SRS: Street Racing Syndicate Review

Story

Street racer Eddie has been arrested for street racing, right before the finals of the LA Sanctioned Race Event and unless someone runs the race in Eddies place then his Crew is going to be down some serious money. That's where you come in, you are Eddie's replacement driver and in return you get a cut of the cash prize, which should be enough to get you started in the world of illegal street racing.

Game Type

This game is just one of the now common street racing games that are appearing all the time e.g. Juiced, Need for Speed Underground 2 and Midnight Club 3 DUB edition. This game faces some stiff competition but the question is how does it fare against them? Gentlemen, it's time to start your engines.

Cars

There are a total of 50 cars to unlock throughout the game, ranging from a Volkswagen Golf GTI 1998 to the obligatory Nissan Skyline GTR. It's a shame most of the cars are the same type with just a different year of manufacture, for instance there are 6 Skylines and 6 Toyota Celica's. There should have been more choice in cars themselves not the years that they were made. You start in a souped up car that Eddie owns and then after the first race you can choose from one of seven cars and start trying to fulfil your dreams of becoming the number one street racer.

Upgrades

The choice of upgrades makes up for the lack of different car types because you can make any car in the game unique by using the customisations. There are loads of combinations, not as many as the upcoming Juiced but there are enough here to keep even the most arduous customise fanatic at peace for a while. Everything from engines to tyres can be customised using real parts from real manufacturers such as Advanced Clutch Technology (ACT), Advanced Engine Management (AEM), Brembo, Eibach Springs, GReddy Performance Products Inc, Holley Performance Products, Python Injection, StreetGlow Inc, Venom and Velox.

Gameplay

The game starts off like in many street racing games where the first car you control is a monster of a car and sets your hopes high. Then after that race you are given a stock machine and it doesn't feel the same. Its not all about winning though because as you race you can perform drift moves that can be linked together to perform combos, which then earn you respect. Respect gets you everything that cash can't, including Girlfriends, access to better races and more importantly access to racing the best that the city has to offer. You are not on your own on the streets the law will try to bring an end to your nefarious racing meets, and if or rather when you get caught you will get a fine. So it always pays to keep some cash in your pocket and not go spending it all on your ride.

Graphics

The Graphics are flash and nothing shows this more than the first track where there are lots of bright lights, advertisements, TV screens and billboards. The reflections on the road surface are also cool, but it all seems in vain when compared to Midnight Club 3: Dub edition the graphics seem like last years, and don't seem to do the game justice. It seems that if slightly more effort was put in then this could have been a contender for the title of the best street racing game. But sadly this is not to be because the game seems slightly rushed in the graphics department, Also the influx of titles due our way soon will keenly show just how dated the graphics feel.

Artificial Intelligence

The A.I. is not as good as you would like from a racing game, the computer prefers to drive straight through you rather than go around you, Also in a crash you always seem to come off worse and the computer regularly shunts you out of the way if you are in the course line that it is following.

Girlfriends

A unique concept in this type of game is the ability to impress the ladies. Impress them enough with your driving skills and they become your girlfriend which increases your respect and gets you video rewards. You can also steal your opponents Girlfriends by showing off your road skills in front of them and putting your opponent to shame and they will ditch that loser, be careful though as your opponents can steal your girlfriends. If you have a losing streak there is a chance that your girlfriend will leave you so you have to make sure you're a winner.

Multiplayer

There are 3 different modes of multiplayer play these are Split Screen, LAN Play and Online. I will split these up and go over them separately.

Split Screen

This is the bog standard multiplayer race mode where the screen is split into two, one of the downsides to this is that you need to have two different control methods e.g. player one uses a controller and player two uses a keyboard, the other downside is that player two is sitting right next to the screen and may be in player ones way.

LAN Party

There are 6 different modes of play these are: Quick race, Collection Race, Team Collection race, Team Time race, Team Position race and Pink Slip race. The Quick race is just a simple one off face from start to finish. In both Collection and Team Collection the goal is to collect more than fifty percent of the icons that are scattered around the city before your opponents do. The goal in Team Time is to get the best possible average times. The goal of Team Position is to finish ahead of the rival team with scores being awarded on completion of the race. Now here is the best mode of all Pink Slip, In this mode you put your ride against an opponent, in a winner takes all race, Just watching your opponents face after you crush his victory and claim your prize, His lovingly cared for car that he just spent six hours designing it just right, is priceless.

Online

The game modes in online are the same for LAN Party but you play with people online. This is good but you can't beat seeing the shock of disbelief on someone's face when you win their pride and joy in a pink slip race. The only other mode is the Leaderboards that show details of the worlds rankings, and tracks the best of the best.

Longevity

This game will last you longer than most racing games IF you decide to go after everything like the Girlfriend videos as it all has to do with respect as you easily gain it by winning you can easily lose it by losing races and if that happens you will find it harder to get those girlfriend videos and get into the higher paid races.

Pros

• Handles Well

• Loads of customisation options

• Some fun Challenges

• Instant arcade action

• Decent Sized city

Cons

• Collecting Girlfriends has no meaning

• AI not up to Scratch

• Races get tedious

• No sense of speed

• Damage not realistic

• Graphics feel dated

• Better games out there

Who Would Enjoy This Game?

This game appeals to everyone from the Artist to the Boy racer, which we all have inside us that screams to be let out once in a while, This game allows you to do just that and go crazy in both areas. The game is cheap and it is fairly easy on the pc specs, so it would make a good gift for any budding street racing enthusiast, or a child during the holidays that wants a new game to play.

Other Recommendations

If you like this game you would really enjoy some of these:

• Midnight Club 3 Dub Edition

• Need for Speed Underground 2

• Juiced

• Burnout 3