Everyone whose someone in Formula One (F1), remembers one the most memorable qualifying laps ever performed: Alain Prost, driving a +1100hp Maclaren Tag Porsche Turbo - the most powerful F1 ever allowed - at the Monaco circuit, and bringing Ron Dennis the Pole Position. It is said that the car was so "muscled" and sudden, that Prost really had to drive it, on his "tiptoes". How is your basic Maths? 1100 hp for ~700 kg, gives over 1.5 hp per kg...

Back in the days of turbo powered F1 cars and NO traction control, you had to be really special to "feel" every micro change on the car, to keep it on track. Nowadays, F1 isn't so good on showing the true differences between drivers: #1) the car's passive security makes everyone comfortable on daring the limits, knowing that the chances of getting hurt are minimal; #2) traction control allows you to full throttle all the time, not worrying about wheel spinning; #3) carbon brakes actually get better when very hot, contrary to the good old steel disks who had to be taken care of; #4) drivers don't really have to understand the car, since telemetry dictates the setup; #5) and so on... and NO, I am not 110 years old! - these are just facts: F1 *was* more demanding, back in the 1980s.

These days, the motorsport that gets closer to the numbers of the 1980s F1 is... Truck Racing!

Truck racing is about trucks who vomit +1500 hp, have NO traction control, NO ABS, and usually carry *hundreds* of liters (~500 liters per race) of water for their water cooled brakes. These trucks do 0-100 as fast as a Ferrari Modena, but are electronic limited to 162 kph of top speed. If it wasn't for the electronic limitation, these monsters could fly over 250 kph, on the racing circuits where they actually race, but because no wings are allowed, that would make them very unsafe...

Synetic brings the PC scene a great racing simulator: "Mercedes Benz Truck Racing" (MBR). MBR is your chance to understand truck racing and indeed feel how it diverts from regular car racing. For example, if you are out of a GP3 session, you'll need some minutes to resync yourself with a new driving attitude. If you are totally unexperienced with MBR, then you'll need more than these "few minutes"...

As always, I played this simulator on the most realistic settings: no automatics, and 100% strong adversaries. Just like in GP Legends, you'll have to be perfect to defeat the pack, and I know NOT any other simulator where things are this real, in what comes to the opposition strength. For example, if you're into GP3 (GP2 and a half, really), you'll know that some setups will catapult you to the pole position, and - strangely - no other driver, including your teammate, will ever discover that same setup... These problems simply don't exist on MBR: you'll have to *SWEAT* (A LOT) to score a win, on the max realism settings. And I like that. In the competition chapter, MBR feels like the unbeatable GP Legends, only with trucks.

But a racing simulator is not just about the competition. #1) Graphics? #2) Sound? #3) Track accuracy? #4) Handling?
These obvious first questions are remarkably easy to answer: #1) the best graphics you can imagine, should you have a powerful enough PC; #2) sound isn't that faithful, having a tendency for low frequencies... (but still is very good!); #3) Zolder, the only track I really know, is very accurate, but the detail that should impress you the most, is the curbs' height: most racing games don't reproduce curbs as they really are, and some gamers even think they are just some red & white marks on the tarmac! MBR clearly shows you what a curb is, and how it can affect you vehicle; #4) Great handling, with exemplary force feedback - notice that I only drive with a MS Force Feedback Wheel (USB). But the handling is not just about the X axis; the accelerator and the brake pedals are very sensitive and they will reward realistic driving styles. For example, if you're used to full throttle at the exit of every corner, you'll lose time, because of wheel spinning, and you'll end up with no tires, soon.

Negative points? You can be black flagged **too easily**; it is just a matter of slightly cutting a corner (as slightly as just touching the grass / sand, in some cases). Curiously, you won't be black flagged for close encounters with the opposition :). Finally, I would like to race against more than just 8 trucks max, all Mercedes. I would appreciate some Scanias and Volvos on the field... yet, the game is honest on its title "Mercedes Benz Truck Racing"...

Extras? A perfect replay system, with integrated editor, for you to cut and distribute your best moments. I should also mention that, just like in GP Legends, you can turn your head left and right, inside the cockpit.

Overall: Mandatory PC racing title. It is a true simulator. And it is a fresh genre. Not advised for those of the light brigade, or magazine reviewers who can't stand not winning a race, 5 minutes after the game being installed.

Test PC fundamentals: Dual P3@1000 MHz on Asus CUV4X-DLS (check 220501); 1 GB PC133 RAM; CL GeForce 2 Ultra. Windows 2000.