CODEMASTERS REVEALS ITS MOST
AMBITIOUS RACING GAME TO DATE RACE DRIVER 2: THE ULTIMATE RACING SIMULATOR
Featuring the world’s most complete
motor sports experience, Race Driver 2 to ship Spring 2004 for Xbox and PC
New York, NY – December 11, 2003 –
Codemasters, a global interactive entertainment company renowned for its
portfolio of motor sport video games, announced today its most ambitious motor
sports project to date, Race Driver 2: The Ultimate Racing Simulator. Slated for
release in Spring 2004 for the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft and the
PC, Race Driver 2 will provide gamers the most diverse and thrilling range of
motor sports ever seen in one game. Designed as the definitive racing
experience, the game will feature complete head to head Xbox Live and PC online
functionality.
“The depth of Race Driver 2 is
unparalleled,” said Steven Lux, senior vice president of U.S. marketing for
Codemasters. “The game features a completely new physics model, deformation
system, and graphics engine. Couple these with Xbox Live, and Race Driver 2
delivers the ultimate online racing experience.”
Race Driver 2 boasts an incredible
variety of motor sports, including Street Racing, Stock Car, Open Wheel Grand
Prix, Truck Racing, GT Sports Car Racing, Rally, DTM, V8 Supercars, Global GT
Lights, Rally Cross, Formula Ford, Classic Car Racing, and more.
“Visually, Race Driver 2 is going to
be stunning,” said Gavin Raeburn, head of Codemasters’ racing development
studio. “Our new rendering engine features complex dynamic lighting, perspective
mapped shadows, multipass textures, procedural standing grass, and a host of
post production techniques including true motion blur, depth of field, and iris
effects – all at a rock steady 60fps.
“Race Driver 2 also features our
most advanced and intuitive handling model to date,” continued Raeburn. “Every
physical nuance of each vehicle type is accurately modeled, from tire
deformation when cornering to the centrifugal engine forces and complex
aerodynamics.”
Race Driver 2 will feature
officially licensed tracks and championships as well as some of the world’s most
powerful racing and street cars, including Ford (Mustang Cobra R, Ford GT, GT90,
Falcon BA, F150 Lightning Pickup), Aston Martin (V12 Vanquish, DB7, DB5), Jaguar
(XJ220, XKR, and E-Type), Mitsubishi (3000 GT, EVO 7), Subaru Impreza WRX, ABT-Audi
TT-R, AMG-Mercedes CLK, and more.
The game will feature 52 racing
circuits including Texas Motor Speedway, Pikes Peak International Raceway,
Laguna Seca, Surfers Paradise, Euro Speedway, Donington Park, Kyalami, and Road
America.
Race Driver 2 will continue the
pioneering use of cinematic plot in racing games with the narrative being played
out completely from the first person perspective. The player will see what the
lead character sees, and will be able to create his own history. A “reality
style” eliminator story will capture the competitive intrigue of 12 drivers
battling their way to win the ultimate racing experience: a drive as a Masters
Grand Prix professional. Visually, the cinematics will triple the detail of Pro
Race Driver with characters now created from over 12,000 polygons.
Race Driver 2’s core development
team began work on the title in summer 2002 and now includes over 40 of
Codemasters’ finest motor sport game engineers. Gamers can register for
development and game updates online at
www.codemasters.com .
ABOUT CODEMASTERS Codemasters is a
global interactive entertainment company with offices in New York City, England,
France, Spain, Holland and Germany. Founded in the UK in 1986, Codemasters
publishes award-winning software for the PC, next generation video game consoles
and online gaming. Codemasters develops original titles such as Operation
Flashpoint (PC Game-of-the-year) and Pro Race Driver, as well as games based on
top licensed properties including American Idol, MTV Music Generator and IndyCar
Series. Additional information about Codemasters and its products can be found
at www.codemasters.com .
ABOUT Xbox Live
Xbox Live, which launched in the
United States Nov. 15, 2002, allows gamers to play multiplayer Xbox games with
other gamers everywhere via a broadband connection. With a built-in hard drive
and Ethernet port, the Xbox console is the only video game system built from the
ground up for online gaming, negating the need to buy additional, costly
peripherals or upgrades. Xbox Live enables gamers to easily find their friends;
talk to other players during game play through the Xbox Communicator headset;
download current statistics, new levels and characters to their Xbox hard drive;
and play online—all exclusive features to Xbox Live.
Xbox is a registered trademark of
Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
