Grand Prix 4

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If you are in the market for a great new race car game, then I cannot think of a better game to suggest than Grand Prix 4. Whether you are playing as the league leader, Ferrari's Michael Schumacher or Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa, this game will be sure to have you enjoying yourself. Hearing an Indy engine revving to 17,000 rpm's sounds incredible in this game, along with making those tight turns and the wonderful deceleration sound.

Good Graphics

Starting off the basics, graphics are impeccable. Everything is amazing, from the cars, to the spectators. The tracks are not blurred in the distance, you can actually see the turn that is coming up, rather than having to guess by the crappy map in the bottom corner of your screen. The different views inside of the cars really give you a realistic view of the entire cockpit. The coolest view is the helicopter or blimp view. It allows you to view the game in a three dimensional setting. Other cars in the race have good graphics as well. You can actually see how far away you are from the car ahead of you.

Little Diversity in Tracks

There are over 15 tracks to pick from when playing single player. While this may seem like a lot of tracks to pick from, the tracks are similar to each other, and diversity in the tracks would add to the fun factor of the game.

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While your surroundings on the tracks are different, you will notice after sometime that the only difference is the number of turns on each track. When picking a car for a track, you do not always want to consider the speed or acceleration of the car…handling is what is important as there are many turns on tracks.

Multiplayer

This game has excellent multiplayer as well, but it is recommended you play with more than 10 players, or it takes away from the racing factor that makes this game so cool. The tracks are the same in the multiplayer compared to the single player.

Help for New Players and Sensitive Gameplay

New players may have a hard time with braking and steering into a turn as there is a lot of under steer. The cars respond fluently and are sensitive to sharp turns. If you turn too sharply, you run the risk of spinning out and crashing into the wall. For the all you newbies, there is an option that allows the computer to help the player steer, brake, and auto-righten the car. The steering assistant does not steer until the proper time, even if the arrow is pressed down all the way. This helps to teach the player when it is time to steer and the proper time to begin turning. The second help option is auto-brake. As you cannot go into a turn at full speed, braking is required so as to not slide out into the walls. If you decided to brake while turning, no turn takes place as the wheels lock up. If the wheels are locked, you cannot turn. This feature shows the player when to start braking and when to let off the brake pedal. The last feature is auto-righten. Auto-righten auto-rights the car after you spin out or after you have gotten into an accident. Once you have gotten used to the sensitivity of the controls, you do not need any of the above.

Overall

While I believe that Grand Prix 4 would be an awesome game to add to your collection, it is only recommended for those that enjoy racing. The graphics, sound, multiplayer, and help options are great and add to the fun factor of the game. The only downside that I could find is that when it came to the design of the tracks, there was no diversity. All tracks appear the same at every corner and every turn. If you are in the market for a strictly racing game, Grand Prix 4 is the game for you.