Nascar Thunder 2003 for PS2! (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Adams]

I just bought this last night and spent hours playing it. It is so much better than 2002. And 2002 was a very good game. Just the little things make a big difference and make the whole game experience that much better. Like at the start of each race they will sing the national anthem and fighter jets fly over the track and then the cars start their engines. I also like the detail and authentic look of all the tracks. When racing it is alot more realistic, when the back end of your car slides out it takes alot more to get control of it again, if you get out of the groove and get too high on the track you get into debris and crap and you slow down and the car goes out control. I also like that the cars get dirty and you leave a mark on the wall if you hit it. The game itself has so much more depth to it. There is a training mode that lets you select one of the top drivers to coach you. There is also a situation mode where they put you in a real situation that has happened to a specific driver and you have to what he did in that race. If you complete the task then you unlock old cars and tracks, they are like Madden cards. Overall this is a very fun game, I have not got deep into the game yet, or have even got into career mode yet but this game looks to be competing for my time with Madden. These EA sports games are GREAT! How am I going to have time for these games when NHL 2003 comes out?

 

[Carl Johnson]

It sounds great. I'm still having fun w/ Nascar2k2 on XBox so I was gonna skip 2k3 but if it's that much of an improvement I'm gonna dump the old on on Ebay.

 

[Jeff Adams]

Yeah Carl, I think it is that much of improvment. So much more realistic. Even the pit crews make mistakes sometimes. Like last night I had a problem with a lug nut, they couldn't get it off, it cost me a 20 second pit stop!

 

[Damien]

i can't wait till i can get my hands on this game

 

[Todd Henry]

For those that have it, do you play with the original joystikc or do you driving wheels?

Todd

 

[Jeff Adams]

I just use the joystick, it works fine for me.

 

[BorisM]

Is it widescreen and/or 480p?

 

[Jeff Adams]

It is widescreen, but I don't think 480 progressive scan.

 

[BorisM]

Thanks.

 

[RudyN]

Yeah, I picked up the Xbox version of it and I am loving it. My highest finish so far is 5th. I found that if you use the camera angle where you can just see the front of your hood, you can control the car a little better(well, it works that way for me). Also, here are some codes you can enter to unlock things (enter both at create a car) :

First Name: Dale Last Name: Earnhardt Unlocks Dale Earnhardt Sr.


First Name: Extra Last Name: Drivers Unlocks more cars for use.

 

[Jeff Adams]

Thanks Rudy, I will try those codes tonight. I would assume they would work the same for the PS2. So your best finish is 5. What mode are you racing on? I am still in rookie. It is alot harder than last years version. In my final race last night I was barely able to hold off Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick to take my first win of the season! It was sweet. What I hated about last years version is that when you won, there was no trip to victory lane, no celebration burnouts or laps. In 2003 you get to do victory laps and burnouts for as long as you want! That is such a payoff, you work hard to win the race you want to beable to do that. It was such a sense of satisfaction, I actually ran out of gas doing burnouts.

 

[Jeff Adams]

Oh, and after you are done with your burnouts and victory laps, you get to take a trip to victory lane! I am sure it is the same generic celebration everytime, but hey, who cares. It is still cool and it wasn't available for 2002's version.

 

[Andrew s wells]

How is the framerate in the Xbox version? I remember last years had some issues, especially with the in car view. And has the roadside detail improved at all? just curious

 

[RudyN]

I'm on Rookie right now too. It is alot harder than last year's version, but I love the challenge. Yes, the codes will work on the PS2. The frame rate on the Xbox is pretty good. Every now and then it will stutter, but nothing major. As far as issues with the in car view, I've never used it nor did I use it last year. You can also add music from your HD into the game. The game itself has 4 tracks, and you can add up to 16 more I believe.

According to IGN:

and the framerate stays solid regardless of which camera angle you use (though, the cockpit view does have an occasional stutter).

 

[Damien]

2 a's:
how's the 5.1 compare to moto gp...that game has 20 bikes on the track and each one is mapped out correctly...since this game has 43 cars on the rack, how does it sound
does the game have an in-dash car view ala moto gp as well??

 

[RudyN]

Don't have moto gp so I can't answer that. As far as an in car dash view, yeah, it has a cockpit view where you see yourself moving the wheel.

 

[Scott "E"]

how's the 5.1 compare to moto gp

While decent, Thunder 2003 can't hold a candle to the DD 5.1 soundtrack of Moto GP.

 

[RudyN]

Just found out from another board how to unlock new paint jobs for drivers:

Using Veteran or higher, win a race with that driver. You unlock 1 paint job per track. So if you want to unlock all of Jeff Gordon's hidden paint jobs, win a race at 5 different tracks.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

It's outstanding, but you guy's left out the most glaring difference: it's way more challenging than 2002 was!
I'm not that good at driving games, but 'Legend' mode on NC2002 was a joke! My freind could lap the field at Daytona with all of the assists turned off!
You can run more accurate lines in this one too.
Prime example is Dover, on 2002 you had to stay in the middle line in the turns, dive down and shoot onto the straightaway. In NC2003 however you can hug the apron of the turns just like they do IRL.
EA Sports hit this one out of the park!
A little trivia: the sound designers actually blew a Winston Cup car engine capturing the sound for the cars!

 

[RudyN]

I love that the fact that it is more challenging than '02. I still haven't won a race in Career mode yet. I would already have 3-4 through the 1st 6 races in '02. As far as what I posted earlier about unlocking more paint jobs, you can unlock more than 1 using different races at the same track. So at Daytona, you can unlock 1 paint job for winning the Daytona 500 and another for the Pepsi 400.

I also like that you can have a 36 race career mode unlike in '02 where you were limited to 12.