Nascar 4 Review - By Ryan "Kosmo" Cowley Page 1 of 2
I'm sure I'm in trouble with Frugal. He asked me several weeks ago to write a review of NASCAR 4 after I touted to him over ICQ about how cool it was. I picked up a copy of the fourth incarnation of the Papyrus/Sierra NASCAR line of simulations two days after its long anticipated release in the states. Until just recently I had disappeared off the face of the planet, consumed by this title. Cringing - okay I'm sorry, I wasn't really 'away' like ICQ said, I was there, I was there racing, sheesh!
I'll have to confess, I'm a relative newbie to NASCAR simulations. Most of my mouse time has been plundering in the skies above the Korean peninsula. This is mainly a combat simulation website after all, but you must admit to yourself that deep inside, there is a part of you that's interested in racing. Look at all the similarities, it's loud, you go fast, it's dangerous, and anything that you have to wear a helmet while participating in is definitely in your bag. I would like to make one distinction however. At 30,000' you take out a pack of opponent's you come home a hero, at several inches, you take out a pack of opponent's, you're a block head. It's time to come out of the closet, unplug your HOTAS for a minute, clamp on that steering wheel, (no, not the yoke, the wheel) and remember, those are pedals, not rudders.
NASCAR Racing 4 has arrived on store shelves, and I've seen many reports say that it is quickly climbing the bestseller charts. This NASCAR Winston Cup simulation features the entire regiment of tracks from the 2000 racing season with a little twist. All of cars dawn paint schemes from the 2001 season, plus the new Dodge Intrepids are included. The pack is made up of all the big name sponsors and drivers, however, curiously missing are Bill Elliot in the bright red number 9 Dodge dealers Dodge, as is Sterling Marlin, the Winston points leader as of this writing, in the Silver Bullet Coors Dodge. As always for some politically correct reason, the Rusty Wallace Miller Light Ford is emblazoned with the right logo, but the name "Rusty" instead of "Miller", as is Dale Earnhardt Jr's. Bud Chevy, racing under the guise of "Dale Jr.". Censorship at it's finest. Heaven forbid a whole generation of kids turn into a lush, having to follow that Budweiser logo around Atlanta for 500 laps.
Game play
This simulation has little entertainment value beyond pure competition. Let me explain. Unlike NASCAR Heat, released by Hasbro several months ago, there are no Beat the Heat Challenges, or opportunities to race the pro. You have the option to engage in a Training Session, Single Race, Championship Season, and of course Multiplayer racing. During the Training Session you choose your track, and in front of an empty infield, and bare bleachers, turn circles solo to your heart's content. This is a good place to fine tune your car making adjustments in the extensive garage area, making that 3,500lb go-cart turn laps faster than that greedy chump in the car next to you on race day.
After turning several laps in the Training Session, you should now have a car tuned to stick on the bottom line of those corners, and a driver (you) that knows when to drop the hammer, keep the oily side down, and the pointy end straight. Now you can take it to the competition in Single Race mode, where you can setup the race in many ways. Simulation and Arcade modes are presented, as are the options to choose how much practice and warm-up time is given, and of course the percentage of laps to race as compared to the real life event. You next select how many competitors are allowed to take to the track with you, and their percentage of strength. A unique option is to choose the weather, including the temperature, cloud cover, wind direction, and speed.
Championship Season is the next option of game play, and setup similar to a single race, you now race an entire championship season driving for points. While it's not necessarily reasonable to drive the full length of the race, several hours usually, you can choose to drive the season at a percentage of the entire duration.
Multiplayer seems to be the meat and potatoes of the direction Papyrus wants to take their simulation. Upon entering this mode, you can select the usual ways to connect on-line, TCP/IP etc, or click on the Sierra logo where after a quick, painless, and free registration you can enter the racing realm. From this point you can join, or host a race, selecting a variety of options. Among them is the ability to restrict races by allowing only those connections with an acceptable latency to join, password protect your server, limit number of drivers, force a fixed chassis setup, and limit drivers by experience and ability as measured by races driven on types of tracks, and laps per incident, a measurement of laps driven before careening into the wall or taking out the field.
When you're finished trading paint with the pack, don't deny yourself the experience of watching it all over again with the in game replay. This is only a step or two below what you get on TV every Sunday as far as quality and content are concerned. Papyrus has done and outstanding job with this feature. Included is every view imaginable including, two TV views, a helicopter camera, and the spectators' perspective. With the VCR-like interface you have every control imaginable such as slow motion, frame by frame, and the ability to skip to the next event or caution flag. During a race, I make a mental note to myself when something significant happens, what lap I'm on and watch again after the race to see exactly how the event un-raveled. It's also a valuable tool for watching your race line, and fine tuning your setup in the garage.
A note worthy feature that's missing is the ability to stop and save a race to finish another time. Make sure your schedule is clear, the phone is off the hook, and the front door is locked when you want to sit down and experience a 500 mile race.
