Ferrari Challenge review

by Andrew Jeffery - 2008/07/04 10:17am

Ferrari Challenge (or Ferrari Challenge: Trofeo Pirelli if you want its full title) is the first all Ferrari based racing game to be released this generation, with previous Ferrari based games providing a solid and enjoyable racing experience such as Ferrari F355 Challenge on the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2, System 3 have had a huge task on their hands in order to create a game worthy the Ferrari name. Thankfully for us they have created one of the finest racing simulators of this generation.

Ferrari Challenge ticks the most important box in a racing simulator and provides us with a physics engine which allows all the cars to handle as you would expect rewarding and punishing players for their good and bad driving respectively. By turning off the driving aids you can really see how good the handling in this game is. The Handling system in this game is more forgiving that the ultra realistic system you find in Gran Turismo games so racing fans that are put off by the system in Gran Turismo may want to give this game a look in.



The Ai System in this game is also equally impressive, the difficulty level of this game will adjust depending on your own ability which does provide a steep difficulty curve as the first few racers are easy, however the next set of races will all of a sudden leave you really having to push your driving skills to the limit in order to finish the race in first. Another example is overtaking, if you overtake your opponents one way they remember how you did it, and next time you try to overtake them using the same technique they will try and block your path and become more aggressive to ensure that they keep their position.

Visually this game is also impressive, while it won’t wow you like Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, the textures minus one or two poor ones now and then are solid throughout and 14 of the most famous tracks from around the world including Silverstone and Monza are beautifully recreated in this game. The cars are modelled with plenty on detail and really allow you see the cars for what they are and on top of that the cars sound effects are top notch and help to create the virtual Ferrari experience. It will be a crime not to mention the rain effects in this game, they are some of the best seen this generation in a racing game and you can argue that this is when the game looks its best as you see the rain drop’s running down the windscreen and the track surface looking great in the wet.

The game also has damage implemented and while visually it does look good, it really is no more than a cosmetic inclusion, the bumpers falling off look good, however the handling of the car doesn’t really change that much as you might expect which is one of the games slight disappointments.



Like all games this game does has its downfalls however, the lack of spilt screen is a slight disappointment, however a solid but basic online system makes up for it. The way the game is structured will also provide some confusing moments for gamers, however the core game play more than makes up for this.

Like all racing simulators I recommend a force feedback steering wheel in order to get the most out of the game, however if that is not an option the dualshock 3 controller will not leave you disappointed. Ferrari fans will love the attention to detail in all the cars with the engine sounds being nearly spot on to their real life counterparts. Many will view the game as a time filler before Gran Turismo 5 is released, however Ferrari Challenge is more than worthy of the Ferrari badge and System 3 can hold their heads high knowing that they have created one of the best racers of this generation.

Final Score - 9.0 out of 10