Trackmania United (PC) > Reviews > Trackmania United

Author's product rating:   

Playability & Enjoyment	Excellent - very playable game
Originality	Excellent - very original
Graphics	Good
Sound	Good - relevant music & effects
Difficulty & Complexity	Average - suitable for most

Advantages:	Great gameplay, Doesn't need a monster PC, Great online community .
Disadvantages:	Misses the stunt mode, Perhaps not enough new features for some people

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Trackmania United is the latest edition of the popular puzzle racing game that found a unique niche in the PC video game market. It brings together all the environments found in previous releases. Ice, Desert and rally from Trackmania Original, Island Bay and Coast from Trackmania Sunrise, and finally the Stadium environment from the freely available Trackmania nations developed specially for the Electronic Sports World Cup.

Visually the game is very good with a game engine designed to make the most of modern PC technology. That said it is possible to run the game comfortably on older machines by reducing the detail levels and special effects. But of course although impressive, fancy graphics are not what the game is about.

This version of the game has for the first time integrated online gaming, peer to peer file sharing and messaging to create an integrated community within the game environment. In the single player mode, you can practice the tracks, then when you are confident enough in your abilities on a certain track you can set an official time. This is sent to the Trackmania United server where it is placed against other players from around the world. I find this one of the most enjoyable modes, trying to shave tenths of seconds off my time to get a better score. What is most compelling for me is you are competing against real players from around the world.

The on-line gaming is also very good with a great community of players brought from the previous versions of the games. The servers are often full, and new to this version, the servers are rated and you are offered servers which match your experience and ability to the game. Which is good and doesn't mean you're always last when starting out.

Finally there is the editor modes where you can create new challenges in the seven environments, then either post them within the game in one of the challenge slots, which makes them available in the single player modes. or you can publish the tracks you create on one of the many community sites that have sprung up around the games. There is also a paint shop where you can design your own design and paint job on all the cars in the game.

For such a glowing review so far there has to be some downsides. Well my main disappointment is the absence of the stunt mode, included first in the sunrise game, then added to the update of the original game. This was a fun mode where the object is not to get to the finish the quickest, but to get as many points from performing stunts on the way. My only other concern is while I am a fan of the series and pretty much bought the game the day it came out in the shops, there perhaps isn't enough to tempt new players to the game that have never played it before.

All in all I can't fault the game myself. it does everything it says it does, and does it very well. If you're not convinced, download the free Trackmania Nations first to get a taster, I'm sure once you've tried it, you'll come back for the full fat, full fun Trackmania United.