Covering (but not limited to) all of my thoughts on the PC gaming scene.
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Published on April 17, 2008 By Phazon88 In PC Gaming

Recently I noticed that there was a new release for Trackmania Nations (the free version of Trackmania that people all over the world play). This new version is supposedly new and improved, and integrates Trackmania United (the retail release) and Trackmania Nations (the free release) into one.


First of all, you might ask what is this game? Trackmania is a game that involves you driving cars on surreal tracks (kinda like slot car racing except you can steer). Your car travels quite fast, and the tracks are very varied and can get quite wild with large jumps, half-pipes and loops at times. There are a few different game modes too, like time attack (my favourite online) and stuntmode and so on.

One of the key draws to this game other than just the racing is the customisation of everything. First of all, as one might expect, you can make extensively crafted tracks of your own using the comprehensive editor and release it online for all to try out and enjoy. Not only that but if you have the skills you can give your cars custom paint-jobs in-game as well as import custom models made by other people (or yourself if you're lucky enough to have the skill).

Combine this with a robust and competitve online mode and you've got one fun (free) game. It even has a decent single-player component with the medals earnt there for beating certain times going onto your profile and increasing your global rank. Your rank is also affected by playing online with other players and beating their times.

All in all its a really fun free game, its worth the 500MB download (it looks nice too - and runs good as well).

 


Comments
on Apr 17, 2008
Hm. I played Nations extensively, even ran a server for a while. Then I purchased United, which I prefer. However, being unable to play with those that only hat Nations was a major drawback. Do you know if that has changed with this 'integration'?
on Apr 17, 2008
Heh. Yeah, I just downloaded the free version yesterday. I'm normally not one for racing games, but I confess I've been having a blast playing it so far.

on Apr 17, 2008

The improvements brought by the new release of Trackmania Nations Forever have been patched into Trackmania United (which is called Trackmania United Forever). This patch allows Trackmania United owners to play with Trackmania Nations owners on the Stadium environment (which is the only environment available to Trackmania Nations Forever users).

As you might expect, people who own Trackmania United Forever have some nice perks including the ability to use custom avatars and be able to race using custom cars and such.

I hope to buy Trackmania United soon, its a very fun game.

on Apr 17, 2008
thanks for the link! oh wait...
on Apr 17, 2008

eetmorsqrls


thanks for the link! oh wait...

Got google? Obviously not.


http://www.trackmania.com

on Apr 17, 2008
I've been thinking this looked cool. I've always confined my racing game choices to consoles in the past, though, out of control concern. What are you guys using for controllers? The keyboard controls seem quite awkward to me.
on Apr 17, 2008

Well being an arcade style racing game, this game fairs fine with the keyboard controls. Although a gamepad could just as easily be used with the same success.

on Apr 17, 2008
I've played the free version some and it is fun, just wish I had more time to get into it.

I use my dual-stick Logitech controller. Almost the same as a PS2 controller, so you get the same control as you do with a console .
on Apr 18, 2008

It's pretty awesome with arrow keys.

on Apr 19, 2008
I just upgrade from United to United Forever. Nickname for the buddy list is 'pndrev'. See you on the track!