iRacing Arcade

Completexbox80

iRacing Arcade is a game that is surprisingly easy to enjoy because it understands something that racing games sometimes forget: racing should be fun. It takes the iRacing name in a completely different direction and turns motorsport into something approachable enough for newcomers, while still retaining enough familiar racing ingredients to keep more experienced players interested. The driving is simple without feeling completely shallow, the career provides a reason to keep progressing and the Motorsport Campus gives that progression a little more personality. Fuel, tyres and damage demonstrate that there is more going on here than the colourful presentation initially suggests, while the different cars and circuits provide plenty of variety during those early hours. At the same time, I couldn’t help feeling that iRacing Arcade is holding something back. The career could make better use of its more interesting racing mechanics, the difficulty could be more consistent and the management elements could have been expanded further. There are times when the game gives you a glimpse of something deeper, only to pull back and return to its simpler arcade roots. Thankfully, the Xbox version has one particularly important trick up its sleeve: four-player local multiplayer. When you’ve got friends sitting beside you, iRacing Arcade suddenly becomes a wonderfully chaotic little racing playground. The forgiving handling becomes an advantage, the short races work brilliantly for quick competitions and the inevitable first-corner chaos can provide some of the best laughs you’ll have with the game. Ultimately, iRacing Arcade may not have quite enough depth to satisfy players looking for a serious long-term racing experience, but that isn’t really the audience it is chasing. This is a colourful, accessible and enjoyable arcade racer that wants to make motorsport fun rather than intimidating, and for the most part it succeeds. There is definitely more that could have been done, and hopefully the developers continue building on what is already a solid foundation. As it stands, though, iRacing Arcade is an enjoyable little racer that is particularly good fun when shared with friends, even if it occasionally leaves you wishing there was just a little bit more under the bonnet.

Hardcore Gamer70

iRacing Arcade may need more to make it feel complete, but what's here is worth $25.

DualShockers70

It is pretty consistently fun, but it also makes some confusing decisions between available game modes, totally omits some base level racing game features you'd expect, and has a lack of gameplay depth even compared to other arcade-style titles. It's still a good time and worth checking out (especially at the price point), but I don't think it'll become a staple of my racing game lineup.