MyGPTeam Turbo’ Review – Start Your Engines

‘MyGPTeam Turbo’ Review – Start Your Engines
Patience isn’t a word that you’d expect to find in conjunction with a free Android game about F1 racing, but it’s something you’ll need to truly progress in MyGPTeam Turbo .

Interactive Project’s game is a simple, yet fun way for anyone to enjoy Formula One racing.

The patience needed comes from something that many freemium apps have nowadays: energy. Every action in the game uses energy, and to replenish it you either wait for hours at a time or spend money. This is the system found in nearly IAP plan. While you never need to spend money, your patience will be tested if you don’t. When you do have energy, there’s a few ways to use it, and each will be accompanied by a repetitive electro beat that I’m not ashamed to admit I enjoyed.

The first is ‘Training’, in which you play mini-games to  improve your driver’s ability to accelerate, handle bends  and overtake other drivers. These base stats will go part-way to determining your success in races, but each  improvement mini-game uses energy, so train wisely.

The second is the ‘Garage’, where, believe it or not, I found  my car. There were a number of upgrades to be made here,  too. These included the engine, the tires and the chassis,  all of which could be improved with in-game currency,  specific parts, and probably a little elbow grease too. You can  also change the paint-job on your car, but seemed to have  no performance-enhancing qualities.

If you’re not one for training, you can hire new drivers with already-increased skills at the ‘Talent Scout’. Personally, I preferred working on the driver I began with, as I get attached. I’m the kind of guy that mourns every time he has to put a loyal Pokemon into the PC. If this sounds like you, you’ll probably be the same.

Last, but clearly not least, you can “Go to the races”. This is where you’ll put your driver to the test, earn money and gain experience, which will be used to improve your car and climb the weekly leaderboard. The only option currently is Quick Race, but Tournament and 1 vs 1 are “coming soon”.

Quick Race pits you against 4 others online, speeding around five possible tracks. These are all two laps long, but no single track stood out as anything different from the last. Before you begin a race you choose your driver’s racing style, which range from driving calmly (pfft!) to driving aggressively, which I found the only possible way to overtake other racers. Essentially, being a careful driver is a great way to lose a race.

Depending on the position you finish, you receive points that determine your ranking, although leaderboards refresh every week, giving plenty reason to aim for the podium every 7 days.

In the same way that you fire the gun in an on-the-rail shooter, MyGPTeam Turbo has you tap and swiping to facilitate the driver as he accelerates, brakes and turns his way round the tracks. Your involvement decides the success of these maneuvers, though I never saw too much difference between good timing and completely missing a prompt. Get your timing right, though, and you’ll be rewarded with increased energy or reduced wear-and-tear to your car. As great as this is, these bonus notifications take up the entire screen, and in the off-chance you get close to overtaking someone, that’s the last thing you want.

MyGPTeam Turbo may have a couple of issues, such as the frequent lack of energy and no obvious pay-off for successful timing, but overall is a fun experience that I could see people getting addicted to.  I plan to continue playing for a little while to come as I enjoy watching my driver and car progress, and also because I can finally say I care about something as masculine as Formula One. It might be just a videogame, but it still counts.

Minimum requirements: Android from version 2.3.6 on and 1 GHz processor.
Recommended: Android from version 4.0 on and 1.2 GHz dual-core processor.