NASCAR Thunder is a competent game that looks like it's only going to get better as time goes on.
In its latest horsepower-packed ode to stock cars, NASCAR Thunder 2004, Electronic Arts journeys to a PC world blissfully free of a solid competitor. Papyrus' groundbreaking NASCAR Racing series quietly departed earlier this year--an unfortunate and much-mourned victim of spiraling licensing costs--and games like Hasbro's NASCAR Heat are now just a distant memory. To EA's credit, it hasn't stood pat. Enlisting, for a second year, the services of Image Space, the same team responsible for EA's critically acclaimed F1 Formula 1 simulation, it has upgraded and clearly improved upon last year's questionable NASCAR Thunder 2003. Yet it hasn't quite raised the bar high enough to make any serious sim driver forget about the NASCAR Racing series. As it sits, NASCAR Thunder is a competent game that looks like it's only going to get better as time goes on.

Download: 170 MB