NASCAR 25 review: is this iRacing for consoles?

NASCAR. It's just one of those American things that doesn't really translate over here in Britain, like adding high fructose corn syrup to all their food, or their interpretation of the word 'fanny'. In spite of this, NASCAR 25 has arrived with no small amount of interest even in Blighty, because it's a console racing game published and co-developed by the folks who make iRacing, the most popular online sim racing service around.

Those expecting a console version of iRacing's stock car physics and iRacing-grade levels of multiplayer organisation are going to be a smidge disappointed though. Fundamentally, NASCAR 25 features similar slidey, 'fast is loose' handling, but perhaps necessarily, presents a more simplified version of these cars. Most notably, they seem more resilient to spins caused by contact in online races, which, judging by some of the driving, is probably a blessing.

Regardless, as an officially licensed NASCAR game, this nails the brief. One thing that's particularly impressive is pack racing against the AI. They are clearly tuned to produce convincing pack racing, including intelligently forming lanes and even bump drafting on superspeedways like Daytona and Talladega. It's usually a good sign when the replays look like what you see on the TV, and NASCAR 25 absolutely delivers there.

There's also a comprehensive career mode that keeps you busy as you climb from a lowly race-shop in the bottom rung ARCA series up to a slick organisation in the top-level Cup series. It's just involved enough to provide engaging connective tissue between races, but not so overwhelming that you worry about spoiling your whole career because you accidentally picked the wrong brand of shock absorber.

Given iRacing's multiplayer specialism in PC sim racing, the online mode is surprisingly bare-bones. A simple lobby list and the occasional special event are the extent of it, though the option to fill out emptier games with AI cars is welcome. On the one hand, you'd expect an iRacing-branded online experience to be a little more fleshed out, on the other, they do need to keep justifying the pricey subscription to the PC service.

Ultimately, NASCAR 25 is a faithful representation of the sport. The question is... whether you're interested in that sport. Oval racing is increasingly an acquired taste, both in sims and real-life, and while there are more 'road courses' on the calendar these days, the cars in NASCAR 25 still feel ill-suited to the rigours of having to turn right as well as left. Fans will consider this a return to form after a few ropey releases, but if you don't already love the sport, this isn't going to convert you. In fact, you'd probably find playing it a massive pain in the fanny...