World Racing

 Xbox
Metascore
56

Mixed or average reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 14
  3. Negative: 5 out of 14
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  1. GameZone
    78
    Aside from the great graphics and smooth-as-ice controls, the fact that you can explore your surroundings makes this an interesting racing game.
  2. Official Xbox Magazine
    74
    With 110 cars, seven stupidly gigantic courses, amazing (if arcadey) graphics, and staggering freedom of movement (once you unlock free roam modes), it's hard not to recommend this. [July 2003, p.84]
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  3. IGN
    70
    The ability to leave the game's tracks and explore its massive environments, however, gives it a relaxing quality that's surprisingly refreshing.
  5. GameSpy
    64
    A cool license doesn't save an otherwise bland game with nearly average everything.
  6. Eurogamer
    60
    It's too hard, it's a bit feebly constructed in places, and it plays too much like real driving, which, for a game laden with UFOs, is a bit of a contradiction.
  7. Cheat Code Central
    60
    Much too conservative. In my opinion, the Mercedes license should be dropped in favor of more gameplay freedom. If you don't want to knock your opponent off a mountain road to win a race, that's your problem. I at least want that option.
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  8. TeamXbox
    56
    A well-designed and fun game overall. I would not go any further than a rental on this game unless you are a hard-core racer and must have every racing title on the market.
  9. Gamestyle
    50
    Sure, the graphics are splendid (and the in-car cockpit view is tremendous) but with such a limited array of cars prescribed by the license and the sad truth that the game doesn't really offer anything new, Gamestyle is hard pushed to really recommend it.
  10. Game Informer
    50
    As with most poor racing titles, the control is only solid in the first-person view - the mark of mediocrity. [June 2003, p.113]
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  11. GameSpot
    49
    It's not a stunningly accurate sim, it doesn't provide the sort of overview of Mercedes-Benz cars that you'd expect, and its graphical presentation has more than a few flaws.
  12. Xbox Nation Magazine
    40
    At a very basic level, this is a competent racer in desperate need of a better interface and better A.I. [June-July 2003, p.94]
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  13. NTSC-uk
    40
    The maddening frustration created by playing what could best be described as a half-finished game with huge potential will lead to a brief dalliance following which most gamers will seek their driving entertainment elsewhere.
  14. G4 TV
    40
    The mix of mission and circuit racing along with the interesting ranking system are offset by the poor mechanics and sloppy design.
  15. GameCritics
    35
    It's an intriguing and ultimately fatally flawed entry in an already clogged genre, and a warning to other companies who would use games as a commercial vehicle: please be sure you can make a decent game, or it's worse than no advertising at all.

Awards & Rankings

35
#35 Most Shared Xbox Game of 2003

User Reviews

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User Score
8.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 9 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. RaphaelY.
    Sep 9, 2005
    8
    Well the game is cool.
  2. JanneH.
    Oct 30, 2003
    9
    I really don't know why some people don't appreciate this game. Mercedes-Benz World Racing is simply a great game. Firstly I will I really don't know why some people don't appreciate this game. Mercedes-Benz World Racing is simply a great game. Firstly I will tell things that can be considered as minus points. I agree some of them. Thats why I just gave strong 9 and not 10. If you get over these, then you will just enjoy this game. Like I suretanly do! 1. No oncoming traffic or pedestrian. Those few people just stand. But there are lot of flying or floating objects. 2. Drive-through objects. Strange thing this is. You can actually drive through trees and some other objects. Actually it is just fun. It would be only irritating to crash to all of them. 3. Not drive-through object. This is water in some places. Driving in sea is fun. It also makes these amazing surroundings feel even bigger. There are boats and you can drive past them really fast. Or through them. Cars also slide a lot in water. In some watery areas car just drops to the bottom. Well, driving beneath is also fun :). 4. Much of cars that look same. Biggest minus point. There are many cars where you will notice the difference just from the statistics. And some cars that you see in traffic are not here. Newest and some old classic cars are. But I think that some cars from the between have been dropped out. But on the bright side there are consept cars, formula 1 car ?Silver Arrow? and some powerful track cars. 5. 2D trees. These are not actually 2D. They look like 3D, but when you try to look behind these, they just turn with you. Spooky. Didn?t bother me. I thought that it would have bothered me more, but it didn?t. 6. Not for rushers. I think that this is game that is not ment to be rushed through. It is not THAT exiting. It is a long game where you need time. You may even forget it for a while and then come back to it. It happened to me and then I decided to write this review. I found again how great this game is. 7. City level is a little too dark in some places. 8. Artificial intelligence (AI). Competitors don?t make much of mistakes. So you can make some crucial mistake in the end and lose. And when races are long it may bother you. And if you make same kind of mistake somewhere in the middle of the race you can still get a good result. Maybe even win. Despite of this the most important thing stays: if you drive really good from start to end, you will win. Then to the parts that in my opinion are only good. Graphics. Graphics are awesome. I havent's seen better graphics in any game. And I have seen many games. Some graphics in other games are great in a different way, but better?, NO. Being able to see so far in these surroundings is something that must be experienced. Graphics are also crisp and colourful. Things that I would like to be in many other games as well! ?Levels? (There is many: Japan, Nevada, Australia, Mexico, Test Centre, The Alps, The City) are huge and varied and give so much freedom. Steep hills, wide open roads, tough curves. And you can drive just about everywhere you can see even between races. Sound. Games music is good. But more important is that music manager uses Xbox?es hard drive. So you can pick also your own music tracks and hear them while you drive. And in random order. Engine sounds are also great. And sounds from the surroundings are also great. So it is your choise how to balance these three. Gameplay. There is a switch in this game where player can adjust gameplay. If arcade kind of play is what you like then you can adjust it to 100% arcade (maybe I will try this also). Or if realism is your choice (my choise) then you can adjust it to 100% simulation. Or maybe 50/50 ?? Or anything between ?? Choise is yours. I am using steering wheels and pedals. And feeling is amazing. There is wonderful inside view choice where you can see hands in a steering wheel and meters. Tip: If you pause the game in this view and wait till the camera starts to pan around the car, you see meters even closer when you continue. I also drive a real car and I can say that this game represents real driving just fine. Although I have to admit that I don?t make my car slide (thing that occurs in this game very often) almost never. And it is also easyer not to keep on the road in this game than it is for real. I?m glad that it is that way around :). Sliding is fun. Making a correct move that straightens a car is really fun. And game also notices this. ?Good slide? appears often (only in written, there is no speech). ?Excellent slide? is much more difficult to gain. Just some of the other great things. Flying objects Why some people are complaining about these? Would it be better not to have them? Well.. NO. Length. There are lot of races in many ?leagues?. And many missions). Free ride. So fun and relaxing just to drive around. Replays. Seeing your (or competitors, you can switch cars) performance in another angle is great. And pause screens. When you pause the replay in that point where car is coming really near (surface camera for example) you can have close-ups that show the true power of Xbox and this game. Cars just couldn?t have been done any better. So smooth and so shiny and so detailed. … Full Review »
  3. SeanS.
    Apr 7, 2003
    5
    Martin B's comments plus .... Looks nice enough at first, but after 1/2 an hour, the graphics don't hide the fact that ... Being Martin B's comments plus .... Looks nice enough at first, but after 1/2 an hour, the graphics don't hide the fact that ... Being punished for cutting corners gets really old really quick ... This game makes racing a family saloon against a people carrier less fun that it actually sounds (quite an achievement really) ... This game boasts the most unnecessarily complicated menu system ever .... Oh, another plane/ufo/helicopter, great !?!?! I'm gonna hit a tree!!! never mind, it was one of those 'ghost' trees that I can drive straight through - phew!!!!! (same applies to the cardboard people - they don't even have the decency to at least jump out of the way) Redeeming features - it only takes a few hours to realise how dull this game is, so you should have enough time bring it back to the shop and swap it for something else The 5 points are for the graphics and tracks, plus recognising that some people may like Mercedes enough to see through the less-than-average gameplay ...… Full Review »
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