Here is my little mini review, after completing the National A license ...
The Pros:
1. The physics engine is a big step up. Love the way the cars handle now. The Miata drives like a Miata. The S2000 drives like an S2000. Very happy.
2. As mentioned before, I'm a fan of the tire squeal. I first noticed it in the Fit. It appears that depending on your slip angle you hear a different squeal.
3. Progression in A-Spec seems more linear and follows a pattern that seems more natural.
4. The AI gets progressively stronger. My favorite race so far was Race Mission B5 - GTR Battle at Silverstone. In this one vs. one battle, they really show what the AI can do when it wants to race hard.
5. Tuning is way more involved than it used to be. I tuned a car as best I could for a smooth track and it was fast. But on a mountain pass, that same tune was almost useless. Tuning is going to be way more involved from here on out. I'm excited about this.
The Cons:
1. The first half of the races were not much of a challenge. I golded all but two without plugging in my wheel and without trying too hard. The only two I got a silver on were due to massive mistakes on my part. I guess it has to be that way. But I'd love to see an option to make them harder on purpose.
2. I saw a handful of bugs in the game. Should be ironed out soon, I guess.
3. None of the online options I was hoping for showed up.
4. As was already mentioned, the game is basically the GT5 we should have gotten originally.
5. I've experienced some weirdness in the mountain roads, especially on steep downhill sections. At first, I was just taking them too fast. But later I tried it at reasonable speeds and the backend would still come around on me without touching brakes or gas. Very weird.
6. The online option for one make races ... way too few cars listed. I don't get why they don't offer everything in the dealer. Would make up for the lack of real online controls.
7. Clutch is still broken.
MX
