NASCAR 08 EA Sports Review

Yes, Nascar 08 looks very similar to 07 (has motion blur effect,etc.), and they took away lots of stuff (like the various Dodge Challenge scenarios), but this game has added a lot, as well.

This is the first time I didn't have to use any driving Assists (except when I used the Limited assist, for starts and restarts ONLY with the Nextel Cup cars) to keep up with the Cpu cars, and also still have fun racing against them. It's simply one of the easiest to drive, racing games I've ever played. Perhaps TOO easy, for any of you that did well driving without any assists, in the older Nascar games.

Although, the Mid-Race saves work very well, they are NOT perfect saves. They are NOT good at accurately saving some stats, like #laps lead, best laps, and when drivers are knocked out of race, they are back in (when you reload the save), just a few laps down etc. No big deal, but if you want all your race stats saved accurately, don't use the mid-race saves.

In addition, the 2 player split-screen mode (not available in PS3 version), lets you race against 17 cpu cars (so, there are a total of 19 cars on track), but if you don't use the Legend difficulty, they let player #1 catch up too easily. There's no rearview mirror for this mode, but you can look back with the right stick.

Tired of always waiting for your spotter to tell you if you're in the clear? Well, now you can use the Right joystick to look to your left or right or even behind you to see for yourself. It can be a little disorienting at first, but it's so handy!

Another great thing in 08, is the ticker at the top that shows the race positions of the drivers (lap times, etc.). If you have trouble reading it while racing, you can shut it off or just pause the game, and it will still keep scrolling. You can even move it left or right (while in pause only) with the d-pad or left stick.

The new 08 feature, that lets you instantly rewind up to 8 seconds (good driving earns the time) within a current race (just press select button, when symbol appears), so that you can avoid a crash etc., sounds good in theory, but in practice, it usually doesn't help much. Simply, you often are only given 3 or 4 seconds instant rewind time, which usually isn't enough time to avoid anything.

However, it has helped me out on occasion (if I have 6-8 seconds available), but if you use it, the game won't count your accomplishments towards getting Medallions (192 of them) that help you unlock chase plates (53-no paint schemes),etc. So, at the beginning, at least, I think it's best to just use the mid-race save from time to time, and then if you crash, you can just quit and then reload (oh, the joys of cheating).