Consistently successful simulation

After much superior for quite streaky reviews I have myself but decided to buy NASCAR '09. The first thing I want to clarify what: the Game got from me four stars because only NASCAR Racing 2003 earned by Papyrus five, for me one of the best racing games out there. As some know, EA Papyrus has trumped a few years ago and thus unfortunately a monopoly for NASCAR games. NASCAR 09 is to come for me the first serious approach of EA in the footsteps of Papyrus.
But before the start of my assessment, I must digress a bit because of previous bad reviews:

Playing with GT5P or other änlichen simulations to compare is unfäir and unnecessary. Because the appeal of oval racing is understood by only a few accounts. This stimulus is lacking in any game that has nothing to do with NASCAR and the other way around, it is exactly constitutes the charm of GT5P you will not find even in NASCAR '09. And the graphics in a simulation plays a subordinate role, the degree of realism is more important. The fellow who wrote that the NASCAR Racing 9+ Ultra was earlier, I admit right hiebei If, however, about the Papyrus series, not of EA. These are two different beasts.

Now for the game:
NASCAR '09 does many things right: it serves the needs of beginners and for professionals and also for intervening. This starts with the numerous settings in terms of difficulty and driving aids (which by the way can be changed at any time) and ends at the various chairs. Whoever wants to can first start with the Craftsman Truck Series, then complete the Grand National League until finally be coming in Sprint Cup. At the same time you can selbt continually increase the difficulty, if one trusts more. The car setup is good, because of which there are two types namely: A Basic setup and a detailed setup. At Basic Setup has a few sliders (translation, over / under control, Aerodynamic, hardness of the landing gear, etc.) with which you can adjust the car roughly. Ideal for beginners. These controls intervene in the detailed setup, ie if you have moved a control, you can watch afterwards in detail Setup what this has done. In detail setup can even tweak each little setting, it is approximately comparable to that of NR2003. It has also been given a rookie and veteran setup that you can load and edit if you want one way. Of course, all setups can be saved. Constantly accompanied a Jeff Gordon as a mentor. Although this is now not overwhelming but a nice feature, quite well done.
If you are then on the track, a covered first, some shortcomings in the game to:
The graphics are not really impressive but functional. The cockpit itself looks great, but the textures are quite blurred in the distance. The graphic is reminiscent of the NFS ProStreet, a game which also appeared for PS2 and 3, after which the limitations are.
The rear view mirror is not completely visible in the car, in the truck already. However, the standing will be displayed directly on the rearview mirror, which makes this temporarily unusable. Which we are already at the next: the HUD can not be disabled completely.
The sound itself is OK, me, the engine sound is personal but too deep. When you get goosebumps NR2003 the further you rotate the rocker-V8 to the 9000 border. Even at high speeds the engine at NASCAR '09 sounds still pretty quiet.

The Fährgefühl itself, however, is great. It is really fun in the thick pinched by several opponents to his way forward. The car feels authetisch, as far as I can tell. The sense of speed is often criticized at this point, however, one must remember that you are here on some very wide ovals on the road, with a very broad road. That is not to impress a then 200 mph is normal for me. The game of course waived on any "sense of speed-enhancing" effects, as streaking etc. Something has lost nothing in a simulation. The often criticized ForceFeedback I find not too bad, but there are better.

But a big plus is the full support for steering wheels with H-circuit and clutch pedal. And this is where the game an advantage over NR2003, in my opinion: you can let the clutch slip properly. In NR2003 the clutch pedal is recognized as axis works in the game but rather as a switch, which makes pretty stupid the start. Not so with NASCAR '09, here you can anfrahren really nice.
Although there are a few small problems with the H-circuit support: For me incomprehensible reasons one can not control his car at pit stops and caution periods even themselves. The car then switches course itself. So it can happen that the car has entered a different course than oneself, which makes for confusion if one does not notice the same.

Conclusion:
I think NASCAR 09 quite succeeded. The technology does not impress, but does the job. But the game is very extensive, since it also gives special tasks in addition to the normal race, and there is not only limited to the Sprint Cup. Numerous configuration options make it interesting for both beginners and experienced drivers. Is on the opposite side that you can not control yourself the car at yellow flags and pit stops. Also, there are no full at startup Pace lap from the pit lane, it starts a few seconds before the green flag is swung and only then also gets control.
The game can not catch up with NR2003, but is a good approach. Fans of the series Papyrus can confidently take a look on it here.