Speed Challenge - Jacques Villeneuve's Racing Vision Demo

Regardless of whether the cars of the future will run on electricity, hydrogen or concentrated dark matter, people are going to use them for racing. Until then, however, you can have some fun with futuristic video games and experience the joy of speed from the comfort of your own home. Skill and good reflexes are still required, but you are much less liable to break something if everything takes place in a virtual environment.

Speed Challenge - Jacques Villeneuve's Racing Vision is a realistic racing simulator that allows you to see how the F1 competitions are going to look in the nearby future. There are no mind-shattering technical advancements, though, so the experience should be very familiar to the fans of the competitions, especially if you happen to own a few other Formula 1 simulators.

In essence, the design of the cars themselves is not too different, although there are some key changes when it comes to aerodynamics and mechanical capabilities. The top speed is not too incredible either, although the vehicles do seem to accelerate faster, which makes it very important for you to brake at the right time, in order to avoid damaging the car.

The futuristic part comes into action when you hit the first wall, since although the car gets damaged and becomes quite unstable for a while, it repairs itself after a few seconds. Naturally, this still slows you down a bit, but the gimmick also makes mistakes rather acceptable. There is also an autopilot function, which can come in handy when you need to concentrate on something else.

Visually, the game really does look great, especially when you take into consideration the fact that it was released quite a few years ago. The cars are very detailed and the tracks contain a lot of decorative models, including crowds, trees, buildings and local landmarks. A great deal of work went into the sound department as well, since the engines roar convincingly and the tires screech like they mean it.

In the end, Speed Challenge - Jacques Villeneuve's Racing Vision may come with a few weird ideas, but the overall product is quite enjoyable and well done. The simulation part is pretty convincing and you can definitely put your abilities to the test out on the track.