Review

In Toca Race Diver 3 you get to race over 35 different ways, in about 70 different licensed vehicles, which is just a massive amount of options. You also get to choose whether or not you're going to be a mechanic extraordinaire, or simply race what you're given.

Code masters have put the emphasis on fun and playability, but haven't slipped on the more technical parts. You begin the game in the middle of a race, with pretty much no idea what you're doing and some British guy giving you driving tips, which you'd better listen to, or you'll end up in face first in a wall. It's a strange way to begin things, but it will give you an idea of what you are supposed to be doing. This is a simulation game and with every thing you can do with it, it seems like you are in control of a pit crew if you choose of a million dollar car.

Like all good driving games and Sims, you will need to develop some level of skill when it comes to choosing lines and knowing how a car actually drives so it will take some time and a lot of pit stops before you are winning the championships.

To begin with, you choose from one of three different modes. There is World Tour, Pro Career and Simulation to choose from, and each offers a different experience.

World Tour consists of working your way up through the ranks, choosing from a different array of motor sports. There are Indy cars, Super trucks, GT cars, go karts, off roaders, and much much more. Learning to drive all these various machines is a hell of a lot of fun, and the variety ensures that you don't get bored. In Pro Career, you specialize in a particular style of motor sport, which means that you have the chance to perfect your skills in your chosen vehicle. Finally Simulation mode is mostly about time trials and tinkering around with cars that you've unlocked in other modes.

Code masters have put a lot of effort into making everything seem realistic. The various vehicles are not just differently skinned versions of a few cars, each of them seems to handle differently, and they respond to environmental changes as well. Crashing will affect your vehicles performance, as will going off the track when you're not supposed to. There are a range of difficulty levels available as well, which can make things a bit more challenging if you're a battle scarred old hand at car racing games.

If you're just looking for some fun contact, there are some great crash effects to be found here, though don't expect to win after taking damage from a head on collision. You'll be leaking oil and dropping parts all the way back to the pits, which will take time off your race and will ruin your chances of winning the race.

You can play this game multiplayer and online and it's really decent. You can play with up to 12 players online, but as always, that real people and your friends aren't as good as drivers as the AI ones. You can penalize those who are just making trouble if you wish, by setting the points system to follow more or less closely to the rules.