Reviewed by Brandy Shaul
Where 10Vox’s line of KooKeys collectible stuffed animals can easily be compared to other virtual environment games in the marketplace today, Tracksters on the other hand is something entirely new and unique, perfect for car and racing fans of all ages.
Continuing in the theme of the vast majority of real world/virtual world game combinations, Tracksters begins in various retail locations, when players choose from one of twelve different vehicles, priced at around $15 a piece, depending on your location. With options ranging from the classics, a striped 1969 Chevy Camaro and a 1963 Corvette Sting Ray, all the way up to the most modern of models, such as a 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10 or a 2007 Shelby GT-500, there should be a car out there to fit everyone’s needs.
Each car is a true die-cast model, comparable to a Hot Wheel in size, but much heavier in weight and of a much better quality overall, with realistic details like side mirrors, steering wheels and even detailed undercarriages furthering the realism presented throughout the experience. And while playing with a die-cast model may very well be fun for some, the real fun here comes from the online gameplay.
After creating an account on the Tracksters website, you are able to name you car and jump into the gameplay experience. While there are limited options available now, due to the game being so new, players can expect to interact with other players and computerized opponents in events like drifting, drag racing, demolition derbies, and standard races, just to name a few.
Aside from racing, the main draw of Tracksters is the ability to trick out or tune your car until your heart’s content by changing their color schemes, adding new and upgraded parts, and so on. Aside from the standard options within the game, players can also purchase card packs ($3.99 a pack) that include various car parts, custom paint schemes, superchargers, and more, allowing you to have even more control over the look and feel of each of your cars.
But if you are not satisfied with simply purchasing new card packs, you will be able to purchase new cars altogether via the in-game marketplace which allows you to trade and or sell with anyone around the world.
To add more depth to the gameplay experience, Tracksters Online is one of the only games around that allows multi-lingual conversations on the fly, using an in-game translation feature that makes chatting with others from around the world as easy as talking to someone who speaks your language.
With all of this positive originality, Tracksters does unfortunately come along with one negative, with that being that, unlike most virtual environment games that run in flash windows, Tracksters does actually require you to download a program. While there are still no subscription fees to play the game after purchasing your first real-world car, this addition of a downloadable program does limit the amount of people who can actually play the game, since system requirements now come into play, with Tracksters having some pretty steep ones, in my very humble opinion.
In the end, with the game coming online just a few days prior to this writing, players should not expect perfection right out of the gate. However, with time, whatever issues are present should be resolved, allowing the true potential of Tracksters to take over and push the game to the top of the virtual entertainment spectrum where it longs to be.