AccuRC 2 Review for PC – Expect Some Turbulence

Publisher: Trasnatech

Developer: Trasnatech

Release Date: June 12th, 2017

Platforms: PC

Price: $49.99

Disclaimer: A Steam code was provided by the developer for review purposes on PC. 

I’ve been a fan of R/C vehicles since I was a little kid. That passion grew even more when I came across R/C simulators. Having tried out a few on both PC and mobile, I’ve gained a bit of experience with the genre. Now, the folks over Trasnatech have released their newest project AccuRC 2. The team has tried to create a realistic simulator with a lot of detailed mechanics. Does it manage to hit the mark?

As is the case with all other R/C simulators, the core idea behind AccuRC 2 is to provide a realistic virtualization of remote-controlled vehicles. The simulator includes different types such as planes, helicopters, drones/quad-copters and even cars. The mechanics behind each of the models has been built to match their real-world counterparts, not just in looks, but also in the way they handle and control. In other words, the mechanics have been fine-tuned in an attempt to make taking a real R/C model for a spin, and then controlling the same one inside the simulator feel like an almost identical experience.

I don’t own any of the models that are in AccuRC 2, so I wasn’t able to make a side-by-side comparison. Even so, I do have a lot of experience with R/C vehicles like a few Air Hogs products, among others. My most recent R/C model was a miniature stunt quadcopter from Sky Viper. While it is classified as a toy, it’s still a pretty decent R/C quad and it’s a lot of fun to fly. Comparing the experience to that of what’s here in AccuRC 2, I can say that it’s pretty interesting.

Having tried all of the game’s different vehicle types, I can say that my favorite is definitely the airplanes. While the vast majority of the in-game models are copters, I really like the way the planes handle. In fact, the aforementioned R/C plane that my dad bought that never worked is actually in this game. It’s not the exact same type, but it’s very close to what I had. Maybe a little biased, but it’s my favorite model in the entire sim. Each of the different models are unique, with no two handling exactly the same. Even some of the copters that are different variations of each other have a unique feel and behaviour. Definitely have to hand it to the team at Trasnatech—they did a good job at making each of the models feel authentic. But, that isn’t to say it’s a perfect collection.

There’s a wide variety of R/C vehicles to choose from, but some are better than others.

AccuRC 2 supports a wide-variety of control options. Like most other R/C sims, this one supports actual R/C transmitters that can be hooked up to your computer. This control method is required for some simulators, whereas others (such as AccuRC 2) also allow you to use other controllers like a gamepad or joystick. Since I don’t own an R/C transmitter, my entire experience with this sim was by means of an Xbox 360 controller. All of the button mappings and analogue inputs fit well on the controller, but the overall experience was not the best.

I mentioned already that my favorite vehicle type in AccuRC 2 is the planes. That’s mainly due to the fact that they happen to be the easiest to handle while using a 360 controller. Everything else felt incredibly twitchy and over-responsive. Some copters were pretty stable, but the majority of them just zipped around like flies on a sugar rush. Big drones like the DJI Inspire handled okay, but the smaller stunt drones were basically impossible to maneuver.  The cars weren’t too bad, but turning was still pretty twitchy.

The developers actually admit that the best control experience is achieved with an actual R/C transmitter and that using traditional gamepads would result in a less accurate experience. But, I really don’t get why this is the case. I’ve played other R/C simulators on my tablet and the control experience was actually pretty nice—and that was with touch controls of all things. I’ll give Trasnatech the benefit of the doubt and assume that due to all the realistic mechanics present in the game, it’s not very easy to emulate that with a standard controller. I still wish some improvements would be made for those who do not own R/C transmitters.

The planes are definitely the most stable and enjoyable out of all the models. 

Beyond controlling the models, things continue to be hit-and-miss. AccuRC 2 features different sceneries for you to fly in, separated into two types: photo sceneries and 3D landscapes. The photo sceneries are a collection of static images stitched together inside a 3D space to give the illusion that you’re standing in an actual location. Think of it like Google Street View, but add R/C vehicles. These types of sceneries can be found in basically every other R/C sim, so it wasn’t surprising to see them here. As for the 3D landscapes…they’re alright. With the few that are available, I like the fact that they allow you to point the camera behind the model or even go into a first-person view, but the environments themselves are rather underwhelming. They’re all pretty small and the collision detection is incredibly buggy. I’ve phased through ‘solid’ objects on multiple occasions, and have even hit the ground only to bounce straight back up. These issues are present in the photo sceneries too, but it’s far more pronounced in the 3D landscapes.

On the topic of sceneries, let’s switch the discussion over to visuals. All of the models look very detailed and well designed. Compare it to their real-world counterparts and you can see the developers really took their time to get even the smallest details down-packed. The 2D photo sceneries are also pretty nice. The resolution of the pictures aren’t razor-sharp, but the quality is still good enough. As for the 3D environments, again I’m left unimpressed. Almost all of the textures are low-resolution and pretty ugly. Especially the two city environments: they really do not look good at all for a game being released in 2017.

Sound-wise, AccuRC 2 holds up pretty nicely. While some of the models do re-use the same motor sounds, everything sounds good for the most part. As the models move further away from you, the sound will gradually fade, which of course is very realistic. If you’re flying in a 3D environment and bring the camera to follow or go in first-person view, it sounds much different than when you’re viewing from the perspective of the pilot on the ground. There’s even a built-in MP3 player so you can jam out to your favorite music while you’re playing.

— THE BOTTOM LINE —

To be blunt, AccuRC 2 is not the best R/C simulator that I’ve played so far. Others like the  RealFlight series offer more models and more sceneries and scenarios. That one in particular even allows users to create their own models and share them with others online, a feature that’s totally absent in AccuRC 2 in its current state. I’m hoping this functionality will be added in the future, as that would be very nice to have. That in addition to improved controller support and overhauled 3D environments would definitely make me recommend this to any R/C sim fan. Do I still suggest that you play this? It’s definitely not a bad simulator at all, so yes, give it a try. I just hope Trasnatech can apply some more polish in the future.