City Racing

City Racing is a sandbox racing game for Windows. The game is available for free online.

City Racing places drivers behind the wheel of a number of fictional vehicles. The game takes place in a city area with tallish buildings, featureless pedestrians, and other drivers sharing the road. The city feels nice. The buildings aren’t overbearing, and the colorfully unrealistic scenery is actually quite charming. In true sandbox fashion, the game doesn't force artificial boundaries on players, and you can take any route you want—over the grass, on the road, or through pedestrians.

The game does have set races and points of interest for players seeking a more structured experience. I, however, liked exploring the city freely. Some of my favorite moments involved evading police after accidentally hitting a pedestrian, only to watch the police willingly hit more in the process. Perverse, yes, but hilarious.

As expected, the game lacks stellar graphics. The world looks cartoonish at times, with unrefined edges and blocky scenery. For gamers without a dedicated graphics card this is good news. You’ll be able to run this game on any processor. For some hardcore gamers it will be disappointing; when combined with poor arrow based controls, it may become unplayable.

City Racing also has a few quality control issues. There's a surprising amount of grammatical errors. It reads like someone copy-pasted the text from an online translator. For gamers looking to enjoy the story-line, look elsewhere, as this completely deters from the experience. It does provide a laugh though.

If you seek a driving simulator with great graphics, meticulously edited physics, and exceptional production quality, then City Racing is not for you. If, however, you’re looking for casual, free, often laughable amusement, City Racing delivers—albeit in a very clumsy way.