After 2 dismal years, can EA recapture the magic that Thunder 04 had? Almost.
After the last two games, NASCAR 2005: Chase for The Cup and NASCAR 06: Total Team Control, my expectations have been severely low for the series.
I'm not sure if this is just a case of my low expectations being met, or if it really is a good game, but it seems that with NASCAR 07, the series seems to be in position to get the proverbial "Lucky Dog" award.
Lets start with the graphics. Usually, graphics don't mean much to me, unless they're bad enough to effect gameplay. So naturally, the graphics being about the same as previous installments really doesn't bother me. However, thats just at first glance. Get into a couple races, and you'll see that the graphics have been much improved, and do effect gameplay in a very good way. The biggest reason? The added speed blur. It actually adds a good feeling of speed to the game that the last couple games just didn't have. Its just a really cool effect too, and it looks great. The tracks look about as good as ever, aside from a few graphical glitches, such as the sunlight going through (supposedly) solid buildings on a few tracks.
The gameplay is about the same. They still didn't fix the default controls from last year, with the shoulder buttons being your gas and brake. Luckily, these can all be changed back to the normal setting. The team control and grudge features all return and are just as good as ever. As I said above, the new speed blur effects really add a new element of speed to the game, and these help the game dramatically.
The career mode is still the disappointing Fight To The Top mode of the last 2 games. Still no challenge whatsoever. I was able to make it to the Busch series in just the first couple hours this time. Seriously EA. Give us back the old career mode, or if you're really so happy with the "fight" one, give us a hybrid of the two, and crank up the challenge. I actually want to feel like I've accomplished something when I win a Nextel Cup on there.
The sound is a major downer though. The cars sound ok, but nothing special. Also, aside from one song ("Diary of Jane" by Breaking Benjamin) the soundtrack is insanely stereotypical, being mostly country. Come on, EA. Not all NASCAR fans like country. Last year's soundtrack was bad, also containing only one good song, but this one is horrible. Come on. I know that NASCAR isn't their franchise series, but thats no excuse for them to put a subpar soundtrack on the games. Give us a Madden quality soundtrack next time, EA. At least Bill Weber isn't announcing in this one, though...
All in all, this is a very good game, and a sign of hope for fans of the series. There are a few things I'm not a fan of, such as only being allowed to use triple digit numbers in create a car (Sorry. Triple digits on a NASCAR car just irks me.) and the omission of a few big name drivers (such as Carl Edwards) and paint schemes (such as Kevin's Reese's car and Junior's black car) but I'm willing to let those slide.
Folks, the glory days of NASCAR Thunder 2004 may not be coming back anytime soon, but this is a good sign.