NASCAR '06: Total Team Control

For many years now, EA Sports has held onto the top spot for Nascar racing games. Until now, Nascar games have been primarily single racer games where the player pitted themselves against the world in order to win their races on their own. However, EA is looking to change all of that with the 2006 entry to their Nascar franchise. Nascar 06 will take the series in a brand new direction by making races a team effort, and requiring players to develop alliances with other racers in order to progress successfully. Nascar 06 is a real innovation for the series and should add a compelling new element with team racing.

As in real Nascar racing situations, your racing team in the game operates as a cohesive unit. Using a headset or communicator of some sort, you can call out commands to the other racers on your team and basically tell them what to do when figuring out the best winning strategy. The voice recognition technology is very responsive and picks up on many different words and command variations. To give you an example of how responsive and sensitive the voice recognition is, you will be fined if you swear too much, as the game will be programmed to pick up on stuff like that. However, if you don’t have a headset, you will be able to use the right analog stick to dole out commands to your teammates.

The gameplay mechanics have also been adjusted a bit. Now, if you completely total your car, then you can’t finish the race. Also, you have access to some cool new techniques, like bump drafting, that will help you progress through the game. As you complete the career mode, you’ll gain more teammates and be able to buy better racers to be in your group.

Aside from the single-player elements, Nascar 06 will allow for 4 player online racing when it releases.

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