Scanning through the manual and the box while Crash Time was installing didn't fill me with a lot of hope. Any game where jumping over trucks is listed on the back as a 'feature' really worries me. Combined with the random shots of explosions and police cars, the box does a great job of making Crash Time look like a budget Eighties action film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. In all honesty, I wouldn't give it a second glance in a game store.

That is, of course, if it's going to be that easy to find on the shelf for very long; attempting to search for resources and background on Crash Time is near impossible and the amount of information on the game is nowhere near as in-depth as you can normally expect from a new PC title, especially in a month when the industry is recovering for Christmas and new releases are slow. From what little information I did gather, this game is based on a German television series and film called "Alarm for Cobra 11". It's also not the first game based on the series; there were at least two similar titles released on the PS2 and many more on older systems.

How strongly or loosely Crash Time follows the plot of its licence I'm not at liberty to say. Neither the manual nor the game itself shows any signs of being connected to a show. If there were references to any German police movies, they're gone now. Crash Time is split into two major modes of the play; the story based 'Case' mode and a more recognisable single race. The case mode puts you in the shoes of officers from an elite police unit as they attempt to solve various crimes, ranging from murder to espionage and kidnapping.

There isn't a lot more I can honestly tell you about the plot. Each case has a varying number of separate missions. At the start of each mission, you'll get a panning shot of a part of the map, and everything explained to you in text, with some rather odd sounding European accents to go with it. This dialogue lasts just about long enough to justify exactly why you're about to go shooting off in your car, and then you're left to fend for yourself. It's quickly evident that you will never see any shots of people in the game. Even when you've apprehended as a suspect, the game will pan out and switch back to a picture of some trees or an autobahn, and tell you what happened rather than show you.

This might all sound really negative, but it's unfair to focus too much on plot in a racing game. Most racing games have equally if not more stupid plots behind them and although some have visual footage to back it up, it's no more relevant to the gameplay. Crash Time has five basic missions types - "Go really fast", "Follow that guy", "Smash into that guy", "Race around a track" and "Jump over that". It's all very basic and quite samey, but at the same time it's actually amazingly good fun!

Crash Time isn't exactly the most realistic racer in the world. The physics in the game are more Burnout than Forza and hitting a car head on at full speed will usually send both vehicles flying up through the air, spinning wildly. Your car will happily turn corners with near perfect handling at speeds of upwards of 100mph. While it might alienate the realism crowd, it does make for a game that's very easy to get into and a joy to play. The controls are responsive and totally configurable. It's perfectly playable with the keyboard, but I decided to play with my 360 controller, which worked without any configuration at all.

There are plenty of different cars in the game, although nearly all of them need to be unlocked. The arcade feel means there isn't a lot of variety in how they drive, but vehicles like the scout and a tank/APC that simply rolls over traffic add a little bit of variety to the collection. The real star of the game however is the environment. Both of the two main stages you play in are huge, realistic looking areas backed up by sharp graphics and an eye for detail. All the traffic moves realistically and there's been no lazy development here; everything looks unique and it feels like there's been a real effort to make everything have its place, rather than falling into the trap of throwing down scenery objects for the hell of it.

The textures don't always stand up to close scrutiny and the game is split into two large locations rather than one main map, which is a real shame. The only thing that game world is really missing though is the lack of pedestrians. In the Autobahn section of the map it isn't noticeable, but driving through a vibrant but deserted city is a little disappointing. Still, it's far superior to the linear, repetitive circuits that are common to PC racing games. With the settings up high and motion blurring turned on, Crash Time has few rivals in terms of graphical beauty. The sound - a mix of generic car noises and rock/techno action music - can't really compare, although the game has the option of importing your own MP3s.

There are some niggling problems though. Driving through fields has an odd clipping effect that makes the car look like it's sinking and having to play through all the missions on hard to unlock all of the cars and tracks seems a little harsh. The biggest disappointment is the lack of any real multiplayer options; split screen works well and is very welcome, but with games like Test Drive Unlimited really showing us how well multiplayer driving games can work, it seems a little short sighted you can't take the game online.

You can pick up Crash Time for under £15 on the Internet and at that price it's impossible not to recommend it. It's not going to hold your interest for very long and it's unlikely it will ever make anyone's Top Ten list. However, it's a great little diversion while we wait for some of the year's bigger releases, and as far as arcade racing on the PC goes, it's definitely one of the best.

Reviewed by Rob Clarke for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).