Official Site: http://project-torque.aeriagames.com
Project Torque is a MMORG (Massive Multiplayer Online Racing Game) created by aeriagames. Besides the usual racing action you all get from racing games (that is kind of obvious), you are able to customize your car to make it the best racing machine ever. From the colours to the wheels, Project Torque gives you the ability to edit and change them accordingly to your personal needs and preferences. Since it’s a MMO, you are able to join rooms and channels and compete with other fellow racers. Scared of lag? No problem as Project Torque provides a rather unique and lagless racing mode, called the Ghost Mode, and your ride will be as smooth as those you play offline! With average 3D Graphics and several game modes, Project Torque is a must especially for driving fans. (Just try it! No harm as it is free!)
Presentation
Menus, game lobbies, channels, room etc are just like your everyday multiplayer games. With buttons to navigate through the different options, Project Torque’s presentation is simply pleasing to the eye. Simplistic and straightforward buttons, choosing the different game modes and adjusting your car is as simple as A-B-C. Project Torque offers shops whereby users can spend money they earn through participating in races to upgrade their cars for the better. It also provides an easy to use interface for you to equip the different items you have bought. Game lobbies have nothing special to it, just the normal interface you would see in almost any room-based online games. That is practically it, nothing special, and nothing too amazing to be mentioned.
Sound
Everything you have in a racing game. If you still do not know what sound effects there are, why not go around your neighborhood and hear the cars drive pass you. Broom, is one of the sound you will hear in the game. How about this, go ride a taxi to nowhere (I meant a taxi, not a cruise) and inside the taxi, be still and try remembering what sound you heard in the taxi. That, will also appear in Project Torque. Now you ask: “I hear music! Radio!” and I would answer: “Yes, you can put your own music in a folder of the game, and you will be able to play it when you’re racing”. That pretty much sums everything up. Sound effects like crashing into the side walls etc are included. Boring in my opinion. However, it is a great thing to enable players to put their own music into the game. In that way, players would not get bored easily with the boring and uninteresting sound effects that you can hear almost everywhere even in reality.
Graphics
The graphics are actually quite impressive for a free to play game. It is even better when you come in terms of a MMOG (Massive Multiplayer Online Game), let alone a MMORG. Besides there are only 2 other MMORGs out there (Kart Rider and Drift City) but none of those can compare to Project Torque’s graphics. However if you compare it with the graphics of games such as Need for Speed etc, of course you will find that Project Torque’s graphics suck big time. But you know, since it is a free to play game and it is a MMORG, we do not compare with those offline single player big shots (Yes they have multiplayer options too but that is not the main feature of the game). Instead we compare it with other MMOGs especially Kart Rider and Drift City. In that case, you will find Project Torque’s graphics to be the most realistic, and most detailed. Besides that, car damage can be seen. When you ram into something your car starts to peel and break apart. It is rather amazing that the damage seen is kind of cool and fun to look at. Even the older versions of Need of Speed do not have damage effects etc. The different routes are beautiful to look at. You can choose from the different seasons and the time of the race thus producing different outcome of that particular route. For example racing at night at the city would result in beautiful lightings all around the race tracks and wonderful reflections of the colourful city on the road. Animations are alright except for the hands. What I mean is that if you select the inside view while racing, your “hands” often twist over 720 degrees thus resulting in an ugly sight for the player. Overall, Project Torque provides players with decent graphics and is exceptional when we speak of MMORGs.
Gameplay
Project Torque provides players with a rather realistic driving experience. I am neither a driving fanatic nor a hardcore racer thus I do not know much about the standards of a good racing game. However, in my opinion I feel that the racing and driving in Project Torque is rather smooth and fun. Drifting, turning and accelerating seem to be the same as those big shots such as Need for Speed etc. Besides all that usual racing features, Project Torque gives players the opportunity to choose a view that they like. Out of the seven different views, 1 of them definitely would suit the player. For me, I really like the inside view as it gives me a better feeling that I am the driver. Putting all of that aside, what I really was impressed with the most was the damage system. Your car can get damaged when you knocked into the side walls etc and your car will show it. As in you know if your car’s left wheel is damaged terribly you will find yourself constantly needing to turn left or right to keep your car moving straight. Also, when you knock into a tree you will see that your car’s front headlights to be broken etc. A lot of racing games out there do not have such system in place! Thus Project Torque’s damage system is definitely a booster to its gameplay as it not only adds to the fun but also the realistic driving simulation. Like almost every other MMOs out there, you can buy items and equipments such as engine parts and spray colours to decorate and upgrade your car. Currently the amount of cars you can choose from is rather limited to around 5 (4 to choose from the start and an additional 1 to buy if you ever have enough money to do so). Also experience points can be acquired throughout the race by completing tasks and by winning the race and these points can level you up so as to enable you to take a driving license test. Upon passing those tests, you are able to drive better cars and buy better items. So it is somewhat like the levels you have in MMORPGs. All in all, it is like your everyday racing game but with a bonus damage system that will blow you away.
Value
Is Project Torque worth your time downloading and testing out? Yes, definitely. A hardcore racer looking to win some big racers, this is definitely for you. Besides, it is completely free! I would say Project Torque is comparable with those paid games out there and that it definitely needs some attention. For now, it is rather empty thus leading to little rooms and races carried out. However, I hope that with my review, you would test it out and spread the joy (or hate, I doubt) of the game. Have fun with your free professionally made MMORG.
OFF TOPIC (Feel free to delete this post after reading it):
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This game embodies the essence of competition, alongside the fun of casual gaming. Racers are able to tune and modify their cars and then show off to everyone on the track.
Great game! Especially if you like to cars and racing, I would recommend this game.
Great game! I recently discovered it. Yes worth a download and play. I found the items you can buy pretty expensive tho…
Very good simulation engine and car modelisation, the best I’ve seen.
Usability (user interface) – a disaster. Nothing is explained and you are not allowed to make mistakes as you can not roll back or create another user.
Don’t choose K-660 (MX-5 in real life) as your first car. It understears so much that the only way to make turns is to use handbrake.
lol just a comment in the graphics, the pt your talking about is the old one, the pt now have very high resolution graphics 1280×720 (or somewhere their). My old computer (one with a 7300LE Nvidia) graphic card will cry (lol just to express how hot it becomes), while nfs in full, my 7300le nvidia will not care (because the graphics is not that intense and too arcadish). Anyway you can run the game in full with a 8800gtx (very few lags) or 9800gtx without any lag. And i think the game is……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… the best game in the world i ever play :.) it gives me thrill while racing with others (especially someone better cause i suck) And it will make your body pump the andrenaline out of your nose and mouth.
thanks for your comments. indeed the graphics are better but my review is dated at 2007, so it is based on the game’s graphics during that year. Might want to take a look at the game once more and see how it has improve.
and one more, the k660 is the best starter car, don’t belive to those guys, just use the braking technique, and with awesome lines, you (it doesn’t matter if your car is stock), you can get a laptime of 1:44. But i use ae86, i like to drive with style (if my oponent is a noob (more noob than me cause i’m a noob but lesser LOL).
the download takes AGES and im with sky basic packege,so i can just about do this for the month . and it slows your system down.i suppose its a great game though.worth it.
iv seen this with other sites and utube,it looks gr8. try it out!
1 other thing,is it me or when u get the client,does the download stop every so on and go bak a couple of %?u any trub?
When i downloaded it 2 years back. not much problems.
perhaps you can try using a download manager?
how do i play my own music ingame?
i pasted the mp3 files in the ”my music” folder of project torque as said but still no luck :<
anything i need to do? help is appreciated
tyanks
not too sure. played it too long ago. maybe you can ask at their forums or send them a support ticket.
the most amazing game ever good graphics and there are millons of members online so theres always a cahance of a good race things may be expensive but my once you know how youl get these things in no time its 100% free aswell but the option of paying if you want extra things such as real licenced cars ( the list keeps getting bigger evrey day )and on the project torque homepage you can get special bundels that save you money! certion stuff only avilble online
(extra parts colours ect) the 3 curenceys are RP (ingame money for stufff like upgrades fantacy cars ect) AP for purchacing lincesed cars and some super bonus items and XP for leveling up
PLEASE NOTE
dont download from file planet (often corruped download file)
choose the corus or lion both good all rounders ( wizz laks in speed and kawana laks in evreything ) most of all there allways having bonus events,item givaways,sales for instance ordnarely if yo buy $50 of ap you get 5500ap but in sale you get 7500ap its one of the greatist games ever GET IT !!!
Thanks for that comment Latiasracer.
Would love to re-evaluate the game with a new review but the game doesn’t support my CPU Intel i7. Darn.
What started out as a very good Racing MMORPG has now become an arcadish ripoff.
Thanks to Gamigo (the German distributor) and Invictus (developer) Project Torque/ Level R is merely a ghost of the promising game it once was.
In Q2 of 2009 Gamigo released a new build of Level R, which was rejected by Aeria (US distributor), of the game and in doing so Gamigo lost a lot of players to Project Torque.
That new build was not what the players wanted and a ot of them sought refuge in PT.
In their quest to get those players back Gamigo forced Invictus to implement an IP block on PT in Q4 of 2009. It was a limited succes, because a lot of players found ways to keep on playing PT.
In Q2 of 2010 Invictus went one step further (again under pressure from Gamigo) and blocked the main tool for playing PT —> HotSpot Shield.
Meanwhile Gamigo has released another new build from Level R and this time it is even worse. The build has a lot of bugs and the new cars are not driving how they are supposed to drive.
Aeria is still refusing to release any new build, because it has taken a direction that is not what Aeria or the players want.
Time will tell what eventually is going to happen the the Level R/ Project Torque franchise, but fact is Invictus cant go back from where they are now.
Gamigo has made an illegal move, etichally speaking. Comercially and morally disgusting to say the least. Please do not feed this greedy company and this unfair business move.
Do not even attempt trying to download PT, because all non-US IPs are blocked (how can this be possible in the era of information…in the 21st century!)…
Money-hungry-only-companies are disgusting…
Need For Speed is the best game that i have ever played.’:”