hill are exciting at over 200kph, then there's the car leaving the ground. You really, really feel like you're racing.

As mentioned the cars are highly detailed. From the open wheeled ground hugging F3000's, through to the mighty GT cars, which spit and skid their way around the tracks. For most of us it's the GT cars which bring the most delight and there are several wild rides to choose from. The acceleration of the Koeniggsegg is hard to believe and the Gumpert Apollo, is simply insane. I was grinning from ear to ear like an adolescent and then I tried the Aston Martin DB9R. Quite frankly the thing sounds like the devil on steroids, it is pure car pornography. It howls and screams like a mutant wounded werewolf, nothing else on the track sounds quite like it. Banging down through the gears one feels like the sequential box is going to explode and really it is this attention to detail which separates Simbin titles from race pretenders. It's as close as you can get to real racing without really racing.

GTR Evolution is not quite perfect however, there are some minor issues which do hamper your complete enjoyment. The first of these is the total absence of some of the GT cars from the previously mentioned GTR2. The new cars are all good and well, but conspicuously absent are the Ferrari's and Porche's. Perhaps licensing issues with these manufacturers were an issue, but it is this which makes the game feel more like an add-on package: it's certainly not GTR3 regrettably.

The game menu's are somewhat arcade like and definitely the set up of the cars is less involved than GTR2. This will limit the enthusiasm of die-hard race fans. Like Race 07, the pit lane experience is less enjoyable and the clunky interface to make adjustments in the pit lane, such as repairing damage etc, is a pain in the butt. This is due to the sprint race format bias and you need to create a pit profile to allow auto repair etc. I can see where the developers where coming from, but I find it a little annoying.

The other big complaint is the amount of CPU and graphical processing this game requires. I'm running an intel 3.2ghz dual core chipset and a fairly middle of the road nvidia 7600GT card with 256 mb of DDR3 RAM on WinXP with 2gigs of RAM. This beast of a game soaks that up like a sponge with no diffculty. The ability to readjust setting to accommodate the games demands to your system is fairly coarse compared to GTR 2. Thus, when the physics of the racing are compromised, the whole driving experience is also. You can make adjustments, but there are some issues which I need to email Simbin about.

Due the sheer size of the files the game takes a while to load up: on occasion I've found it simply hangs. Adjusting settings in the set up program - a pregame menu ala GTR2 - I have found similar issues. I suspect these are problems with the copyright protection software which can leave you wondering if anything's happening as you stare at the hard drive activity light. It's annoying.

Let's return to the positives however. Okay, the game is a beast, but what a beast of considerable enjoyment when you're flying around the Nurburgring, which is quite possibly my favorite track. It's intensely entertaining and in the month I've owned the game I'm still getting to grips with it. Like the previous franchises, there is hours and hours of entertainment here.

So, a lot of the traditional GT cars are missing, but there are plenty of new cars to choose from, the Seat Cupra for example is a lot of fun and did I mention the Aston Martin? Yikes. I've thoroughly enjoyed blasting around the tracks in all manner of cars and been deeply satisfied with the realism the game offers, especially wet racing with the wiper swishing about in front of me and the tail end stepping out. Ooops! Opposite lock, left foot on the brakes ease off the throttle briefly, then ease on the power again.

Although it's not GTR3, there is plenty of entertainment and for the price point it's well worth it. No doubt patches for the game will be forth coming to iron out the kinks, for now I have no trouble reccommending the purchase, just for the Nurburgring and the devil on steroids ride that the Aston Martin brings.

As one of the reviewers pointed out, if you liked GTR2, you will surely like GTR Evolution. I have not played Race 07, however compared to GTR2, this title expands on the awesome pedigree of the series by providing the user with a different selection of cars, tracks as well as some graphics and AI upgrades. All the great physics and realism are there and this game is such a delight to play with Logitech G25 wheel. I have played all the new titles that came out in the past few years such Dirt 1 and 2, GRID, NFS Shift, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and I keep coming back to GTR2 and GTR Evolution because the depth and realism of these games remain unmatched. If you are passionate about cars and racing sims, then there are no better games than GTR Evolution and GTR2 for you to play.

GTR Evolution, version 1.1.2
Note, if you install the On-Line version of GTR Evolution, Steam will update GTR Evolution to version 1.1.4, I opted to install the off-line version because I hate Steam.
I evaluated GTR Evo on a PC equipped with a P4 3.0 GHz w/ 2GB of RAM and a Radeon x1950 GT PCI, so you could say it is a very dated system. I am also using the Logitech Driving Force GT wheel/pedal set which was designed for the Playstation 3.
First off, the DVD that Amazon sells contains both Race 07 WTCC and GTR Evolution. GTR Evolution is just an expansion pack of Race 07 that includes some updates, new tracks, and new cars. Most noticeable is that the handbrake is now disabled for all vehicles. One of the most anticipate tracks is added to GTR Evolution: Nordschleife, the "Green Hell." The track is rendered beautifully but the first carousel still features a "bug" that I have seen in many of the user-made Nordschleife mods. If you hit the curb or apron, your car either comes to an immediate halt or your car flips over. This defies most laws of gravity and physics so it appears to be a bug. The force feedback is about the same as Race 07 and GTR2, but the graphics engine remains about the same as Race 07. You will want at LEAST 1.5 GB of RAM to race on Nordschleife simply because it is a HUGE map.
The new cars are found mainly in the GT classes, and you also get a few production cars like the Audi R8. The Audi R8 road car is all-wheel drive, which is a first considering GTR2 cars were all rear-wheel drive and Race 07 WTCC added front-wheel drive cars to the mix.
There are plenty of bugs possibly due to a rushed release. The cones at Nordschleife right before the finish/start line are merely for decoration since you can't push them aside. The Audi R8 lights were very poorly rendered. They only show a dim glow and aren't usable as brake/marker lights when there is rain or if you're in the shadows. The Viper SRT-10 cockpit is unusable due to a sunshade that blocks all of your view. There is a 7000 RPM rev limiter in the SRT-10 but the tachometer HUD shows a7500-8000+ RPM redline. The C6R Corvette headlight doesn't really shine until you're facing the headlamp directly. To me, the Audi R8 feels more like a RWD car with excessive understeer. The Esc-menu interface also needs to be re-vamped to allow the arrow keys on the keyboard to select the different options, although this is reported to be fixed with 1.1.4.
GTR Evolution still does not have night racing or functional headlamps. GTR2 did offer night racing and the headlamps did serve a purpose.
Fifth Gear fans: Good news, Tiff Needell is one of the drivers of the GT Pro cars, although you don't really see him.
Top Gear fans: If you like Top Gear, you can find a user-made track of Dunsfold Aerodrome, otherwise known as the Top Gear test track, which will work with GTR Evolution or Race 07.
Pros: Expands Race 07 to include new cars, and the Audi R8 production car.

Cons: Many bugs or glitches, desperately in need of a patch.

Overall: If you enjoyed Race 07, you will tend to like GTR Evolution. I give GTR Evo 4/5 stars.

The title of this review is not an understatement.

I got this game in October, 2008 and became completely immersed in it. I'm going to tell you up front that you cannot effectively play this game without a Racing wheel/pedal set. I played it with an XBox 360 controller for two months and as soon as I got a Thrustmaster Universal Challenge Racing Wheel/Pedal set, I learned the true meaning of car control. There are things you can do with a wheel that you just can't do with any other controller when it comes to racing games. Trust me. You must get a wheel to play this game. I'd suggest the Thrustmaster Universal Challenge wheel (which is what I am using at the time of this review), but the upshift and downshift levers are plastic and will brake like mine did (I had to remap up and down shifts to buttons on the wheel, which wasn't a problem)and this wheel measures 8 inches compared to the Logitech MoMo. Haven't had it long so I can't tell you how it holds up over the long haul, but since I practice daily and race weekly, I may find out sooner than I think. You want the MoMo for a variety of reasons, not the least of which are that it has steel paddle shifters and a sequential gear shift. But back to the point of this game.

The Graphics are amazing and the realism is astounding. You're going to want to download and install STEAM to get the full use of this game when you go racing online. Single player is fun but the REAL fun is when you join a racing league and race against other racers online. That is where this game shines and kills other Racing SIMS. This game's only competition comes from a product made by the same guys. That product is GTR2.

I love love love this game. I had trouble getting the force feedback to feel right to me and had to manually edit the configuration file the game uses to get it right. This was a major pain. Once I tweaked the force feedback to where I was happy, the game was great. There are areas that could use some improvement. The AI could be better and so could the graphics. But overall this is the game I keep coming back to. I could be playing Dirt2, GRID, rfactor, iracing, or need for speed(lol yeah right). GTR Evolution just seems to be the game that keeps me coming back for more. I think its the combination of really great tracks and cars. Sometimes I'm just in the mood to take a BMW down Nordschiefe, and GTR is the game to do it in. If you like racing sims, this is a must have. You won't regret it. If you like need for speed, this probably isn't for you, but try it anyway.

Ainda não consegui instalar, pois necessito de up grade no meu equipamento, pois só roda com placa de vídeo de no mínimo 256 megabites. Já experimentei o jogo em outras máquinas mais poderosas e é excelente, entrega dentro do prazo. Recomendo.

Great fun. Game has frozen a couple of times. Could do with some offroad tracks.