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RS3: Racing Simulation Three for PlayStation 2
RS3: Racing Simulation Three for PlayStation 2 puts you behind the wheel of an open-wheel single-seater on sixteen circuits. The racing game has no official Formula 1 licence and uses invented teams and drivers. You therefore do not have to follow a particular real season: attention centres on driving itself. A good lap asks you to brake in time, let the car flow through the corner and only accelerate fully again when you have enough room to unwind the steering.
The driving school provides assignments for learning the controls and the car's behaviour. You can then move on to individual races and a championship. Setup options change how the car responds on a circuit; the accompanying explanations help you understand the choices. A different setting is particularly useful when you notice the change on track. Continuing to practise the same corner therefore achieves more than repeatedly changing every setting without a plan.
You can drive alone or complete a race with two players simultaneously on a split screen. For this local duel, you use two ordinary controllers; no Multitap is required. The PS2 release has no online multiplayer. The PC scenarios and network options mentioned in descriptions of the computer version do not belong to this offer either. Here, you receive the console structure with driving school, races and championships, where circuit knowledge and consistency over several laps become more important than one spectacular overtaking move.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 2 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
RS3: Racing Simulation Three for PlayStation 2 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of RS3: Racing Simulation Three
Ubisoft Paris developed Racing Simulation Three as a continuation of a series of computer racing games. The PC version appeared in 2002; the European PlayStation 2 release followed in 2003. That distinction matters because general overviews sometimes apply the first computer date to all versions. The name refers to the Racing Simulation line, not Sony's official Formula One series. Ubisoft had previously made F1 Racing Simulation and F1 Racing Championship, among others, but used no official world championship licence for RS3.
As a result, the recognisable line-up of real teams and drivers disappeared as a selling point. The developers emphasised learning circuits, understanding vehicle behaviour and setting up the car. The announcement already distinguished a scenario component for PC from a console approach with driving school and championship. That is also why features should not be treated as interchangeable. A description of the computer version may mention different race components and network options from those found on a PS2 disc.
The console version arrived when PlayStation 2 offered several approaches to circuit racing side by side. Sony recorded real seasons with Formula One, while Gran Turismo expanded a broad car collection. RS3 chose the narrower world of formula cars without official names. That place in the catalogue explains what you seek here: driving-school assignments, races and a local duel on the same console, not a collection of current teams or an expansion requiring another racing game to work.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
Formula One 05 also lets you drive open-wheel single-seaters on circuits, but uses the real teams, drivers and calendar of 2005. You can also guide your own driver through a personal career. RS3 uses invented names and organises progression around driving school, races and championship. Both ask for fixed braking points and careful acceleration out of corners; recognition of a real season and the route towards a team contract make Sony's game different in content from this general formula competition.
Grand Prix Challenge connects similar circuit racing to the official Formula 1 line-up of 2002. It offers adjustable driving aids and individual challenges alongside race weekends and a championship. RS3 starts from a driving school and keeps its teams and drivers fictional. In both, you progress by understanding a sequence of corners better. The difference chiefly concerns the setting for that practice: a recognisable historical championship in Grand Prix Challenge and a formula world without the real names in RS3.
Formula One 06 gives you, alongside official 2006 participants, a career with tests, team opportunities and Race Car Evolution for developing a setup. RS3 keeps the context more general, with invented teams, driving school and a championship. Both let you learn to read a formula car's behaviour on a fixed track. Sony's game makes that practice part of a personal route through a licensed season; RS3 emphasises the individual racing assignments and driving itself.
Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec shares the attention to braking points, line choice and repetition, but alternates production cars, sports cars and racing cars. You build a garage and also drive on unpaved tracks. RS3 stays with open-wheel single-seaters and formula-focused competition. Both can have you practise a corner many times before getting it right. Gran Turismo adds collecting and different vehicle personalities, while RS3 centres on a narrower set of driving and racing skills.
DTM Race Driver 2 uses a career with story scenes and regularly has you change disciplines, from touring cars to rally cars or trucks. RS3 sticks to formula cars and builds from driving school towards races and a championship. Both ask you to understand your vehicle's behaviour. In DTM, that task keeps changing with a different body, drivetrain or surface; in RS3, you can focus longer on similar single-seaters and improving the same circuit technique.
