Street Racing Syndicate E3 2004 Preshow Hands-On Impressions

We recently got to check out a new build of Street Racing Syndicate, the underground street racer currently in development at Eutechnyx, at a recent press event. Formerly scheduled to be published by 3DO before the company's demise, the game is now on Namco's roster, and Eutechnyx has been using its extra time with SRS to polish the game up in preparation for its August release on all three consoles. From what we played, it looks like SRS may, in fact, have enough unique features to give games like Need for Speed Underground a run for the money.

SRS has you participating in a ring of illegal underground street races for money and bragging rights. As you race against other drivers, you'll build up cash rewards that you can put toward upgrades for your car (or for a new car entirely, since there are more than 40 in the game). Unlike some other games in the genre, SRS features real, licensed upgrade parts, so diehard gearheads will be able to identify their favorites and can really tailor their cars' loadouts to suit their tastes. You'll be able to highly customize the look of your car, too, with paint jobs, vinyl graphics, decals, and so on.

One interesting feature in SRS is the game's inclusion of a dyno machine to let you test out the performance of your car as you upgrade it. You can put your car on the dyno with a test configuration of parts and upgrades, and the game will provide you with actual data indicating the horsepower and other relevant data necessary for gaining an idea of how well you'll be able to compete against rival gangs in the game (or against rival human opponents online).

In fact, the online play in SRS ought to be a draw for a lot of players for one risky reason: You can actually bet--and you can actually lose--your car online. Indeed, few games let you risk so much on one race, but in some races, you'll actually have just one chance to keep your hard-earned car (in addition to winning the other guy's) by performing well. Not all of the online play will be structured in this manner, but for those confident enough in their skills and for those who like to live on the edge, this facet of the online experience ought to prove especially interesting.

From what we played, SRS is shaping up to be a solid racer. We took a quick spin through some city streets at night and found the game to play pretty well. SRS features a lot of depth for the driving aficionado, since all of the cars' performances and handling are realistically modeled on their real-life physical properties. That is to say, a rear-wheel-drive car will actually feel like a rear-wheel drive, and so on. The game also features an analog clutch for that last bit of precision.

Street Racing Syndicate seems to have come together well since we last saw it, though Eutechnyx is still hammering out some of its design details. So, for instance, the police will definitely have a presence in the game, though to what extent remains to be determined. Aside from this, everything else we saw looked pretty polished for a game that's still got a few months to go. We'll bring you more coverage on Street Racing Syndicate in the near-future.