Well, it's nice when you aren't really expecting anything, and suddenly something unexpected pops up that you really like...you know, kinda like if you get a phonecall from a girl you like, but didn't think she even knew your name...

That was the case with Viper Racing from Sierra Sports...with all they hype about the release of Grand Prix Legends, it was completely unexpected that someone (especially as little known as MGI) would pop up with something that was a total blast to drive...and blast it is!

I must admit...when downloading the demo, I was expecting another Sega/Daytona clone with Vipers...but not even! The Viper Racing demo is a full blown simulator, with shock/wing settings, springs, ect, and on track handling that's quite fun! Your first on-track experience will be fraught with alot of tire squealing, I'm afraid...

Setup was quite simple, and game menus are well placed and fairly easy to understand. The demo allows you to change car colors and setups, but you only get to race 2 laps on one track. You can race more than 2 laps if you managed to download the original demo, and get the debug.bin from that one and put it in the new one. Then you can start it with a "-safe" option and run it that way. One other problem was the fact that you need to make sure that your controller is configured in the Win95 control panel, otherwise you may have some very strange pedal/wheel combinations...

On Track The incar racing is really fun...you know it's a decent product when you keep coming back to play some more. The first demo had some really poor AI, which was fixed right away in the 2nd demo. You can now race the cars without them crashing and flipping all by themselves. Mind you, they are still not up to par, you can usually pass the leader in the first lap, but they are better than before. The Multiplayer mode is enabled in the demo, although I've not yet ran an online race.

The handling seems to be fairly realistic for a stock Viper, plus you can adjust the wing and shock/spring settings to get better times...and the setup adjustments work! Get in a bit hard, and you'll hear the brakes lock up...take a corner too fast, and the rear will swing out on you. Every bump and bounce in the road is accurately fed back through the visual..and if you contact another car...watch out! Lots of fairly accurately modeled crash action. Go over into the lake...you sink! Clip the edge of the rock alongside the road...bang! You're now heading for a short-lived orbit! Sounds are great now as well in the 2nd version of the demo...the throaty rumble of a V8 through stainless steel exhaust pipes seems pretty realistic.

Annoyances? A few...a 'hot help' would be nice in the setup area, to let people know what the adjustments actually will do to the handling of the car. It gives a strange display of the overall car's handling ability given the adjustments you made, but they're rather cryptic. The AI could be better, hopefully the full version will have some decent competition. The graphics are also somewhat poor when it comes to the trees, but the rest of the environment looks very nice. As well, crash damage is so-so....I was driving around with my front end half-caved in after some rather hard contact with a competitor. I shouldn't have been able to continue, certainly not at a speed which I was travelling.

I would prefer if in later versions we get to race other cars, such as Porches, BMWs, ect, but MGI mentioned to me that they had problems getting liscenses for stuff, so that may or may not happen. As well, I would like to see some real road courses to hammer, all the ones in the game seem to be fantasy tracks. Homestead, Pikes Peak and Daytona's infield road courses would be great, as well as some of the Euro tracks that the real life Viper GTS got to race (Silverstone, Austria A1 Ring, ect) would be nice.

Great product from Sierra Sports/MGI...I was really impressed with MGI's first time effort in this arena...considering some of the flops some of the big gaming companies have made, these guys really did their homework. A definite recommended V8 rating on this one! Demo available HERE!

 Monaco Grand Prix Racing Simulation 2 follows up Ubisoft's initial racing sim effort, Formula One Racing Simulation (see Jan's review of F1RS). Myself, I was a latecomer to F1RS but was quickly a huge fan. When I heard about the sequel I just had to get my hands on it ASAP. And it doesn't disappoint. The new game retains the elements that made F1RS a great sim while at the same time makes improvements in key areas.

Behind the Wheel
At the front of the line for improvements is the driving model. One of the problems with F1RS is you couldn't push the car enough in the corners. Myself I found it to be a, "perfect or goodbye", feeling. If the rear end of the car started it slide out in the corner you'd almost always go into a spin, and the same spin to boot. Not so with MGPRS2. The car has a more proper feeling of weight transfer through the corners. You can really let the back end fly out, if you push too hard you'll lose it, but have every opportunity you should to keep the car straight.

 For the garage gurus, the car setup options are a plenty. With options for both Driver and Engineer elements everything can be adjusted, from wing angles to engine power. In addition there's an extensive telemetry program for analyzing you performance. While there's extensive Help for each setup option, one thing I'd like to see added is an interactiv engineer. Something where you could input what the car's doing, or what you'd like it to do, and your engineer would suggest changes. CPR was the only game I've seen to include this so far, it would be nice to see others take cue and improve on it.

 While I haven't completed too many GP's yet, the AI competition seems solid. Returning from F1RS are three different difficulty levels; amateur, pro and expert. There's also a choice between Easy mode and Simulation. Being a realism guy we'll stick with Simulation for this review.

 Graphics, Sounds and other things that may blow up your computer...
Don't let the topic fool you, MPGRS2 performs well, though you will need a decent system and 3dfx card. On my P200 with 6 MB Pure 3d LX card I get very good performance with a few options off or reduced. There is some slowdown through the first corner with a full field of cars but other than that the game performs well. After the start, I get a great frame rate, even when in a pack of cars. Ubisoft might want to consider a few more graphic options though, such as turning the smoke or skid marks off, this would help a lot with slowdown on the race starts.

 In the sound department, I'll pick up where Jan left off complaining in his F1RS review. In fact, I think they went backwards here and settled for something really cheap. Saving the day though, is the fact that they included a sound editor with the game. Read on for more on the game's editor(s).

 However many options you turn off or turn on, the game looks great. Very similar to F1RS, all the things that made me say, "Wow", back then are featured here. The highlight for me is the changing weather conditions, chasing a Ferrari through a huge rooster tail in the rain, to the blinding sun as you lead the pack down the straightway in your Mclaren.

Teams and Drivers
Did I mention Ferrari? Well, technically when you first install the game you won't find Ferrari, instead Team 3. Confused? Don't be. The game comes with editors for changing the team/driver names and inserting graphics. The stand alone texture editor will allow you to insert new graphics for everything from cars to cockpits to track side ads. IMO it's really a great way to do it. Folks on the 'net are going to produce their own editors for doing this, so why not provide it with the game? As mentioned above there's also a sound editor. Nice touch, with the many talented artists out there your game is up to 1998 specs in no time. As far as tracks go, the game is based on 1997 and includes that year's 17 circuits, from Melbourne to Jerez.

What else is new?
A few new modes are included in the game. Retro mode takes you back to the 1950's, with the Greenhell track, a winding country road track that takes you through town and back again. In doing so, you have four different vintage cars to choose from, each with it's own characteristics and sound. I'll make a few complaints here. I'd like to see more than one track, at least Monaco added. Heck, it's the title of the game. And there's a few bugs with the AI. Apparently they can't quite handle a few turns. In particular, the right hander that leads into the tunnel (see pic). The cars seem to take the corner at blinding speed and launch into the air, causing a pile up at the tunnel's entrance. I know Retro mode is meant as a small diversion from modern day racing but it would be nice to see it expanded to add a track or two more. Hopefully Ubisoft will at least patch the AI, though at this point the tunnel entrance bug lets me catch up to the field!

Also new since F1RS are the Career and Scenario modes. Career mode has you offered a team contract at the beginning of the season at after 17 races you're back looking for another ride. If your performance warrants it, you'll be offered a drive for a better turn. This presents quite a challenge. So you've been hot lapping in your Ferrari and feel you're hot stuff? Well, it's a different story in an Arrows!

 Scenario mode takes you to the track with a specific situation. You may need to finish first to win the championship, or help your teammate win the title by holding off the competition. At the end you're provided with detailed feedback of your performance.

 So, what's the score?
All in all, I really like this game. Ubisoft has, IMO, provided a sequel that adds many useful features without losing any key features of it's predecessor. A few bugs, but we've seen Ubisoft provide patches before, hopefully they continue this kind of support. And it's very nice to see them take a cue from the sim editors of the 'net and include the editors. I just hope they at least sent a free game to the folks that created these editors for F1RS!