Genre: Racing Simulation
Developed by: Simergy/Geoff Crammond
Published by: Infogrames

Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix series has long been the yardstick for Formula One simulations and heck, the sole reference for any racing game on the PC. How many times haven't we heard "it's not as realistic as in Grand Prix" or "that's good, but Geoff showed us how it's really done"? Grand Prix 2 for example was one of the milestones in PC gaming: it had the best gameplay, best technology and was so complete you wouldn't need any other game for months, also perhaps because the system requirements reached then-unheard of levels (P200 needed in an age where most of us slowly left the 486 platform).
Grand Prix 3 had little changes concerning gameplay, since GP2 was sheer perfection, but made dramatic strides in technology. But there was a lone pirate at the sea endangering Geoff's laguna of excellence.

EA released F1 2000. This game was the first real contender for the F1 crown, mostly because of its graphics (the game needed a P3 600 when you and me had a P3 450) but also because it was the first game (well, perhaps second after Ubisoft's F1 Racing Simulation) that implemented reasonably accurate detail and realism and which featured the then-current 1999-2000 season (while GP3 used the old 1998 season).

Today, we have 2 giants facing of. F1 2002 promises increased realism and features its trademark "up-to-dateness" (2002 season). Grand Prix 4 on the other hand will feature 100% accurate circuit topography, the same realism and dramatically improved graphics.
Time to gear up, and get down with Grand Prix 4, which we will review today.

The first thing we notice from Grand Prix 4, is that the menu looks a tad different from its two predecessors. But the menu structure has remained pretty much the same. The game continues to "calibrate" your graphics, and project framerate. Also, it's still quite a hassle to change the mph readout into km/h. But hey, let's say this way we all know we're playing a Geoff Crammond creation.
So, in short, the game feels and configures like the other siblings in this now 4 episodes-long series. The only real non-ingame addition is the GPEdia section: this is an online encyclodepia featuring a real crewmember from the Arrows team, in which you can find general information about Formula One, but also info about car setups (which remain very elaborate and complete) and race strategies. While it is good that decent online information is added, this is actually simply an excuse to omit a manual from the GP4 package, which ships in a DVD-format carton box.

Moving on to ingame. The hotseat multiplayer mode is still included, so you can choose more than 1 driver in the Driver's menu. The season in GP4 by the way is the 2000-2001 season. Again, GP4's publishers weren't able to attain the current running season, which is a shame, but probably easily fixed with 3rd party patches, like in GP2 and GP3. The season is simply no argument to put down the Grand Prix series, as I have noticed in other reviews. I pick Quick Race and then Spa-Francorchamps (simply the most exciting circuit on the season, with its fast corners and beautiful scenery) and click through the weather report. Rain. The loading times are quite extensive, but about 30 seconds later, the game is done loading.

The first impressions of the graphics are, like, "this is very cool, but I'd expect nothing less". Graphically, GP4 does not disappoint. Most important evolutions are the increase of track objects, increase of car polygon count, polygon pit crew and stewards, and improved general track texturing and topography. The cockpits have mostly stayed the same, and are still identical templates for all team, just with a different colour scheme. What we did like was the way cars are pushed away by the stewards and pit crews, and pitstops look very good. Also, GP4's damage system remains solid. The weather has improved again since GP3, with improvements to water and rain, and the addition of heat haze, which is really very cool. Another detail we've noticed is the cockpit view with helmet: you actually see through the helmet of the driver: this means that your view is a bit narrower and cluttered by sponsor stickers. Luckily, you can disable this feature. Talking about views, the external view has been refurbished to enable players used to this mode in other, mostly console F1 games, to play GP4. In the past, the "3rd player" view of GP was simply unplayable, but this problem has been addressed: you now see "arcade style" readouts including a big flashy speedometer and magnifying track map Need for Speed-style. Surprisingly, this view plays quite good, and allows great arcade action. Another new view is the monitor you get when you're in the pits during qualification. It may be a daft detail, bu seeing someone shatter your best time with 3 tenths of a second and seeing him doing it, somehow is appealing.

But that's not what GP4 is about. Grand Prix has always been a hardcore simulation, automatically decreasing its audience, but also enabling no compromise-design. Starting from GP3, some concessions have been made, and this trend continues in the latest GP. Luckily, the core gameplay has been left untouched. The improvement in 3rd person gameplay actually is something good. The first person gameplay has been left completely the same as in GP3. We already mentioned the cockpit design. The car handling closely follows the model in Grand Prix 3, but now with the improved topographic data. In short, a Grand Prix 4 car with all driving aids (which are still the best in the genre) disabled, handles like a real F1 car, but with a bit more stability and downforce, especially in dry conditions. The contrast with wet weather is still enormously dramatic: it is almost impossible to control your car in rain, even when you maximise downforce, increase ride height, and set rain tyres. This handling gives the GP series a distinct "feel", meaning that the handling is not spot-on to the real thing, yet it comes very close and at the same time is challenging and realistic. F1 2002's model for example is much more unstable, which might be more close to the real thing, but the driving aids are poor or too strict, and without driving aids you get endlessly annoyed when you, for example, skid when you hit a kerb.

We have already said that the graphics are decent: but this comes at a heavy price. It seems that GP4's graphics engine is still of the same type as GP3: this means the game looks great in higher resolutions but very messy in lower resolutions. Also, the nature of the engine still demands a much higher exertion of your cpu, whereas most current heavy games try to address the graphics card more. GP4 combines the demand for a high-end graphics card (GF3 or more) with a fast processor (more than 1.2 Ghz). The game remains accessible on mid-range and low-end machines (733 Mhz/GF2) but only runs in lower resolutions, and then you can hardly notice the difference with GP3. And that's what's very frustrating. Considering the modest additions to its predecessor, the only real evolution lies in the graphics, which are quite incredible starting from 1024x786. But in lower resolutions and decreased detail, there really is no reason to buy GP4. Especially people, like myself, who have gone through financial loopholes to buy a GF4 card, but in the meantime putting off the purchase of a new cpu, since "everything else runs just fine", are the victim of GP4's heavy system requirements.

Last remarks go out to sound and multiplayer. The sound remains good, but again, no difference with its predecessors. Okay, the pitcrew says "Clear!" when you leave the box and you clearly hear the power wrenches working on your tyres during a pitstop, but hey, I don't think major jars are broken here. The multiplayer support remains poor. You can only connect directly via lan or ip, but there is no match-up service or internet gameplay whatsoever. This is certainly an area that can use some work. Imagine an online season with actual teams/clans online, preparing their cars for optimal setup, practising for next week's grand prix, team orders that are passed around, ingame tension during an online race. The driving force of multiplayer clans and added depth would greatly enhance and repolish the Grand Prix formula.

EP sez:

Grand Prix 4 is a worthy successor of GP3. But it lacks new elements, and the only really exciting new feature, the improved graphics, remain out of the hands of a sizeable portion of its potential audience. Grand Prix 4 leaves a mixed feeling: you really don't know whether you should buy it, since gameplay-wise there is little or no difference with GP3, and you don't need to buy it if you want the latest season, since GP4 does not include this either.
But on the other hand, Grand Prix 4 remains a very solid game, with exhilarating yet realistic car handling, good presentation and great graphics. It's up to you. Play a demo, or better yet, compare with F1 2002, and see for yourself which game will fulfil your F1 racing needs.

© 2002 Erwin's Pages
Erwin "Reaper" Husin

Pros and Cons

+ Solid gameplay
+ Great graphics
- Few additions
- Both cpu and vga dependant
- No real manual
- Weak multiplayer support

Links