Ford Racing 3 - PS2

Experience the drive of your life with Ford Racing 3. From the 1928 Model T up to the latest concept vehicles, FR3 offers unparalleled access to one of the finest collections of automobiles in the world. Old favourites from the first two games in the series are of course included - Thunderbird, GT40, Mustang, Galaxie and all variations thereon - and for the first time in Ford Racing, Europe gets a look in, with the inclusion of the Capri, Escort Cosworth, RS200 and Sierra RS500 to name a handful.

The start of the game is always the best place to begin. Ahem. Create a profile and you can go racing for rewards in competitions. The main menu offers Single and Multiplayer games, and within these modes, you'll discover another menu with three headers: Ford Competition, Ford Challenge and Ford Collection. This is where the real action takes place. Ford Competition lets you engage in more than a dozen different races to win trophies and vehicles, and to make new race types and tracks available. Ford Challenge is, to be honest, pretty much along the same lines, apart from the fact that the races are a series of pre-determined races and challenges that - when won - open the respective challenge's vehicle, track and race type for you to keep in your collection. Finally, Ford Collection is where you can race all the vehicles you've made available along the way. As you make progress in Ford Racing 3, and in addition to opening up more of the game's rewards, there's the matter of Driver Rating. The better your performance, the more Driver Rating points you gain. The more you gain, the nearer you get to being a Ford Legend.

For a game that'll cost you no more than a score, Ford Racing 3 is something of a bargain. Granted, it won't win any awards for innovation, but the gameplay is solid: as long as you bypass the 'Easy' difficulty setting (never was a setting so aptly names) the less-demanding race fan will doubtlessly enjoy FR3, along with the thousands of PS2-owning Ford fanatics out there. more