NASCAR 25

"I have only three things to say: God bless our troops, God bless America, and gentlemen... START YOUR ENGIIIINEEEEES!" Few short clips make me as happy in such a short time as Kevin James' now 15-year-old NASCAR roar does. It's incredibly memorable, just as iconic as NASCAR racing can sometimes be. And it has been in recent years, as they have offered insanely entertaining racing that has taken place on tracks that are relatable to those who have spent hours in the world of sim-racing. I prefer European touring car racing and GT3 to NASCAR any day of the week, and I'd rather watch IndyCar, but at the same time, I'd be lying if I tried to claim that NASCAR doesn't trigger my burning interest in racing, as it always has.

For example, I will never forget Papyrus' iconic NASCAR Racing 3 from 1999, which in many ways pushed the boundaries of what was possible in the racing genre, set a new standard, and entertained on the most regal (and most realistically uncompromising) of premises. Over the past ten years, however, NASCAR games have not only fallen into oblivion, despite being developed and released, they have become so boring that I have simply skipped most of them with the NASCAR logo on the cover. Unfortunately. Motorsport Games' much-maligned NASCAR 21: Ignition was not good, nor were Monster Games' latest titles such as NASCAR: Heat 4, Heat 3 and Heat 2. I didn't like NASCAR: Heat Evolution either, and I have long considered Monster Games to be consistently mediocre when it comes to developing entertaining racing games.

It was therefore a little sad to see iRacing Motorsports Simulation, with Papyrus icon and simulation guru Dave Kaemmer at the helm, buy up Monster Games just over three years ago, so that they could continue to develop licensed NASCAR games for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox under a new name. Their first title since then, under the name iRacing Studios, is now here and it's called NASCAR 25. I've been testing it (the console version) for just over a week and I'd be lying if I said I was particularly impressed.

NASCAR 25 is not based on the game engine from the world's most popular racing simulator, iRacing, but has been built on Unreal Engine 5 with parts of the NASCAR physics borrowed from iRacing, according to Kaemmer himself. The car models have been transferred to ensure extreme realism in how they look and function, according to the developers themselves, but even there... Right from the start, it's clear that Keammer & Co have put more effort into marketing platitudes than actual development, because even from the first race there are plenty of things to complain about regarding how "realistic" these borrowed car models are. Namely, they lack a lot of details from the real cars. There are no brake flaps, no brake details, the driver doesn't even touch the sequential gear stick when shifting gears if you use cockpit view, and it quickly becomes obvious to me that this is not a simulator based on iRacing, as the developers have said. This is NASCAR Heat again, marketed as an iRacing game.

The developers' idea here is not extreme realism, as there is a lack of detail in the force feedback portion and how it's supposed to convey what is happening in the cars. Nor is the idea that you should drive this in a sim-rig with a direct drive steering wheel, as the game feels dead and devoid of dynamics and power. This is optimised for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X with the idea that you should, of course, drive NASCAR 25 with your controller, and that should have been communicated better. In my opinion, this is as much an "uncompromising simulation of NASCAR as a motorsport" as Gran Turismo 7 is an uncompromising representation of real GT racing. Neither of these statements is true, and that's perfectly fine, but to say so in developer diaries, interviews, and trailers is obviously dishonest.

The racing itself in NASCAR 25, with DualSense in hand, is perfectly fine. The weight of the car is conveyed relatively well, while the feeling of speed is lacking. The shift in centre of gravity feels like it comes from 2006, while the friction emulation is unoriginal at best. However, I like how the tracks feel and that the racing on ovals are conveyed as cramped, tight, and messy, which many NASCAR games have unfortunately failed to convey. However, it takes much more to enchant here than NASCAR 3 once did. Much, much more.

The same applies to the career mode, which in many ways resembles an afterthought characterised by a lack of time more than anything else. There are 150 licensed, real NASCAR drivers in this game and all the teams are included, plus all the cars. However, none of this is of any use in the career mode, which is so thin that it resembles an early access story. At the beginning, you get to choose a driver, choose the colour of his overalls and car, and then the rest is just about jumping between different races and trying to win. There is no story here, no sense of context, no scope, and nothing at stake. It's mostly meaningless, hollow, and unoriginal and should have been simmered in the developer's pot for another year to reach the same level as, for example, Braking Point in F1 25.

The same applies to the graphics, both in general and in terms of detail. As mentioned, iRacing Studios has worked with Unreal Engine 5, and even though it shines here and there, this game looks like it's ten years old. I was initially quite sure that they had used the 17-year-old iRacing graphics engine here with some simple upgrades, and honestly believe that it would have been better, bizarrely enough, if they had done so. In the end, it feels a bit like the former Monster Games (now iRacing Studios) has nothing to say and perhaps lacks the burning passion for motorsport as such to really do it justice. It also feels to me as if this entire product is a demo, or an early version of something to come, as too many bugs have been exposed during my hours of play and much of it feels unfinished.

I feel that iRacing Studios is ultimately using this product to lure you, the player, into the extremely expensive iRacing, where the NASCAR experience is significantly, significantly better in terms of driving, and that in itself is more than a little absurd.