Ford Racing 3 (Xbox)

The car range is massive and tracks are great, the graphics are also very good for the Xbox, however for me its not as good handling on the cars as I expected but still well recommend Ford Racing 3.

Forget the in-depth car tinkering and realistic handling of the likes of Gran Turismo or Project Gotham, with Ford Racing 3, what you get is all out, pure arcade racing.

As the name suggests, the game features nothing but Ford vehicles from past, present and future (and serves as a cheap method of advertising methinks). Vehicle behaviour is fairly basic - you just hold the accelerator down and just blast around the tracks barging other cars out of the way. There is no damage model, so this isn't realistic in the slightest, but if you're tired of racing lines and adjusting gear ratios, it's a breath of fresh air.

The cars on offer range from the Model T Ford (in any colour as long as it's black); to the Capri, Mustang and Sierra Cosworth. Every boy racer's dream. The game is split into various competitions that feature separate car classes (pick-up truck races, stock car races etc) and the races take place over a plethora of stereotypical tracks (icey, jungly, forresty, deserty and erm city-y).

The visuals are OK-ish, but not brilliant and the soundtrack can be altered to suit your own tatste via your hard drive saved tunes. Special mention must go to the Dolby surround sound on the car engines and the effects themselves. They are very good, and certainly not what you would expect from what is clearly a budget game. Ford Racng 3 is cheap and fun but is shallow and not in the same league as either the PS2 or Xbox's best racers.