There’s not long to go on this one!
Reiza Studios‘ Steam Sale is only on until tomorrow and includes both of its racing sims as separate offers. Stock Car Extreme and Formula Truck are good value on an average day, so I’m free of hesitation in making them today’s recommendation (and tomorrow’s!). Already both ‘must haves’ in our book (yep, extra emphasis on must!), recent updates and this lower cost make the excuses for not having them ever-weaker!
Stock Car Extreme 33% off – £15.40/€18.75/$20.09 or equivalent
Usually £22.99 when bought alone, this is the lowest price we’ve seen Reiza’s SCE listed at since its arrival on Steam early this year.
It seems that we Brits are paying a couple of quid more than our European mainland neighbours and there’s an even greater gap to the North American price. That said, it’s still a fantastic offer!
Rolling over to the heavyweights, Formula Truck is half its standard price right now.
Formula Truck 2013 50% off – £7.49/€9.99/$9.99 or equivalent
Putting these prices into context, along with both being their cheapest-ever, buying both games today would cost less than the money-saving Stock Car Extreme/Formula Truck 2013 bundle. With a regular price tag of £29.99, buying the games individually during this offer period nets what’s approaching a quarter off that typical Reiza Racing Simulation Bundle (the £22.89 total price coming to an effective discount of £7.10 until tomorrow).
For anyone new to PC racing or even sims on computer, Reiza’s works are two of the most fun and convincing offerings out there. Based on Image Space Incorporated‘s isiMotor that has powered sims all the way from rFactor and the GTR series in the early 2000s to Simraceway, RaceRoom Racing Experience (R3E) and Reiza’s catalogue today, it doesn’t take long to see and feel how well the team has applied its skills here.
Improvements and new content…
As I will certainly also say of R3E over the same period, Reiza Studios has remained on a successful path of improvement with SCE and FT over the last two years. Bound by a dated graphics engine and restricted access to the isiMotor framework, these two Reiza sim stars have shone increasingly brightly. Through texture and modelling work, improved shaders, an understanding of physics and a knack at applying that knowledge, this small group of talented artisans has created titles that can stand alongside the best that we have played. An oft-neglected or downright disappointing part of even modern games, the importance of sound in player immersion and enjoyment hasn’t been missed by Reiza either.
Whatever part of the sims you look at, it’s top-grade stuff all round.
What can the newcomer to Stock Car or Truck expect, then? Well there are no in-game mods where you change the oil or fit a Level 5 turbo and ‘trick’ exhaust after earning credits from racing. There isn’t a vehicle roster that reaches four figures. Nor is there a decal designer within the games.
Instead, there’s this…
Concentrating on SCE in unexpanded form, there is a solid collection of racing machines ranging from karts and single-seaters to the South American Stock cars of the Stock Car Extreme name.
That, however, is in unexpanded form!
Not only has Reiza Studios made regular improvements and added to the vehicle and track line-up of both games at no extra cost to the player – a process that continues apace even today – but SCE is supported by car and track treasures created by the community. As some of you may know through YouTube or racing forums, Reiza staff are also active within the neighbourhood that has evolved around its games. Involvement with SCE fans has further increased recently following Reiza’s successful Indiegogo funding campaign – and with that and supporter voting, the game’s official content is growing.
So that’s two fine sims, a widening circuit and car range from Reiza Studios and many high-standard extras from committed artists and modding teams! For a modest ticket price!
Steering and all that…
Should the ‘sim’ tag or fact that it’s on PC create questions about steering control etc., there’s no problem with any option here. A gamer since monochrome TVs were standard fare and a sim player of 30 years (Geoff Crammond’s Revs in the mid-1980s!), I’m burdened with physical challenges these days that mean adopting alternate control methods is necessary if I am to keep playing. Should you read anything along the lines of ‘You need a steering wheel. Fact.’, please refer that writer and others to this page or our forum. It’s nonsense.
As the site and our YouTube channel will eventually show, I own and keep the best sims of the last few decades accessible and installed. Depending on my physical limitations on the day and what each game offers, I will switch between everything available in the game menus – keyboard, mouse, Xbox 360 controller and the best choice if I can use them, a force-feedback steering wheel with pedals.
I won’t be challenging Greger Huttu, Max Verstappen or the rest of Team Redline 2015 any time soon, but I will be on the track one way or another and having fun!
Support, content and discussion…
Only one example resource for Reiza Studios sims, as it is for other racing games, RaceDepartment is a fantastic first-stop site when it comes to Stock Car Extreme and Formula Truck.
The site serves an important role as a portal for mod content that includes liveries as well as the tracks and cars mentioned above but it’s also the community home of the dev team. RD recently added to the public area with a private forum for Reiza’s Indiegogo backers – guys that as well as giving direct support to the company will now also have early access to beta-state content and through nomination and voting, play an important part in what follows for Stock Car Extreme.
OnlineRaceDriver will bring much more too as we review the sims, record races and test drives, and add news of scene content and Reiza’s updates.
The Reiza Studios Steam Sale ends at 6PM UK time on Monday.
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