Indianapolis 500 Evolution

by Destineer

Product Features

• Build your own 1960's Indy Race Car. Engineer your own Indy car by custom crafting 1960s race machines, including engines, chassis, suspension, wheels, brakes, weight distribution, appearance, and more.
• Maneuver through a moving minefield of crashes, cars and debris as you try to survive the greatest spectacle in racing.
• In Indianapolis 500 Evolution you test technology and push racing forward. Build and tweak your own custom racer for a one-of-a-kind vehicle that suits your racing style.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000SH3XHC
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 22, 2009
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,716 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #57 in Video Games > Xbox 360 > Racing

Product Description

You are the engineer of your racing destiny during the birth of modern racing. Reign supreme by pushing the bounderies of safety, reflexes and strategy in your experimental vehicle as you race against the biggest names in racing and up to 32 of your friends, at the Indianapolis 500, Milwaukee Mile, Trenton, Riverside, Hanford and Langhorne Speedway.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Fun Romp Down Memory Lane, October 10, 2009

By 

To Be Simple - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Indianapolis 500 Evolution (Video Game)

Indianapolis 500 Evolution, published by Destineer, and developed by acclaimed racing developer Brain in a Jar, is a game that covers Indycar racing from 1961-1971. I am sure that some people will dismiss this game based on its budget pricing and lack of cutting-edge graphics. However, this game is a tremendous accomplishment in terms of bringing an exciting era of Indycar racing to the Xbox 360.

First off, this game is not for people who only want a simplistic arcade-style experience. The handling here is realistic and requires a steady hand and knowledge of how to draft and race in close quarters. There are three difficulty levels. Even on the medium level it is not easy to simply go out and qualify first every race and then win. The hardest difficulty level is very tough, as any mistakes will result in a loss. That is the way Indycar racing should be, though.

Users can do a quick race from any of the eleven years between 1961-1971, using one of the actual drivers, in their actual car. There are a ton of drivers included. Andretti, Dallenbach, Brabham, Ward, Foyt, and Unser are but a few of the racing greats in this game. There is also a career mode that covers all eleven seasons. Credits are earned throughout the career to upgrade equipment. There is even the ability to mix and match chassis, gearboxes, and engines from different years. Each season includes the Indy 500 race, with the correct unique qualifying process of the Indy 500 (Bump Day included). Season scoring is tracked to determine the champ each season. One other cool thing about career mode is each opponent develops a respect rating for the user. The CPU cars will give you more room if you race clean and do not make them mad, however they will be very aggressive when you are near them if you race dirty against them. The length of races can be adjusted in either quick race or career mode. The shortest race setting is ten laps, with the longest race setting being the number of laps of a real race. At the shortest setting there will be no need to make pit stops, however the longer race settings call for pit stops to be made. There is a complete tire degradation model at work for each tire, a full damage model, and correct modeling of fuel load impacting car performance.

The other mode of play worth mentioning is the mission mode. This mode offers various challenges each year based on real-world scenarios of Indycar racing. Credits are awarded to the user for beating each mission. These credits can be used in the career mode. Also, in mission mode there are movies and photographs that can be viewed. This multimedia angle is really neat because it allows gamers to see actual narrated footage from each year between 1961-1971. People interested in the history of Indycar racing will delight in watching the movies and looking at the photos of past Indy 500s.

Graphically, Evolution is not going to knock anyone's socks off. The graphics serve their purpose and run smoothly. There are a ton of cars to choose from, and users can upgrade the chassis, gearbox, and engine over the course of the career. The actual cars from each of the eleven years are represented in the game. The cars look good. The tracks in the game are based on the real tracks from this era of racing. Obviously the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is the main attraction. It is faithfully recreated from that time period, and even changes appearance as the years move on. Other tracks include the Milwaukee Mile, Langhorne, Trenton, Hanford, and Riverside. They all have the unique characteristics that made them famous.

Overall, I am rating this game based on fun factor, racing experience, and accuracy in representing the period of racing on which it focuses. I should mention that I take racing games very seriously, so I am fairly critical when it comes to games of this genre. Indianapolis 500 Evolution will not appeal to everyone due to its somewhat realistic physics model and difficulty level, its lack of flashy graphics, and its focus on such a narrow segment of auto racing history. However, it is a great success for what it gets right -- exciting wheel-to-wheel racing in one of the most compelling eras of Indycar racing. I would gladly pay the typical 59.99 for this game, so it is a steal at half that price.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A decent racing title., October 28, 2009

By 

William T. Hurst "Photographer; Atmos Photogr... (Riverside, CA. United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Indianapolis 500 Evolution (Video Game)

First off, it's a bargain title, so don't comein expecting Gran Turismo 5 or Forza 3. That being said, this is a fairly good racing title. It's fun to run the old tracks (including my favorite and old home track, Riverside!) with the old USAC cars. Indy Roadsters, Gurney Eagles, Lolas, Mclarens, Granatelli Turbines, Lotus', etc. It's a nice history lesson, trying to drive around tracks that modern indycars can take at full throttle and realizing that there's no down force and the tires aren't as wide or sticky as modern tires.
Overall, it's a great game. The graphics are decent. Not stellar. But the gameplay is good if you're patient!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Fun, October 22, 2009

By 

Marvin Q. Miller "Marv Miller" (Grove City MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Indianapolis 500 Evolution (Video Game)

This Game is Great fun and a wonderful nostalgia trip as well. It's not for people who are into arcade type sims Like Grid but if you would like to get taste of what it was like to race back in the days of Sachs, Jones and Ward this will certainly satisfy you. Graphics are not stunning but very good and it is a huge kick to view and drive all of those great open cockpit roadsters from the sixties.
I should also mention there is a lot of great vintage film footage to view from each progressive year of racing so you can really experience the evolution and development the sport through the sixties. Worth every penny for any racing buff.