Swedish developer SimBin has made its name on creating compelling and deep racing sims on the PC, and is widely revered in driving enthusiast circles as some of the best of the genre. Now, after substantially cutting their teeth on PCs, the company has launched Race Pro, a new racer exclusively for Xbox 360. As SimBin’s first console driving sim, does Race Pro have what it takes to hang with the likes of the Forza series? Race Pro mostly succeeds, offering great driving mechanics and incredibly realistic racing, but falters a bit due to some presentation issues, including a weak aesthetic and relatively few race tracks.

For those unfamiliar with SimBin’s PC games, Race Pro is a driving sim in the same vein of Forza 2, allowing you to race in a variety of circuits and tournaments. The gameplay focuses very heavily on realism, with handling and on-track performance being meticulously recreated for a realistic experience.

You’ll also be able to tweak the cars in your garage, modifying them through six different categories. These changes will have a pretty big impact on the way your car handles, and tuner enthusiasts should have a lot of fun changing their car’s on-track capabilities.

The game’s controls and car handling are smooth and definitely the most engaging elements in the game. Driving enthusiasts will undoubtedly appreciate this. Unfortunately, they won’t appreciate the bland and uninspired look of the whole experience. Race Pro only offers 13 tracks throughout the various tournaments and classes, and none of the tracks really stand out against each other, and in terms of look or design, they feel quite dated and not terribly compelling.

Not to say that Race Pro doesn’t have any truly exciting moments. The AI is very sharp and will exploit any perceived weakness you show them to win the race. Any small mistake will provide them with an opening and could potentially lose the race for you. Hardcore enthusiasts will love this, but casual gamers might grow frustrated quickly. Luckily for them, there are ample sliders and tweaks to allow them to gear the gameplay experience as they see fit, which is a great touch.

Graphically, Race Pro looks good, even great in certain parts. The car models look fantastic, with high poly-counts and well executed look. Unfortunately, from there, the whole look degrades substantially. The tracks aren’t nearly as exciting or as detailed as the cars, feeling rather bland and uninspired and the vehicle damage doesn’t really hold up very well. Additionally, there are a variety of polish quirks that rear their ugly heads throughout the races, including screen tearing and framerate stutters.

The sound doesn’t really fare too well either. The sound effects are serviceable, but the music is pretty average and doesn’t stand out for the racing genre. There are some performance quirks here, as well, that will further pull you out of the immersion.

Race Pro features some well-executed driving mechanics, but the racing itself feels tired and uninteresting, especially when held up to other driving sims like Forza 2.

Gameplay: 7.5
The game does a fine job of nailing the physics and handling that driving sims make their bread and butter, and the AI is very sharp and difficult (yet tweakable), but the actual racing feels plain and uninspired.

Graphics: 7.0
A mixed bag, with meticulously detailed car models that look great, and framerate stutters and bland tracks that don’t.

Sound: 7.0
The soundtrack is doesn’t really bring much new to the table, but the sound effects are decent. There are some glitches in the execution.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 7.0
Race Pro is a noble effort to bring the depth and complexity of SimBin’s PC racing games to the Xbox 360, but the uninspired tracks and presentational issues keep it from truly being a great racer.

Multiplayer: 7.5
The online component is quite fun, allowing you race in twelve player races.

Overall: 7.5
Race Pro offers solid driving mechanics, but the presentation and racetracks are sorely lacking, leaving the game in the dust of other driving sims like Forza 2.