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Test Drive Unlimited (PC DVD)

Atari
Need for Speed: Most Wanted (PC DVD)

Electronic Arts

If there's one thing to be said of the Need for Speed series, it's that it never stays the same for long. After only one sequel EA have decided to give the underground night racing theme a rest and let you drive in the sunlight for a change. You're still a super-illegal street racer though and indeed much of the game revolves around you being pursued by the police in some very Blues Brothers-esque chases.
Appearing to take a leaf out of Burnout's book, the game encourages you to make the most of traffic and roadside objects, in order to put off the long arm of the law or simply one of your fellow racers. The demo race so far seen features a lot of weaving in and out of traffic and some very cinematic touches such as zipping underneath a giant lorry carrying tree logs, which then spill out on the road behind you further aiding your escape.
The graphics in the game have definitely received a boost from the last one and appear far more detailed and ambitious in scope than Underground. Unsurprisingly the ability to customise your car is still a large part of the appeal, although again there's a big distinction between extras that are just for show and performance tuning that actually has an effect on the way your car performs.
It probably still won't please hardened petrolheads but if you just want a simple, accessible racing game it looks like Need for Speed is set to deliver once more. --Harrison Dent
This preview is based on an incomplete version of the game; features or problems mentioned above may not appear in the finished game.
Need For Speed: Undercover (PC DVD)

Electronic Arts
TrackMania United Forever (PC DVD)

Ascaron
Need for Speed: ProStreet (PC DVD)

Electronic Arts
GT Legends (PC DVD)

Atari
Need For Speed Underground 2 (PC CD)

Electronic Arts
Need for Speed: Carbon Collectors Edition (PC DVD)

Electronic Arts
Need for Speed: Carbon (PC DVD)

Electronic Arts
Speedball 2 (PC CD)

Pinnacle

2326: Civil War erupts; rival gangs form an ultra-violent street sport league called Speedball 2 to settle their deadly disputes. This sport quickly becomes popular, but without any rules or regulations, also more dangerous. 10 years later, Speedball has become the national sport and the teams are now professional and sponsored by well-know brands.
2 teams face each other in bloody battles for a steel ball. 9 on 9, in an all-out rush on the opponents goal, almost any malicious move is permitted. The winner of all the matches secures supremacy over the city.
GTR 2 (PC DVD)

Atari

In a nutshell:
Gran Turismo might market itself as the "real driving simulator" but compared to the attention to detail and level of simulation in GTR 2 it might as well be Mario Kart when it comes to realism.
The lowdown:
Since it's focused purely on GT racing there are no road races to compete on, but you do get 34 real word tracks and 140 different cars in three different classes. Although it is an unapologetically hardcore simulation the game does make a big effort to be as accessible as possible with a suite of driving aids and an in-depth driving school to help teach you not to use them. All this computerised help is in support of fully customisable races that let you change every variable from race length to time of day. The game also features some stunningly realistic looking graphics and an excellent online mode, with up to twenty-eight players competing at the same time. In short it's petrolhead heaven.
Most exciting moment:
As impressive as the graphics, physics and other simulation aspects are, what really makes the races exciting is the fact that the artificial intelligence for all your opponents react like real human beings, not the dull automatons of Gran Turimso.
Since you ask:
Swedish developer SimBin, who also did GT Legends on the PC, have just been signed up to create new game Race for Eidos Interactive, which will use the official license for the world touring car championship.
The bottom line:
Probably the most realistic racing simulator ever made. -HARRISON DENT
Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (PC DVD)

THQ
Robot Wars 2: Extreme Destruction

BBC Multimedia
Driv3r (PC DVD)

Focus Multimedia Ltd
Need for Speed 4 - Road Challenge

Disky
Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast (PC)

Sega
Midtown Madness 2

Microsoft

Ever fancied driving like a lunatic around the streets of London or launching a 1970s muscle car into the air from the hilltops of San Francisco like Steve McQueen in Bullit? Look no further than this excellent game Midtown Madness 2.
Building on the huge success of the original Midtown Madness title, Angel Studios, publishing under the Microsoft banner, are back with what promises to be the finest racing game to feature on the PC in a long time.
With an expanded range of cars, featuring some rather nifty European models, two cities (London and San Francisco) and improved car and street modelling, MM2 really looks the business and handles like a dream--especially when combined with a decent force-feedback steering wheel.
In addition to a handful of race modes, which encompass checkpoint-to-checkpoint action and pure flat-out speed racing, there are two new action modes for your dangerous driving enjoyment. The first, set in London, involves high-speed taxi navigation, the second (and most fun) is stunt training in Frisco--a discipline that involves huge and dangerous-looking car tricks including a rather excellent jump onto the back of a moving ferryboat. MM2 is a polished product which pushes realism aside in favour of quality gameplay. At 1024x768 my P400s frame updates were nice and smooth, pedestrians made impressive attempts to dive out of the way and the weather effects made for some interesting driving conditions.
It's difficult to say why the Midtown Madness series are so thoroughly engrossing, they just are! A combination of speed, two-way traffic and the varied races and missions, plus the opportunity to "drive" some quality hardware adds up to an experience that's rarely matched.James Gordon
Downtown Run

Focus Multimedia Ltd
Crazy Taxi 3 (PC)

Empire
Crashday (PC DVD)

Atari