[Review] Gear Club Unlimited 2 Porsche Edition

Gear Club Unlimited 2 Porsche Edition

Reviewed by Shaun (@reviewsbyhughes)

Developer: Eden Games
Publisher: Microids
Category: Racing, Simulation
Original Release Date: 04.12.2018
Porsche Edition Release Date: 22.11.2019

Here at The Switch Effect, we first reviewed Gear Club Unlimited 2 on release and had this to say about it:

“…the developers are now in possession of a solid foundation for a racing sim on the Nintendo Switch, and, with the right care and attention, it could be developed into a flourishing franchise. I hope that the Eden Games and Microids partnership continues to build and focus on what is truly important in a driving game, as Gear Club Unlimited has the potential to become a household name as a result.”

With a respectable 3 out of 5, it had potential, yet was hindered by issues of its own making. Since then, we’ve had GRID Autosport and WRC8 release on the Switch to take control of GCU’s early dominance of the racing genre. Almost in acknowledgement of this, Eden Games have released DLC in the form of the Porsche Series. Offering a new racing series and additional cars, it is a comprehensive update which brings it into sharp focus and back among the competition.

That being said, it is a timely reminder that this game is still lagging behind its racing counterparts. Stuttering performance, unbalanced AI, and an all too obvious catch up mechanic mean it is still not the racing simulator we had all hoped for which is a mighty shame as this additional update is a welcome one. The cars look and feel superb, the racing series itself is fast-paced, competitive and enjoyable, and it offers an insight into Porsche’s history through its updates between races.

There a couple of missed opportunities which feel like glaring omissions with this update. The first being the lack of cockpit view. Although it wasn’t evident in the original GCU2, it seems rather unfortunate to offer DLC specifically focused on Porsche and not include it. Coinciding with this is the limited opportunities to drive the range of Porsche cars available. Comprising of three tournaments of six races, the first of the three only allows you to choose from one of two cars. The second, however, only gives you one car. The Porsche Series was the most fun I have had with GCU2 and revisiting it would have been ideal – the lack of cars means, however, that I won’t. The saving grace here though is that you have to come in first place to proceed to the next part of the series, so you will end up completing the races again until you do.

To provide DLC such as this, available from the moment you complete the tutorial, is an excellent addition to a game almost a year to the day that it was originally released. Getting Porsche cars to handle this way is even more impressive, and with the aforementioned issues from the original review seemingly improved, this is the best way to experience GCU2. It bodes well for the future of the GCU series, and here’s to hoping there is a third in the pipeline.

*For those who already own the base game, the Porsche Series DLC is available as an additional bundle purchase in some countries or as individual items in others.