Options
Whether it was EA's intention or not, NASCAR 08 definitely plays like a simulation; this is not the title for anyone looking for arcade-style racing. The game features over 40 tunable options for your car that will keep you busy for hours on a given track. The features have been updated. Changing your gearing gives you the flexibility of fuel mileage, or horsepower. Adjusting your springs will give you more or less control of your car, making it tighter or looser. You can even run tape on your grill to get maximum performance out of your engine. The number of options may seem overwhelming at first but it is so much fun finding ways to add speed and increase car control.Score: 9 out of 10
Gameplay
The gameplay is outstanding. Setting your car up properly has a large impact on how the wheels react to your controls. The wheel allows you to hold your line nice and smooth and gives you good control when your car is set up correctly.
The frame rate is nice and smooth at 30 frames per second. EA wanted to release with 60 but felt more time with the base programming will allow for higher FPS in the future. All of the 43 cars can be seen on screen at once running nice and smooth with none of the jittery movements found in previous versions.
My gripe is the amount of damage in this game. The cars are put together as if they are pieces of plastic with even the slightest bump causing significant damage to your race car. Bump drafting at Daytona or Talladega is next to impossible without hurting your front end. Worse yet, with the amount of tape I was running, front end damage will cause your engine to over heat due to the lack of airflow. The wrecks are fantastic and realistic in this game, however EA needs to address the damage issue.
Score: 8 out of 10
Graphics
The graphics in this game are top notch for a next gen racing title. The cars are crisp and clear and the tracks are all beautifully detailed with all the appropriate signage, where applicable, and lighting. It is cool to be running at Daytona and have the shadows appear as you're racing. Really unbelievable work by the EA team.Visually the game is solid, but I would still like to see a ticker scroll the time behind the leader and running order. It would add a bit more presentation to the game.
Score: 8 out of 10
Sound
The sounds in NASCAR 08 are good, but not earth shattering. EA has added many subtle sounds to make the game feel more authentic. The engine sounds are good, and it's nice to be able to hear the fans when outside of the cockpit. The sound, however, is still hit or miss; it will glitch in some spots until you reset your car or lift off the gas and then hit it again. While this may be picky, EA really could have made this better. The lack of race announcers is disappointing. It would have been a nice touch to hear the announcer get enthused about the closing laps of a close race.Score: 7 out of 10
Online Play
Here is where the pitfalls of NASCAR 08 come into play. While EA has significantly improved the offline gameplay, it seems as if they didn't even bother testing online. With all of the graphical options on, the game is so buggy that it's virtually unplayable. Any damage to ones car leaves them practically useless and without much chance to finish the race.
Black flags were introduced this year but won't give you much leeway. It won't take much of a bang off the wall or another car to earn a black flag. If you pass below the yellow line at plate tracks, you will be forced to come to the pits. While this is a welcomed additon, the game will also randomly black flag you online as well. It occurs out of nowhere at times and is incredibly frustrating. Your best bet is to turn the black flags off and race with cautions only.Cautions are an interesting feature. It's great for if a wreck happens and the cars are returned to single file. Occasionally, however, the cars start slamming into each other and destroy your racecar. The frustrating thing is that this can happen with no fault of your own; the AI just doesn't know how drive under caution online. This bumping and banging only seems to happen if someone pits under caution.
Lag online also seems to be a bit excessive. EA expanded the field to 12 cars, but don't bother unless you have an outstanding connection. I would recommend playing with players who have good connections and don't live on the opposite coast. I contacted EA about the online issues and they said they are more than aware of the issues and that most of these online issues should be fixed within 2-4 weeks. The NASCAR 08 server is only operating at 50% of its normal capacity which is why some people are unable to log on and also explains the amount of lag that players have experienced online.
EA also mentioned that downloadable car paint schemes should be available within 2 months. That's good news, but I'll believe it when I see it. The EA locker is a great feature and allows you to upload your car setups to have your friends download them and vise versa.
Score: 4 out of 10
