PERSPECTIVE
Shoot first, ask questions later
An on-rails driving simulator can be surprisingly immersive. I may be pootling along strictly under the speed limit, but as I turn a corner I find myself leaning over in my seat as though that will help me get a better view of what’s around the bend. And it could be anything: a motorcyclist coming towards me on the wrong side of the road, a pesky jogger veering drunkenly into the gutter, a white-van man breaking all the rules of the Highway Code plus some that haven’t even been invented yet. Speed of reaction is of the essence. My clawlike hand hovers over the mouse button as we trundle slowly around the corner and I find myself holding my breath. Gran Turismo, eat your heart out.
What about the graphics, I hear you ask? As it happens, they are extremely good. Only the tiniest smidgeon short of photorealistic, I’d say. The aesthetic vibe is that of idyllic modern cruising. City levels are recognisably cluttered with shops, pedestrians and random street furniture, but they are just a bit cleaner than reality. Driving down country roads, meanwhile, grey skies reflect beautifully in puddles and the deep green of roadside fir trees is a balm for the soul. In the suburbs, everything is spacious and neat, quiet and slightly menacing, as real suburbs tend to be. The game is the quotidian car-driving equivalent of those train or bus simulators. No drifting, no handbrake turns; indeed, nothing above 40mph at the most. All it needs is the smell of pleather and petrichor and you’re really there.
It certainly seems odd at first that, despite its beautiful and aspirational visuals, this game has no sound at all, but further critical meditation reveals that this simply enhances the meditative, dreamlike quality of the experience. The player’s own private mental soundtrack supplies as much acoustic excitement as is needed, and anyway she needs to concentrate as hard as possible.
Odder still, perhaps, is the fact that the driver-player’s input should be restricted to single clicks of the mouse. There is no steering wheel, no accelerator and brake, let alone clutch and gearshift. And yet there exist many Reddit and forum threads advising players on the minutiae of exactly how to click for success. Some experts advocate a two-click solution, while others insist that a three-click strategy is more effective. The game is absurdly simple yet inscrutable and apparently capricious, unless one makes a wise choice as to which faith-based clicking tactic to adopt.
It’s a strange new world in which we’re required to play a game in order to be licensed to operate heavy machinery
You cannot play this game at home, mind. It is only available in a strange sort of arcade, that is done up to resemble a depressing if not outright Kafkaesq
