| Days of Thunder | |
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NASCAR Edition logo |
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| Developer(s) | Piranha Games |
| Publisher(s) | Paramount Digital Entertainment |
| Series | Days of Thunder |
| Platform(s) | Macintosh (Steam), Microsoft Windows (Steam), PlayStation 3 (PSN), Xbox 360 (XBLA) |
| Release date(s) | PSN
XBLA
Windows, Mac
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| Genre(s) | Racing |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) |
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| Media/distribution | Download |
Days of Thunder (known as Days of Thunder: NASCAR Edition on the PlayStation 3 and Days of Thunder: Arcade on the Xbox 360) is a 2011 Stock car racing video game produced by Paramount Digital Entertainment and developed by Piranha Games for Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was released February 22, 2011 on the PlayStation 3 and February 25, 2011 on the Xbox 360. It is a spinoff of the 1990 film Days of Thunder in which the player is a rookie driver coached by Rowdy Burns, the antagonist from the film. The game received very little reception from critics; those that did review the game had generally negative commentary. Reviewers felt that the cars handled unrealistically, but one reviewer noted that some issues could be fixed with a patch.
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The PlayStation 3 version of the game will include 12 NASCAR sanctioned tracks, including Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, and more than 12 select NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers, including Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart.[3] All versions will feature the Days of Thunder characters Cole Trickle, Rowdy Burns, and Russ Wheeler. The Macintosh, Windows, and Xbox 360 versions will not have the NASCAR lineup, but will still feature the fictional drivers from the film.[4]
Both versions feature a single player season and multiplayer support for up to twelve players.[5] Days of Thunder has four different game modes: Quick Race, Time Trial, Career, with circuits of varying difficulty, and Derby Mode, where players are encouraged to deal as much damage as they can.[6] Three basic vehicle types are available in the game; Accelerators are lighter cars with increased speed but are more susceptible to damage, Intimidators are heavier and more capable of handling damage, but have a lower top speed, finally Regulators have a medium weight, medium top speed, and have average damage resistance.[7]
In a interview with producer Jeff Dickson, the history behind the game was revealed. The game was created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Days of Thunder film. The NASCAR Edition is intended to be a union of NASCAR and the film, and features drivers from the movie as well as NASCAR drivers from the past and present.[5] Both versions of the game were designed with arcade-based gameplay. During development trailers fictional drivers had liveries coinciding with Paramount Pictures and Days of Thunder, as well as other Paramount Pictures films such as Top Gun, Transformers and Iron Man 2.[8] At release only the Days of Thunder, Paramount Pictures, and other fictional racing liveries/sponsors remained.[9] Michael Rooker returns to voice the character Rowdy Burns in the game.[9]
When asked why the game would not be a simulation, Dickson replied, "Well, we wanted to stay away from that because the games that are out there that do that do it well."[5] Developer Piranha Games wanted to ensure that players spent most of their time on the track, so aside from visual modifications, the ability to customize cars is limited. "We don't want you to spend lots of time outside the game, we want you on the race track," stated Dickson.[5] The AI drivers in the game were designed to adapt to the player's typical racing style. "If you're kind of an aggressive driver, they're gonna drive aggressive against you," Dickson remarked.[5]
Days of Thunder received very little critical reception, with no known reviews published for the PlayStation 3 NASCAR Edition and very few published for the Xbox 360 Arcade version. Of the reviews published critics gave negative reviews. Scott Ellison of Saving Content panned the game. He stated "simply put, do not buy this game."[10] Steve Melton of XBLAFans agreed. He felt that with an title update the game could improve, but that it felt "like it was a contract job."[11] The vehicle physics and handling were particular points of negative commentary. Ellison said that "the cars feel as if they don’t have any weight to them."[10] Melton concurred and added that the handling was overly sensitive. "Sneeze and the car’ll be in the wall", he stated.[11] Melton did concede that the steering could be adjusted in the game's options, but that the default configuration would dissuade most players from even looking there.[11] In the May 2011 issue of Official Xbox Magazine the game also received extremely poor reception. The reviewer stated "Do yourself a favor: stay as far away from this wreck as possible."[12]
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