Race: Caterham

There's Not Many times when, as a games journalist, you can talk about the-subjects you're playing with any measure of authority. I mean, none of us have actually fought with Jedis, shot Nazis in WWII or directed the great armies of Rome. At least not in our waking life.

RACE'S expansion however, with its three Caterhams (visually identical but with different power outputs) and two extra tracks (Imola and Estoril), is an exception to the rule. You see, I was lucky enough to have a Caterham 7 grace my driveway for an entire weekend a few months ago. So nerrrrr.

With the noise of the real-life Caterham still ringing in my ears, I eagerly set about comparing the in-game cars to the real thing. Thankfully, Simbin have nailed the important stuff; the exterior modelling, the raucous noise made by the cars, the sparse but functional interiors and the well-recreated handling (tons of grip followed by major powerslides) are all present and correct They've also included my favourite thing from my experience of the real-life car - the pops and bangs from the exhaust when you let off the throttle.

There are a few niggles like pop-up and the graphics still looking a little flat, but I far preferred Caterham to vanilla RACE. And at this price, it's fantastic value (and was even free for the first couple of days, to thank the fans). Plus, you'll never have to make a prat of yourself clambering out of one as you do in real life. Bonus.