A flawed but endearing game
I bought 1NSANE back when it was first released. I still don't get the name, but I had a lot of fun with it. When I found it on sale, I immediately snatched it up. Coming back to the game was an eye-opener. While it's got some issues that I don't remember from back then, it's still a worthy purchase for the right person.
The game was very advanced for its time. I'm a racing game junkie and when I see Codemasters on the box, I buy. This didn't disappoint back then, and it's surprisingly good today. It's sparse graphically, but it works here. There's also support for 1920x1080 resolution, which shocked me. The game engine is apparently more scalable than I assumed.
Two main problems with it: controls and hysics. Controls are good for the era: I'm playing with an Xbox One controller and while quirks abound and need to be addressed, it's possible to make the game control well enough. The main problem is that some weird defaults seem to exist, so the left thumb stick LR axis functions as up and down. Be warned, you absolutely need analog controls for at least the throttle, if not the steering as well. Even with analog the steering works in digital steps, and adjusting the One controller to this isn't easy thanks to the settings given. It's possible but it takes some experimenting.
The physics are realistic, but punishingly so. The vehicles seem to flip over and spin out far too easily. The flip side of this is that your opponents often struggle with the same thing. Again, you need a light touch on the throttle and steering to combat this. But when you figure it out and everything works perfectly, the joy of winning is immense. The game progression is lacking though and doesn't give much reason to push forward,
I could probably go on about this game for at least another thousand characters, but GOG has a limit, so I've trimmed it down. It's very much still a good game, I didn't even get into damage or vehicle models, if you're a fan of racing games, buy it cheap.
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