Viper Racing

Game review

Viper Racing is a Dodge-licensed 3D car racing game, released in 1998 on the Windows PC platform. It was the first commercially released game developed by Monster Games. The first simulation of sports-car racing that features exclusively the Dodge Viper, one of the most popular racing cars on the road today. Viper Racing combines both the easy-to-master arcade racing mode and the challenge of a serious simulation mode with three levels of difficulty.

A career mode is included to let you earn money to upgrade your car and move up through three different classes of the Viper racing league. Many tracks are included, along with replays, for reviewing races later, and a garage mode, for tweaking your setup. There are also hacks, including the ability to drive planes, but none of these are particularly useful, nor well-polished, except the 'exotic' car. (Most of the vehicle models are incomplete). Viper Racing's physics were very advanced for its time, and the AI, when set to hard, can even get into car-fights with you!

With Viper Racing, players earn money in a driving “career” to upgrade their sports cars, and can eventually land the monstrous, 700-horsepower Dodge Viper GTS-R. By competing in more than 20 different races, drivers work their way up through four different classes in the Viper Racing League (VRL),
and can gradually earn more than 40 different Viper upgrades, from poly brushings to carbon fiber brake pads.

With three levels of driving realism, from a fast, fun arcade mode to the seriously simulated career mode, Viper Racing represents the next step in true sports car racing. Winning the VRL GT championship on the highest level of difficulty requires both defeating the challenging artificial intelligence and mastering eight unique tracks. 

A first for any sports car simulation, the computer opponents in Viper Racing really drive; they control their cars with only the throttle, brake, and steering, just like the player. This new concept in artificial intelligence creates an unprecedented level of realistic single-player competition. Beating the AI requires each player to drive like a pro, and tune everything from suspension settings to gear ratios in the extensive garage.

Additional features include a damage model that allows players to dent, scrape, and crash their Vipers with the most advanced collision system yet available. There’s also a full-featured paint kit, complete multiplayer support, and a ghost car mode which allows the player to race against a “ghost” of their best lap – drivers may even trade ghosts over the Internet.