Mercedes CLC Dream Test Drive puts you behind the steering-wheel of the awesome Mercedes CLC Coupé. The game is free though quite limited, as it only includes two gaming modes: a race against five other computer-controlled Mercedes through the streets of London and a single lap time trial against your personal best record. At least the scenarios are pretty realistic, giving you the opportunity to do some high-speed sightseeing around London or enjoy cool races at night.

The only choice of car available is obviously a Mercedes, but there are some customization options available such as changing color or getting new wheels. There are also three different difficulty levels that tailor the game to your driving skills.

That said, the truth is that Mercedes CLC Dream Test Drive is not a very fun driving game and it has some surprisingly odd characteristics, like the absence of driver or the fact that the car is not affected by crashes. In a way it feels more like an interactive ad than a real computer game, so unless you're a fan of the famous German car brand, I'd recommend downloading other driving games before this one.

Mercedes CLC Dream Test Drive is definitely a game for Mercedes fans: other people may find it too limited and a bit frustrating.

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Despite these minor flaws, Real Race is a fun game. There's a wide variety of cars and tracks to choose from, the majority of which are locked at the beginning of the game. It's also very easy to play, in fact, sometimes it feels it's just too easy.

Besides trying to win the race, the bonus items spread along the track spice it up a bit. However, we missed the possibility to play against other human opponents, either sharing the PC or over the Internet.

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We couldn't get the competition mode to connect - it has an online element, but the other two worked fine.

There are lots of difficulty settings, so it can be as realistic as you want it to be. Even on the easiest settings it's a tough game to win, though.

It plays like a simulation, and although you can set your opponents abilities, the only thing that they do poorly is recover from spins. Knock an opponent into a spin, and you won't hear from them for some time!

The general idea of Big City Racer is you race and train to win money, and so improve and upgrade your car. There are three to choose from at the start: VW Golf, Volvo or Ford Focus. Once you're logged in you can jump right into online racing with other players. It's pretty easy to do, with an acceptable amount of waiting around for other players and so on.

Each of the cities in Big City Racer is recognizable by its landmarks. The cities included are London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and Rome. Each has been turned into a street racing circuit, so there is no normal traffic or pedestrians.

The keyboard controls are pretty standard. Graphically, Big City Racer is nothing special, but it's not terrible. The sound, however, is pretty irritating with droning engines that sound like wasps. When you enter a Big City Racer online race, you have to pay in game currency - you start with 100 credits, and can increase that of you keep winning. However, you'll lose it if you come last!

The worst aspects of Big City Racer are the handling and the physics. The cars bounce around off each other and the side of the tracks, and feel more like karts. The collision detection with the scenery is weird - sometimes you bounce of it, other times your car will get stuck, and you'll have to reset, losing valuable time.

Free online multiplayer racing sounds great, but Big City Racer is such a characterless and basic racing game, it's difficult to recommend.

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There are two game modes - practice and single race. Practice lets you drive any vehicle solo around a track, while single race lets you do the same against up to three computer controlled opponents. The menu screens in VDrift are very basic and functional, excepting the controls menu which is very unclear!

VDrift's in game graphics are fine, although in today's HD world they are a bit out-dated, as does is the sound. The driving physics are quite good, although some vehicles really don't respond well to keyboard control, as without analogue subtlety they are liable to spinning a lot!

While free games are always good, and an open source project like VDrift is admirable, there are some things that it seems only money can buy. Artificial Intelligence is one of those. The computer drivers are all the same, and drive as if you aren't there - they don't try to avoid you, for example. In slow cars they are extremely easy to beat, and in the F1 car they are robotically perfect. The other thing this lacks is character - the whole experience feels soulless, and being free can't make up for what is a pretty dry experience.

Constantly under development, VDrift is a competent but dull racing game, that lacks game modes good AI.

Download VDrift 2009-06-15 in Softonic

I must say I haven't tried TrackMania so I can't compare, but the overall impression I got from ManiaDrive is just excellent. People often tend to think that free games can't be high-quality products, but ManiaDrive is a fun game with tutorial sessions, quick races, online competitions a highly realistic physics.

This degree of realism is precisely what makes the car quite difficult to control, especially at the beginning. But I'm sure most players will love the driving sensation provided by ManiaDrive and based on the game's philosophy, where completing a clean race is as important as being the fastest pilot.

Mania Drive includes a series of training races that are used a tutorial to teach you the basics of the game. After that, you'll be ready to start your own championship in Story mode or compete online against other players. I did miss, however, having the chance of disputing single races.

A fun, free racing game with support for online competition that requires great ability due to its realistic physics.

Download ManiaDrive 1.2 in Softonic