The legendary Le Mans racing franchise has been a mixed bag from its original appearance on the PS One. That iteration was poorly conceived from the ground up. A year and a half later, Infogrames rebuilt the game and released a stellar product on the Dreamcast. This latest version appearing on the PS2 has attempted to recapture that glory but unfortunately has missed the mark by a couple of laps.

Graphics & Sound
The visual presentation of the game is quite average as PS2 racing games go. If the excellent Dreamcast version was not around then this version would look a little better. As it stands now, the Dreamcast version is sharper and is able to handle the textures more quickly. In the PS2 version, the developer Melbourne House, seems to have had difficulty optimizing the graphics engine. For example, on most of the 12 tracks, the textures on the track surface are blurry and glitches appear. As a result, pavement lines disappear. This is very evident when you drop the camera into first person mode. Add to this other minor glitches such as some draw-in and pop-up and the visual experience is not so impressive when compared to the likes of GT3. Regardless, the game still manages to hum at an almost 60 frames per second refresh rate along with very detailed car models based on over 70 licensed cars. There are a couple of problems in the two-player mode where things tend to slow down and the graphics begin to blur at points. To their credit, Melbourne House managed to add in some very nice weather effects. The rain effects are similar in nature to those found in the Metal Gear Solid 2 demo.

Aurally, the soundtrack leaves a lot to be desired. As a fan of electronic music genres, I can appreciate when good tracks are assembled in video games. However, the sound producer has to be extremely careful as to match the right kind of mix to compliment the on screen action. Unfortunately that does not happen here. The soundtrack is a myriad of Euro-House and Euro-Techno tunes from in-house development studios.

Gameplay
This is where players will either hate it or love it. Positively, the controls and physics are excellent. Melbourne House has provided us with a very well balanced system that results in a great mix of realism and fun. The vehicle physics seem great and in order. I say "seem" because I have never actually been in a prototype car going at insane speeds. There is some great arcade racing mixed in with the right balance of simulation elements. For the sim fans you can adjust a number of options including: tire wear, downforce, gear ratios, engines, pit strategy and different weather conditions. The problem arises in the nature of the racing series and that is Le Mans races are very, very, very long. It is not called Le Mans 24 Hours for nothing. There are a couple of multi-hour endurance races that can go from 10 hours to 24 hours real-time racing. Fortunately you can save at any point you wish but the fact remains that racing these endurance races tends to become boring. Despite this, it requires a lot of discipline to win.

Value
Le Mans 24 Hours offers a lot of replay value. The game includes over 70 licensed cars and 12 real-life circuits including the famed Donnington and Le Mans circuits. There are 5 main game modes to choose from: Quick Race, Championship, Le Mans, Time Trial and Multiplayer Mode. The meat of the game is found in the Championship mode which is further divided into 8 championships. Winning each championship allows you to move onto the next while at the same time unlocking cars. Le Mans mode is also worthy as this is where you will participate in the legendary race. On Petit Le Mans (Road Atlanta) you have the option to race for 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 100 minutes, or 10 hours. On Le Manss, you can drive for 10 minutes, 24 minutes, 240 minutes or 24 hours. The Time Trial Mode is good for training purposes and worth the extra you may spend here. Lastly the Multiplayer Mode allows players to lay together on a split screen on all the tracks and cars unlocked in the other game modes.

Overall
To really get the most out of this game you have to be a fan of the Le Mans series. On the other hand, some people may find this more approachable than GT3 due to its simpler modes of play. While GT3 is considered king of the road, make sure you at least give Le Mans 24 Hours a spin before passing final judgement.