Recently there has been a veritable cornucopia of racing games, all claiming to be the best and most true-to-life. Colin McRae: DiRT put in a good effort with its down and dirty rally shenanigans, Forza Motorsport 2 delivered top-notch visuals and excellent gameplay by the bucketload, and now a new contender steps onto the track, dons its leathers and revs the back end off your gaming system. Is it in pole position or does it stall at the start? Will it take the chequered flag or spin off into oblivion? How many more motor-racing based questions can I think of? Well, none actually - so onto the review!

Perhaps rather obviously, Race 07 is the official game of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, so it promises to feature all the action and speed of the event. Boasting over 300 cars in nine classes, including Caterhams, Formula BMW, Touring Car and Classic WTCC from '87, as well as 32 real-life tracks, Race 07 seems to know what race fans want. And Simbin, Race 07's developer, seem to have the credentials to attempt to capture the excitement of the WTCC, which their previous titles of RACE, GTR and GTR 2 were also based upon.

Before we start though, I have to point out how disappointed I was when I found out that I had to install Steam to play Race 07. Steam is a games browser that is supposed to help gamers manage their games, but seasoned veterans will know just why I was so averse to its use - since its launch, Steam has been fraught with bugs. It's not fun to have to run a separate program whenever you want to play a game, especially when, as in my experience, Steam has, amongst other problems, actually prevented my machine from connecting to the Internet! The fact that Steam was a necessary install did not fill me with confidence. I'm not reviewing Steam, but as it's a part of the package, let me just sum up it quickly: Steam does not help anyone. It uses far too many system resources, it causes too many problems and it should not be force-fed to gamers at any point. Ever. It's a shame that more and more games need to be activated via Steam, because its inclusion should automatically knock 10 points off a game's review score! Phew. Anyway, that's Steam done with, and without further ado, onto Race 07.

I feel I should mention that Race 07 is not an arcade game: it's a simulation and, as such, doesn't concentrate on the usual flashy graphics and bells and whistles that typify arcade games. That's not to say that it's a bad looking game however, just one that needs to be considered on different merits. So be forewarned; if you're after quick pick-up-and-play arcade tomfoolery then there's a good chance you're in the wrong place. If, however, you're looking for a deep, rewarding motor-racing experience then you'll be on cloud nine with Race 07.

As it's based on the WTCC, the range of options for races in Race 07 is staggering. There is the Championship series, which sees you competing for glory in numerous events over the aforementioned thirty-two tracks, including Brand's Hatch, Monza and Brno. There's a Quick Race option, you can play Time Attacks and Practice Race, and Multiplayer is also available. The Championship series includes all the events from not only the 2007 series, but also the entire 2006 series - and there's even an option to create your own unique Championship. All in all this adds up to a fair few hours of gameplay!

The Championship series allows you to select any one of four different car makes: BMW, Seat, Chevrolet or Alfa Romeo and one or two different models of each make. You can select a team and driver, but this only seems to determine the livery that is applied to the vehicle, rather than any kind of tuning options. Following your selection, an in-depth set of options allows you to tailor your championship to your own skill level. Automatic gears? Easier opponents? Weather types? It can all be changed independently at the start of the championship so you can choose exactly how you want to play.

Championship series follows a strict format: A practice round gets you used to the track and your car setup, then Event 1 and Event 2 are raced for points based on position, with the winner awarded his total points before moving onto the next track. I understand that any game based on a real-life sports event needs to adhere to its rules, but with each Event consisting of thirteen or so laps, it can take a little too long to complete each event (especially with my attention span!)

Prior to each event, you can tinker around with the workings of your car to your heart's content and this is where the game's simulation element really shines through. As in most racing games, you can alter simple things like the brake bias and steering sensitivity of your vehicle, but in Race 07 you can alter each wheel individually. Options allow you to set suspension damping, ride height, camber of the wheels, brake bias, gear ratios - pretty much everything that can be done to a real car can be done to its virtual equivalent in Race 07. The idea, insofar as I can ascertain, is that you perform a lot of practice runs on each track and in each car so that you can get a feel for the settings and tweak them to your liking before saving them. This doesn't preclude the average player from merely jumping into the car and going for a spin, as the default options are sufficient to get a good drive, but at the same time, anyone who isn't at least semi-knowledgeable about cars could feel a little intimidated by the sheer wealth of options available.

At first I didn't like the racing in Race 07. I soon got to the head of the pack and spent twelve laps on my own on a fairly easy track, and I got a bit bored. But after playing the next race, I realised that I was wrong. The default cockpit view is clearly how the game was designed to be played. As the pack jostle for positions you can look around to see potential targets for overtaking and the view from inside the car makes everything seem that much closer and faster. Overtaking in Race 07 is purely tactical; you need to wait for gaps to open in the field, commit to the act and speed forwards in a bid to gain a position. I can master that: what I could not master was combining it with watching other cars, reading the track markers, changing gear and turning! Pretty soon I was left in a cloud of dust at the side of the road, desperately rethinking my strategies for next time. Once I mastered doing more than one thing at once though, I found myself locked in a struggle for position. I waited for the car in front to brake for a bend - too early, you fool! Hammering the accelerator to the floor I shot forwards, barely missing his bodywork and sped past him, cheering at my victory!

Besides the traditional chase and bumper camera angles, Simbin have developed a unique cockpit view that puts you in the place of the driver like no other game has done before. You can look around freely and see all the interior of the car in minute detail. Glance to the side and you can see your rear view mirrors to check on rivals. You can see the driver's hands move on the wheel and change gear; when this is combined with being in a single seat Formula 3000 car or Caterham, you really have to keep a good eye on each side of your car using this method. Nowhere is this more necessary than in the multiplayer modes (although I had trouble connecting at times). When there is a full pack of human opponents fighting for positions in different car classes, the ensuing rivalries make themselves known immediately! I have overtaken players only to find them hounding me round the track like a demonic Nigel Mansell, tracking my every move and constantly trying to regain their position in the pack! Multiplayer provides support for leaderboards and even options to create your own online tournaments!

No other racing game has come close to the feeling of actually driving that is present in Race 07. On more than one occasion I found myself desperately trying to remember back to my driving test to try and find some clue as to what I was doing wrong! An interesting feature is the addition of a clutch system; if you use this feature correctly you can push your engine that bit harder and make gear changes more efficient, but it also means that you could end up stalling at the start line! Switching from the default automatic gears to manual takes a lot of practice but you can turn the clutch off and make it more like a semi-automatic. It doesn't work quite realistically enough to warrant turning it on, but nevertheless it makes it clear that realism was at the forefront of the design.

This attention to detail is especially evident with regards to the AI. The computer-controlled opponents really pile on the pressure to try and force you to make mistakes and different drivers portray different driving techniques, some aggressive and others defensive. This makes Race 07 feel like you're driving against real opponents, even in single player mode. You can clearly pick out rivals in each race and you'll often find yourself in a kind of leapfrog against them as you attempt to out do each other.

Another thing I loved about Race 07 is the bugs - no, not that kind of bug! What I mean is that as you hurtle around the tracks, insects, rain and dirt spatter the windscreen, slowly reducing your visibility. You need to either flick the wipers on or 'tear off' a thin plastic strip from the visor. It's an understated effect, but one that adds a massive degree of realism to Race 07.

I'm raving about this game purely based on its playability, but there are a few bad points. As I mentioned earlier, the graphics are currently not any match for the shiny gummins of DiRT or Forza, or most other games for that matter. Tracks are occasionally bland with few landmarks or effects to draw your eye and while the city environments look much better, they are still nowhere near as pretty as other games - but I can probably put this down to Race 07 being more of a simulation. The vehicles do look superb, but the effect is marred somewhat by the surrounding scenery. The sound could use some work as well, but the different volume levels inside and outside the car give a good effect. Voices are often drowned out by other effects like engine noises though - the announcer will occasionally tell you that for whatever reason, overtaking is not allowed on part of the track, but this can be missed completely.

I really do like Race 07: Official WTCC Game. In the modern group of racers, it's a breath of fresh air to find a game that does exactly what it says it will on the box. A wealth of options, tonnes of cars and enough tracks to keep even hardcore racers busy for months, coupled with a true feeling of real driving gives Race 07 something that no other racer has. It may not have ultra slick graphics or top-notch sound and you might not be able to put neon lights or huge exhausts on your cars, but if you're looking for a solid, quality racing simulation, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better one than this. There are more options than you can shake a gear stick at, enough cars to keep even the most hardcore racing buff satisfied and for an unbelievably fast, downright intense simulation racer, it's unparalleled!

Reviewed by John Barnes for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).