Think you're pretty handy behind the wheel do you? Managed to wrestle a 200mph Ferrari Enzo around the narrow streets of London in PGR4? Caught a powerslide in a Le Mans racer in Forza? All very impressive, but try those showboating moves in a real vehicle and you'd end up upside down, up a tree and quite possibly on fire.
That's the point Simbin is trying to, quite literally, drive home with Race Pro. All of the games car handle realistically, meaning it's not about powerslides, but precision.
That's not to say it isn't fun, though. We've spent some quality time haring around Race Pro's selection of 13 tracks in some ludicrously powerful, race-specced machinery and it's just as satisfying, if not more so, to scythe through a corner at the maximum speed as it is to perform a tyre roasting drift.
Of course we had to swallow our pride and plump for the Novice setting at first, which manages your traction, increases the effectiveness of the braking and keeps your car stable.
As a starting point it's a great way to ease you into the realistic vehicle dynamics, and the control system has been noticeably tightened up since we last previewed the game. Once you're feeling a little more like Michael Schumacher than Michael Mouse, you can progressively switch off the aids for the terrifying full-fat experience.
Surprisingly, professional mode actually works fine on the pad, something that wasn't the case last time, but serious petrol-heads want to use the Wireless Racing Wheel.
Our only concern with Race Pro currently is that the career mode may be a little too sterile. It's heavily text based, unlike Race Driver: GRID's sumptuous garage-level campaign, and it just feels a little like uncomfortably bolting races together rather than true driver progression.
Still, with the option to run a straight championship for each vehicle class, the option for realistic coherency between races is there as well.
We're pretty excited about Race Pro, it's been a while since the last simulation-based racer and, despite occasionally gritty graphics, the sensation of speed and beautifully layered handling model make for an extremely rewarding experience. Add 15 other cars to the mix, or 11 Xbox Live players, and you should have some of the most intense on-track battles around.
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