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GTR - THE ULTIMATE Racing Game is a new title under development that started life as a mod for EA's F12002 PC game. GTR focuses on the FIA GT championship in Europe, a series that boasts some of the biggest names in the supercar world. The impressive list of available cars is exciting, but not the most important factor. The list of tracks is also promising, but other games have allowed you to race the same cars at the same tracks. So what will set GTR apart from the rest? It's simple. Detail.

This isn't supposed to be a cop-out for giving a less than full preview, but we feel it's important to understand that the press demo we have been allowed to play is missing a number of features as well as being limited in it that it only contained one track, Spa, and 2 cars. The Lister Storm, and the slower and uniquely shaped Morgan Aero 8. It did however give us a huge insight to the level of detail GTR promises to give.

Detail is the single biggest selling factor amongst the hardy silicon racers around the world. Detail is what counts in a genre where the players don't count race wins as much as they count lap times to the 100th of a second. From what we have seen, even in this limited demo, GTR will have it in abundance.

If you have raced one of the F-1 sims from EA, or any of the many mods available for them, there will be certain aspects of GTR that will seem familiar. The interface is quite different, but with many of the same options peppered though out its carbon fibre and chrome screens. The interface is slick, but maybe not as user-friendly as it could be. The target audience will probably see past this, however, and switch on to navigating the various menus rather quickly.

There is a host of key commands on offer, many of which don't appear to be used in the game, or at least for the cars presented in the demo. This could be a throwback for using an enhanced ISI game engine at its core, or a sign that there?s more to come, or both. A racing wheel is a must, and better still, a force feedback wheel. Owners of Momo, Act Labs or Microsoft wheels will get to experience enhanced force feedback effects, but you won't be disappointed with the standard effects.

Two modes of game play were available, simulation and semi-pro. It was hard to tell the difference between the two, but things like tyre temperature didn't seem to be a factor in semi-pro, but was critical in simulation mode. Unfortunately arcade mode wasn't available which would have been fun to test. We guess that arcade mode will be the best way to get noobie racers into the world of simulation racing.

Taking the Lister Storm out for the first lap, what immediately hit us was the sound. It's very hard to describe the aural symphony that explodes with the firing of the 12 cylinders in the front of the car. With an ingenious use of the mouse, you can raise and lower the driving position as well as move the seat forward or back to get you in the perfect position. Select first gear and pull out of the garage into pit strait, rev limiter on until you clear the pits and then things really start happening. Almost every conceivable sound screams at you, matching what the great graphics are showing you. Transmissions whine, exhausts pop, rumble strips rumble and engines roar. You even hear the sound of debris being flung up into the bottom of the car. One thing that did seem to be lacking was any tyre noise. Pushing around a corner too fast should have had the tyres reporting their disagreement, but none could be heard.

The tactile feel though a force feedback wheel is in a word awesome. You feel the car biting the road over every bump, and there are a lot of bumps. One of the points Simbin have tried to convey with the press demo is how detailed the tracks are. In their words "every curb-shape and every bump in the road just as it is in reality". While not exactly being in a position to confirm this, we can say that gone are the days of the super smooth racing surfaces. It will be a brave person that moves off the racing line onto the rough part of the track. As well as having less grip (and a build-up of dirt is promised over a race), things get very bumpy and easily unsettle the car. Fast laps will require ultimate control of your car.

Graphically, GTR is very attractive. The track we played, Spa, was rendered in great detail. The trees around the track actually sway in the breeze, cast shadows on the track and even inside the car. They even reflect off the cars windows and super-duper wax jobs. Dirt builds up on the windscreen over a period of time and if you hit a wall, it will bare the marks for the whole session. We weren't convinced that the damage modeling was complete and it may not be but the fact that your bonnet can fly off given a hard enough nudge exposing the engine bay is another example of the detail in GTR.

Although the physical appearance of the car may not show certain types of damage, you certainly feel it in the cars. The small change in the way the car drives from a wee tap on an armco is amazing, forcing a change in driving because suddenly the front end steps out when turning to the right. Ask the pit for telemetry info and they will tell you that you have some "aero' damage", and "you had better pit in". More serious damage can result in the pit getting on the blower and warning you of impending disaster. You can overheat and wear out your tyres making for some interesting cornering, but you can?t destroy them totally yet, something we would like to see implemented.

Even though we only got to lap spa all on our lonesome, the pressure to get around cleanly and quickly was huge. It may cause those who aren't use to this level of realism to give up, so hopefully the Arcade mode will help out there. We never got to sample any weather modeling, multi-play or race situations. There was enough in the demo to impress us big time. We always suspected that GTR - The Ultimate Racing Game would be good. Now we have seen the detail that has gone into it so far, we now think its going to be great!

Show me the screenshots!