CART World Series:

The first time I popped in CART World Series, and sat through the intro, I
was pretty excited. But then I ran a race and was immediately disappointed.
The benchmark for this game, unfortunately for Sony, is NASCAR 98 from EA
and Formula One Championship Edition from Psygnosis. Both of these games do
a much better job of giving the gamer the sensation of speeding down the
track. My biggest beef with CART World Series is that I can never tell how
fast I am going. There is no visible difference between 30 mph and 180 mph.
The entire gaming experience feels like you are racing on a track coated in
glue.

The graphics are pretty good, though not up to par with F1CE, they are just
as good or better than NASCAR 98. As far as the gaming experience goes, CART
World Series is a very difficult game. The controls are very touchy (I'm
using the NegCon) and it is difficult to pass. There are 10 tracks
available, about half ovals and half street courses. I must admit that it is
a novelty to run Laguna Seca and ace the 'cork screw'. Vancouver is almost
impossible. At times when you are forced to slow down to an excruciatingly
slow pace to make some of the corners on this track, you can't help but turn
off the deck and pop in F1CE and run Monaco. Much more rewarding.

You can choose between lots of different cars and ten different tracks.
There are three levels of difficulty in both Arcade Mode and Simulation
Mode. Several different camera views, including 'cockpit' mode. There is a
reply of the race, but it is obscured by placing information, and there is
no control over replay cameras and camera angles.

The place that CART outshines F1CE is in the two player split screen mode,
primarily because you can run with computer car competition. In addition
there is support for linking, F1CE does NOT let you do this. The graphics
'degradation' on two-player split screen is lesser on CART then on F1CE.

The jury is still out on this game for me. I oscillate between hating it and
respecting it. One thing is for sure; I don't love it yet. One of my
PlayStation buddies really hates it…he won't even play it. I will keep
playing it before I make my own mind up.

Bottom Line: Good graphics, game play is suspect. Better two-player mode
that F1CE. Overall F1CE is a better game. Unless you are a die-hard CART
enthusiast, F1CE and NASCAR 98 get the nod over this one for must have
games. If you can afford get all three, get this game last. The door is open
for someone to come out with a better CART sim.

********************************

Follow up after a couple of weeks of playing:

Well, I decided to keep this game after all.  I almost traded it back in on
Andretti Racing, which is what I traded in when I bought CART.  I still feel
like the frame rate is wierd, and the sensation of speed is
non-existant...but let me qualify that:  it is most noticeable on road
courses.  ESPECIALLY when taking slow corners and then speeding up.  I am
using the NegCon.  Boy is it easy to lose your rear end on this game!  I'm
not very good at this game yet, so maybe I sill need to acclimate to the
controls.  But as a rule, the controls are too touchy, as compared to F1,
NASCAR 98 and Andretti Racing.

The game is growing on me though...although I must say that the game play on
the open wheel road courses on Andretti Racing is better!!  Luke warm, but
getting warmer, is my final feeling on this game.  In my opinion, there is
no way this game even holds a candle to either F1 or F1CE.  Not by a long
shot.

I'm going to keep this game, which is a lot more that I could say as little
as three days ago!

P.S. My PlayStation buddy will at least play it now...but he won't buy
another copy for linking.