Once upon a time, maybe in June, a french user named JeanReneGodart released a realname database. I heard much about it. Notably its use on Gamecenter and how FDjeux had been given some pretty high stats. I had to at least try it. As i dont understand more french than "Roquefort", "Bordeaux" and "Champs Elysses"[1], i had mighty trouble even finding the DB. I was deeply saddened by this as the french used words such as "bonne" and "L'inconnu", both of which sounded rather positive. The first impression you get as you load up the DB for the first time in Career-mode is that this DB is very small. 267 kilobytes actually [2]. Its just the .cdb file. I suppose thats allright. But of course it comes with some large disadvantages: No real jerseys (unless you have installed them already), no real team logos, no new rider pictures and no other extra bits. It is a real name DB in its purest shape: A DB with real names. Actually, i was starting to feel disappointed, there was no overpowered french riders (except maybe Gilbert with 78 in hills, and despite he's not french, thats still an acheivement), Team Ergomo was still there and there were nothing special to write about. Was this really just a normal real name DB? Apparently yes. So i did what i usually do: Put my entire team in a pre-season training camp and wait for Tour Down Under. And as always with Tour Down Under, i play it through, reach February and go do something singleplayer races and then write the review. There really isn't more to this review, because it is a very bland DB. But if you want a DB that doesnt have any flaws and you are satisfied with the number of teams and Cyanide's stats, go on and download it. I was expecting something either very bad or very special. I got neither. Conclusion: Not bad at all. If you want the fullest out of it, you have to go find the jerseys for the continental teams, but that shouldn't be a problem. And if you dont need extra teams or free agents, you can easily live with this.
Footnotes: [1]: Most of my french actually consists of single words i know. I cant speak it, and im having trouble read it. Thats why it took so long to make the review.
[2]: Seriously? That small? Did i do something wrong or didn't i find all the pieces i need to install? [3]: Yes, there is no scoring, i tried to put some points on various aspect, but too little have been changed from the original DB to make it worthwhile.
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