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Now that I’ve had a week to soak up THQ/BigAnt’s latest entry into the Sprint Car gaming world, it’s time to give a fuller rundown of the features and what I feel are the strong points and maybe what could use some fine tuning.

First of all, if your even just a little bit curious about this racer, it’s only $19.99 and I can tell you right now it is easily worth your time for that price. This is hands down one of the best budget titles to be released in a long time (it’s amazing to think of some of the games that release at this price point – especially for a console like the Wii – that are hardly worth $1, let alone $20-30). While I would go as far to say this could easily sell for $60, it certainly harkens back to the old days when 2K decided to slash their 2K5 line down to $20 a pop and you knew you we’re getting an absolute steal.

The one major attraction for me, with World of Outlaws, is the license itself and the frantic style of racing involved. This is bare knuckled racing at it’s most brilliant. This is true raw entertainment. Full length races are ten minutes of absolutely fury, with mud spraying all over, cars banging into each other and careening into the walls, heated rivalries are born on every vicious turn. This is what video games are made of, yet this is a real, legit competition.

And, for the most part, BigAnt seals it all up in a nice, tidy package for the gamer to experience on the comfort of their own couch.

Read more of my review after the jump…

Like I said in my early impressions, the key to being a winner in this game is to get a feel for the turns. While power sliding isn’t necessarily a neccesity, it’s nice to have that skill. Finding a rhyhtm of slowing into a turn and speeding out is your first step to success, and it may take a few races for the uninitiated to come to grips with that. Though if your a veteran of BigAnt’s previous PS2 sprint car titles or RatBag’s initial World of Outlaws entry from 2002, your likely to feel right at home.

One drawback – in my mind – is that your career begins right in the World of Outlaws, instead of working up through the lower sprint car series. Another omission included in previous BigAnt titles was other dirt racing vehicles (like midgets, open-wheel modified, etc), but if you can look past that, you still have a solid World of Outlaws title on your hands here, and who can argue with that.

The career is structured through the 40 races of the World of Outlaws series - though not every WoO track is included (12 are) so you’ll be racing the same tracks more often than you would in the real circuit. This isn’t a big issue and 12 tracks, while a tad small, will do for a first go around. And BigAnt provided all the heavy hitters.

Points are accumulated just like the real series, and money is earned dependant on where you finish. Along the way you unlock different track challenges (like finish an 8-car race at Eldora without hitting anyone), one-on-one races with WoO stars, sponsorships and items that can be purchased. I did find that I starting earning more money than I can use, and ten races in to the series I had nothing to spend it on, as I had purchased all the available parts at that time.

A big challenge, and one worth taking, is graduating from rookie mode onto the other difficulty levels. Contrary to what I said from my early impressions (that I thought the game was still difficult on rookie), once you get the racing under your belt for awhile, you’ll find rookie mode to be pretty manageable. The next difficulty level does make the driving a bit more difficult and the racers a bit more aggressive, and you might find that you are stuck between difficulties. It does take some patience to learn it, but unless you want to fly through a season undefeated, I suggest putting in the time to get down the physics of the tougher difficulty levels.

Graphically, this game does the job. While it won’t be remembered for visuals, the cars look good, the tracks are realistically gritty and the camera angles (in-game and pre/post race) give off an authentic feel. The engine sounds are nice and loud, but the PA Announcer could use a bit more work – you’ll hear the same references during time trials as you would in the A Main race – including refering to me as “they’re” during my solo runs.

I got to spend a little time with multiplayer and was happy to see a good amount of players online. Here’s hoping a niche title like World of Outlaws can sustain a good fanbase for online play – something I wouldn’t be surprised to see. I didn’t get a chance to play any of the mini-game styled challenges, as most online competitors seem to prefer straight up racing. I did notice that your stuck with your career car in this mode, which can be a good or bad thing depending on how far you’ve advanced in the game.

World of Outlaws not only caters to the fan (with a full license, drivers, advertisements and all), but to the general racing fan, gamer and casual bystander. Anyone can pick this up and have a good time. I highly recommend you do so if you haven’t already, as hidden gems like these don’t come around too often. If you’ve never experience the World of Outlaws, now’s a good chance. While not a perfect game, it’s still a fun, thrilling ride to the finish every time. And it’s only twenty bucks.

Check out a full race day at Skagit track below, as well as a screenshot gallery…

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