RACE 07

I've spent time with enough PC racing sims to know that RACE 07 has always punched above its era. Released in 2007, it landed with an 83 on Metacritic and a 90% positive rating across over 1,200 Steam reviews, which for a niche touring car sim is genuinely impressive. The core pitch is straightforward: officially licensed WTCC content, the full 2006 and 2007 FIA World Touring Car Championship seasons, and a roster that stretches well beyond touring cars into Formula 3000, Formula BMW, Radical SR3 and SR4 sportscars, Caterhams, and Minis, all on 32 real-life circuits. That is a serious breadth of content for a single base game. The physics engine is where RACE 07 still earns its keep. Tyre wear is modelled properly, meaning you feel rear traction degrading in real time when you push too hard mid-corner. Mechanical damage at higher difficulty settings affects actual performance, so racing clean is not optional. The car setup menus go deep, covering tyre pressure, ride height, and individual wheel geometry, which will either delight you or quietly terrify you depending on your background. Here is the good news for newcomers: the assist stack is generous. ABS, traction control, and stability aids can all be toggled on, and the novice damage setting limits crash severity to roughly a third of the real-world model. The Minis in particular are noticeably more forgiving to drive than the WTCC touring cars, making them a smart entry point for players still finding their feet. Gamespot noted that the Minis are "more forgiving than other vehicles, which makes them attractive to novice drivers." Hardware-wise, a wheel setup will transform this game. The force feedback communicates weight transfer and tyre slip in a way that a gamepad simply cannot replicate at the same fidelity. Gamepad players are not locked out, but be aware of a longstanding quirk that made skipping pre-race cutscenes awkward on controller inputs. On the visual front, nobody has ever argued this game looks spectacular. The scenery textures read as dated even by 2007 standards, and the trackside details have not aged gracefully. The car models themselves hold up better, and the cockpit views are genuinely involving, but if visual fidelity is your priority, this is not the right stop. Here is the thing that matters most right now for anyone considering a purchase: the official online multiplayer lobby server is gone. It was shut down, and while dedicated community members have found workarounds using ZeroTier or Radmin VPN to replicate LAN-style sessions, that requires everyone in your group to set it up ahead of time. LAN play does work well, and the community has kept organised league racing alive through these workarounds, but walking into casual public online lobbies the way you once could is no longer an option. Solo play and offline championships remain fully intact, and the customisable championship mode lets you mix any car class across the full track list, which keeps the solo experience surprisingly varied. If you are a racing sim fan with a wheel on the desk and a taste for WTCC history, RACE 07 still delivers a technically rich experience at a price that reflects its age. If you were hoping to jump into casual online races with strangers on a Wednesday night, that ship sailed in 2014. Four friends with a LAN setup and a willingness to spend ten minutes on a VPN client, though? That still holds up as a quality evening.

Riley · Scout Team

Sports & racing

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