Console Driving Simulator Roundup

By Brian Ekberg
Design by James Cheung

White Flag: Introduction

This is the year of the console driving game. 2005 has seen the release of not just one realistic driving game but three: Gran Turismo 4 on the PlayStation 2, Enthusia Professional Racing on the PlayStation 2, and Forza Motorsport on the Xbox. The release of just one of these would be enough to carry some virtual racing fans for the entire remainder of the year. However, we've been lucky enough to see all three land on store shelves in the past four months.

Of course, this embarrassment of driving riches brings up an important question: Which driving game is the right one for you? The easy answer is "all of them," as all three are quality titles, and all three are ones that can provide you with plenty of entertainment lap after lap. Unfortunately, buying all three games is not necessarily a viable financial option for everyone. Besides, it's obvious that each one has specific strengths and weaknesses. But does one game provide enough thrills, challenge, and bang for the buck to make it the best of the bunch? That's the issue we'll tackle here in our 2005 Console Driving Roundup.

How We Rated Them

In addition to presenting the facts as we see them for each game, we've rated Forza, Gran Turismo 4, and Enthusia in four separate categories: presentation, content, racing, and intangibles. The presentation category takes into consideration the overall look, sound, and feel of each game; from the car models, to the backgrounds and environments, to the background music, to engine sounds, and to the environmental soundtrack. Also, in games that feature massive car rosters, huge track lists, and multiple game modes, menu organization is a big factor. How well does each game present the immense amount of information found in it? All these factors are taken into account when considering our presentation rating for each one.

In terms of content, all three games are winners, so no gamer will be at a loss for things to do in any racer featured here. That said, what do we mean by content? For one thing, quantity counts--such as the number of drivable cars, how many tracks there are to drive, and how many opponents you can race against. But sometimes quantity can have a direct effect on quality. Point-to-point racing in Forza is a lot of fun, for example, but the relatively short list of point-to-point tracks means you won't be spending much time in that mode.

The racing score may sound obvious, but it actually takes into consideration a large variety of factors, such as: How well does the game capture the feel of the cars on the road? Are the cars too difficult to drive, too easy, or somewhere in the middle? How does the game convey a sense of speed when driving? Furthermore, we'll go over each game's artificially intelligent opponents to give you some perspective on which ones will put up a tough, fair fight and which ones see your car as yet another tasty hors d'oeuvre to be speared at the apex of a tight curve. Where appropriate, we'll also take a look at how damage models or other penalty systems for sloppy driving fit into the overall mix for each game.

Finally, we'll delve into the world of each game's intangibles, which are those aspects that didn't quite fit anywhere else in our ratings categories but still warranted inclusion here in our roundup. How useful is Gran Turismo's B-spec or photo mode? Is training up a drivatar in Forza worth your time? Should you spend a lot of time working through the driving revolution mode in Enthusia?

After you've taken a nice long look at each game under the microscope, it's time to pull back to position them head-to-head. We've assembled a handy chart that will give you a quick one-stop look at the major features of each game. Just for fun, we've even thrown in some comparison time charts for several real-life racetracks that appear in two or more of the three games discussed here to give you an idea of how the tracks (and cars) compare.

Gamers, start your engines and we'll see you at the checkered flag!

Gran Turismo 4

At A Glance

Gran Turismo 4
Publisher: SCEA
Developer: Polyphony Digital
Video review

Presentation:

Racing:

Content:

Intangibles:

Of all the things it has going for it, one of Gran Turismo 4's biggest advantages is its head start over practically all the other games in the console racing space. The Gran Turismo series is the elder statesman of the console racing genre, as it's seen the release of four main iterations here in the US, plus an additional pair in Japan, over two PlayStation consoles. As such, the Gran Turismo series has become the bellwether in the racing genre since its debut eight years ago. With Gran Turismo 4, the ante has been significantly upped in terms of sheer content. If racing games were novels, GT4 would undoubtedly be the War and Peace of the genre, packing in more than 700 cars, 50-plus tracks on which to drive them, and more features than ever before. While the fictional tracks in GT4 don't feel so fictional anymore--thanks to their excellent designs, gorgeous graphics, and the benefit of all the years of familiarity we've had with them--the real crown jewel in the GT4 glitter box comes in the form of the real-life circuits that dot the game's lineup. Two variations on the Circuit de la Sarthe--one with the back-straight chicanes and one without--are an especially nice feather in the game's cap. However, courses like Laguna Seca, Motegi, Fuji Speedway, and Suzuka are great inclusions as well.

When it comes to presentation, Gran Turismo 4 undoubtedly represents the pinnacle of the GT collection. The game blends an attractive interface (probably the most user-friendly in the series' history) with superb graphics and more licensed music than you can shake a Grammy at. Huge kudos are due to whomever was responsible for licensing Van Halen's "Panama" for the game, though not all the other licensed tracks are as great. In addition, the cars have a nice varied range of sound to them, with unique engine sounds for each, which is no mean feat when you consider the number of models found in the game.

So in a game that stakes its claim to greatness based on sheer excess, what could possibly be missing in Gran Turismo 4? Quite a lot, actually; namely online play and any perceptible evolution in the game's opponent artificial intelligence are missing. Eight years on, we're still racing against the same glued-to-the-line cars we faced in the first GT game. Gran Turismo 4 cars seem to be completely unaware of the other cars on the track and will shove their ways around corners with brusque impatience. Because of this, don't feel guilty for slapping on every possible upgrade to your car so you can muscle your way to a win. Basically, if the competition doesn't play fair, why should you?

All this is counterweighted by the absolutely sublime feel of the car on the road in GT4. No other driving game discussed here is able to match that feeling of four independent tires gripping the road as well as GT 4. Drifting feels just right, and with enough experience in the car, you can almost tell what kind of tires you're driving on simply by the way your car reacts to the pavement as you speed down a straight or attack a turn. It's just a shame the AI doesn't keep pace with the magnificent driving model.

Had there been online play in GT4, perhaps the subpar racing AI issues could have been glossed over. Once the networked play was removed from the game, despite it being promised from the get-go, the flaws in the racing AI became all the more glaring. As it stands now, online play was removed from the game to make room for the feature in another Gran Turismo game in the future. Whether that means an updated GT4 expansion pack, a full-fledged sequel, or something else remains to be seen. Still, based on the series' track record, fans should be expecting something far more ambitious than six-car online racing.

In addition to piling on the cars and tracks, Gran Turismo 4 has a few things you won't find anywhere else, namely the B-spec mode and the game's photo mode. The first is a sort of virtual race manager mode where you can watch (and give orders to) your entered car as it makes its way around the track. You have some control over what happens in the race, as you can tell your virtual driver when to pass, when to slow down, and when to keep the pace steady, among other orders. One especially nice feature is being able to speed up the tempo of B-spec races, dramatically reducing the amount of time it takes to get through some of GT4's many endurance contests. The game's photo travel mode lets you take photographs of any car in your garage by using a handful of truly gorgeous photorealistic (and vaguely interactive) backgrounds as your settings. Printing out pictures of your car on a USB-compatible printer is fun and certainly gives the mode some legs. But in the end, you'll likely want to spend the majority of your GT4 time with your car in motion rather than posing for pictures.

Outlook
It's clear that with Gran Tursimo 4, the series has reached the point of diminishing return with its current design approach. We have heard series producer Kazanori Yamauchi admit that he's wanted to take the Gran Turismo series in a new direction by including a children's version of the game, as well as by including the aforementioned online features. Damage modeling, something that's never been featured in a GT game before, looks to be a "major theme" of the fifth Gran Turismo, according to Yamauchi. Still, there are racing games out there right now that do these things to brilliant effect. If developers can shift their focus away from a strict quantity-first approach (Will gamers really miss five or 10 variations on the Nissan Skyline?) and return to a dead-set aim on innovation, Gran Turismo 5--and whatever lies beyond it--has the potential to be just as groundbreaking as the first game.

Forza Motorsport

At A Glance

Forza Motorsport
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Microsoft Game Studios
Video review

Presentation:

Racing:

Content:

Intangibles:

Why did Microsoft take on the driving sim genre, a style of game it had never approached before? Because it could. Throwing some heavyweight development muscle (and a whole lot of cash) at the project has resulted in a game that has captured a driving experience unlike any other on the Xbox. And because the green and black console is no stranger to great racing games--consider TOCA2, Project Gotham Racing 2, MotoGP, and MotoGP 2 as just a handful of examples--this is saying a lot. Though it took a while for completion, Forza is a brilliantly crafted game; one that can provide every inch the same amount of thrills--both online and off--as any other game on the market.

Though you can only race against seven other cars over Xbox Live, Forza's online features are as fleshed out as any XBL-compatible game out there. Car clubs--the four-wheeled equivalents of PC gaming clans--let you group together with like-minded drivers, challenge one another (or rival car clubs) to racing duels, or just swap cars back and forth using the innovative buying and selling features. The multiplayer racing is smooth and precise, and a chesslike ELO rating system calculates the relative skill of players to better improve the matchmaking process.

As much of a joy as the online game is, it's nice to see that just as much attention went into the offline game as well. For one thing, even if you don't have an Internet connection for your Xbox, you won't miss out on any great racing action. That's because the AI in Forza is as good as it gets on console games. The first time we saw a car slow down to avoid rear-ending us, our mouths opened agape in disbelief, we chalked it up to coincidence. After hours with the game, it was clear this was no fluke: The AI is sophisticated and crafty. It's not opposed to making daring, sometimes foolish, moves in the hopes of gaining race positions, but it's generally aware of everything happening around it. If there's such a thing as a virtual driver "losing his nerve" in a tight corner, we've seen it happen in Forza, as opponents violently brake or swerve out of the way to avoid contact, often at the detriment of their positions. This isn't to say opponents are cowards, mind you, nor does it mean they're immune to stupid mistakes; instead, these kinds of realistic on-the-track maneuvers--the kinds of things you see in real racing--only further our fervor for the programming craftsmanship found in the game.

Of course there's more to love about Forza than what's going on under the surface. If you prefer to judge your racing games by their covers (or, in this case, by their graphics), you'll find plenty to love in Forza. Car models look fine, if a bit simplistically lighted, but if you really want to see what the Xbox can do visually, you need look no further than the tracks found in the game, which are some of the finest and most richly detailed environments to be found on the console. The sense of depth conveyed when running through the forests of Maple Valley is second to none, for example. You fully believe there's a living world to be explored just beyond the boundaries of the trees.

Though your cars start out in pristine condition, they won't necessarily end up that way after a few laps of hard racing. In addition to tacking on lap-time penalties for sloppy driving (such as going off-course or bashing into walls or other cars), Forza's damage model is more sophisticated than every other racing game on the console. Sure, you can expect your bumper to be hanging on by a thread if you scrape a wall or two...that much is expected. Where Forza's damage modeling shines is both in its subtlety (you can damage your engine by overrevving at the start of a race) and its power (just try getting your car around the track when everything's in the red). Finally, all that damage you cause during a race will come directly out of your pockets once you've crossed the finish line. Of course, it's not all about negative feedback in Forza. As much as the finicky damage model punishes you for sloppy driving, the game's suggested line technique actually helps you find your way around courses, all the way down to letting you know when to hit the brakes or when to smash the gas. It's an ingenious and effective technique, and it's one that can help you improve your times almost right out of the gate.

Though we like the concept of the drivatar system, we found its execution a bit lacking. For one thing, a skilled drivatar seems to make the same mistakes lap after lap on certain tracks, mistakes you wouldn't typically make yourself if you were driving the course. This seems to contradict the central concept of the drivatar, since it basically learns how to drive by observing and grading your technique. On the other hand, having to pay an entry fee to enter your drivatar in a race in your stead is a nice mitigating factor, and it's one that will likely keep you "in the car" on all but the longest endurance races. This is a problem Gran Turismo 4's B-spec mode doesn't really address.

Whether by punishing your mistakes or rewarding your skill, or by challenging you with tough AI opponents or against real-life drivers from all over, Forza is designed to get the most out of your specific driving abilities, creating one of the best driving experiences ever seen on the Xbox.

Outlook
If you consider that Xbox honcho J Allard used Forza as a jumping off point for some of the new technologies that could be a big part of the Xbox 360, the future looks bright for the series. Allard not only mentioned things like uniquely customizable cars--something that's been hinted at with the customization options in this generation's Forza--but he also mentioned the idea of paying real-world money for unique parts in the game to create true one-of-a-kind rides. We're not sure how many people would be willing to take part in these so-called microtransactions to buy virtual mufflers, but that isn't the point. Instead, it's obvious to driving fans that Microsoft thinks a lot of its premier driving brand, so it will ensure that regardless of what comes next in the console hardware world, Forza 2 (and beyond) will be at the front of the pack.

Enthusia Professional Racing

At A Glance

Enthusia
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami

Presentation:

Racing:

Content:

Intangibles:

First there was Gran Turismo 4's "Panama"-fueled intro movie, another in a long line of impressive prologues for the GT series. Then we had Forza Motorsport's fairly straightforward introduction, which featured sexy pit lane girls and sexier camera angles, thus making for a visually impressive, if not inspiring, preface. Then there's the opening movie to Enthusia Professional Racing: a nicely packaged two-minute bundle of insanity that begins with the vaguely fortune cookie-ish quote "If you believe you can, therefore you can" and only gets weirder from there. Before it ends, you'll watch as an attractive female racing photographer has strange flashbacks to her childhood, hallucinates about an ancient Japanese albino who finds picture frames in the desert, and just may or may not be struck down by a runaway Mitsubishi Lancer. If it sounds weird, it is; it's weird in a way that pretty much sums up this quirky Japanese game's approach to the driving genre.

Whereas Forza and Gran Turismo 4 have fairly straightforward approaches to their respective career modes--win races to earn money to buy faster cars and better parts to earn more money to win more races--Enthusia turns the entire formula on its ear. You won't be earning any money here, and practically any new car you find in the game is the direct result of winning races. In fact, it's not even that easy, as winning races won't necessarily guarantee a new car for your collection. Instead, the game's skewed approach subjects you to a random raffle at the end of each race. Sometimes you may win a car, but often you won't.

Instead of cash and cars, the currency of choice in Enthusia is points, whether in the form of Enthu points, ranking points, or skill points. All make a difference in how quickly you progress in the game, though some are more valuable than others. In effect, Enthu points act as a sort of equivalent to a damage system, since the game itself doesn't model car damage on the track. Drive sloppily and you'll lose Enthu points, and if your Enthu total drops to zero, you'll sit out a week from the racing schedule, which will affect your overall ranking. Depending on your point of view, this is either an interesting additional challenge to the already difficult driving model or it's a completely cheap contrivance designed to needlessly point out the flaws of the battering-ram AI, which has no problems in driving cars directly into you (and costing you Enthu points in the process).

As a game, Enthusia is a true dichotomy, and this continues throughout nearly every aspect of the game. The AI provides consistently challenging races--indeed, you'll find yourself blown out in many races if you don't pay close attention to the prerace odds--while at the same time, the cars make no attempt to move out of your way when you have solid position in a turn. As a result, they're just as liable to use you as bumper around tight corners (costing you Enthu points in the process) as they are to slam you from behind if you get a little eager with the brakes. The same goes for the handling of the game's cars. Some of the lower-powered cars feel wonderfully sludgy, which is just what you would expect from cars that were meant for hauling kids around instead of turning laps at the Nürburgring. Similarly, the high-performance cars are nimble and oh-so-fast, just as you would expect cars of this ilk to be. Enthusia's driving physics place a focus on weight transfer, much more so than any other game released this year. You'll not only feel the car shifting about throughout turns, but you'll also be able to watch it as well using the many visual features the game has for displaying things like G-forces and your center of gravity. In some cases, Enthusia's driving physics are some of the most realistic we've ever seen. In other cases, particularly those involving rear-wheel-drive cars, the vehicles feel so unbalanced as to be nearly undrivable, especially as speeds increase.

In terms of extras, the best found in Enthusia's relatively slim lineup is the driving revolution mode, a sort of automobile take on Konami's DDR series. In each stage, you'll be driving through colored gates that you'll be required to pass through at certain speeds. As you drive, you'll be judged, DDR style, for accuracy and speed. And as the mode progresses, the tracks become increasingly complex, and the cars become increasingly quick. It isn't likely to keep your attention the way honing your Forza drivatar or running a GT4 B-spec endurance race might be, but it works as a fun diversion.

The Enthusia dichotomy continues with the game's graphics. Some of the best-looking car models found in any game, and on any console, are brought down by some truly ugly menu screens that do more to confuse than organize. Most of the informational screens look like placeholders for whatever was supposed to be inserted in the final build, a fact made all the more troublesome when you realize the tools featured are actually pretty powerful, letting you easily search your car collection for the exact make and model of car you're looking for. The tracks, while not the most visually compelling, benefit from some great design choices, including underground sections and drastic changes in elevation that really add a sense of roller-coaster excitement to a game with a pretty staid driving model.

Outlook
Releasing Enthusia on May 3--the same day the much-higher-profile Forza Motorsport was given the retail green light--was an act of either complete cluelessness on the part of publisher Konami or a resounding note of faith in the game's core competencies. It will take a few months for the sales figures to pan out before we can comment on the validity of that decision, but at least from a pure gameplay standpoint, Enthusia has a lot of high points, especially for those looking for a game that puts a huge emphasis on skill behind the wheel, as opposed to gearhead tuning talent. Does this mean there will be an Enthusia 2 released in the States? If we had to bet on it, we'd put our money on "yes," though Konami would probably be well advised to choose a wise release date once it comes around.

Blue Flag: Head-to-Head

A note about the time trials featured below: We've taken three tracks common to all three games featured in our roundup--Laguna Seca, Tsukuba Circuit, and the Nürburgring Nordschleife--and we've run laps in them, side by side, to give you an idea of how closely the driving models in each game mirror one another (or how closely they don't mirror one another, as the case may be). In all three games, we've tried to find cars that were either exactly alike or at least comparable for the purposes of running these tests. Furthermore, the cars were all run "as is," without special modifications or tuning. Finally, all times noted are the result of "flying" laps (as opposed to standing starts). In the interest of comparison, we ran flying laps on an older racing game that featured the Nürburgring--Project Gotham Racing 2--just to give you an idea of how our results compared on all four console games on which the legendary German track appears.

Consider the Nürburgring times found in the three Forza results, which are more than a minute slower than the times logged on Enthusia or Gran Turismo 4. At the same time, the Tsukuba and Laguna Seca lap times in Forza are significantly quicker than those found in the other games. Is it just us, or is there a discrepancy there?

Checkered Flag: Wrap Up/Coming Soon

Without sounding too middle-of-the-road, you'll find something to like in all three of these console racing games. It's obvious the development teams on each one spent huge amounts of time and effort in creating what are clearly three labors of love. Each, of course, has its own sets of pros and cons. If it's pure challenge you're looking for, for example, Enthusia's demanding driving physics and take-no-prisoners AI design will keep you glued to your controller. Similarly, Enthusia is a good choice for the driving fan who's tired of the same old "car collecting" model found in Forza and GT4 and is looking for a fresh new approach to driving games. Though the game doesn't always work, and often ends up becoming more frustrating than fun, Enthusia is, at the very least, worth a nice long rental.

This brings us to the obvious question: Gran Turismo 4 or Forza? Which one is better? Well, certainly if you only own one console, the answer is clear: You can't go wrong with either game, as both are designed to give you many hours of pure driving pleasure. Similarly, if you've got an Xbox and a PS2--and a spare Ben Franklin in your wallet--go ahead and pick up both games. Each offers its own special brand of driving thrill, and each has enough differences to certainly justify its cost. Buy Gran Turismo 4 and you'll enjoy a game that serves as a modern library of the automotive industry, with makes and models that cover the entire history of the business. GT4 also features a hugely compelling track list that features familiar fictional tracks and one of the best rosters of real-world tracks to be found. And did we mention the ice and snow and dirt rallies? Truly GT4 has much going for it.

Still, if we're forced to pick a winner--and isn't that the point here--our vote has to go to Forza Motorsport, a game that has set a new standard for console racing games not just through it's quantity of content (of which there is a lot) but through it's quality. There isn't another driving game out there right now that offers a better blend of challenge, customization, and sheer impressive racing horsepower than Forza. Toss in a full-featured online racing package, some of the best AI opponents we've ever seen, a fun drivatar system, and, of course, some of the best-looking environments we've seen on the Xbox, and you have the makings of one of the best driving games of the year.

Just Around the Corner

So that's it. Based on all this heaping praise, Forza is Driving Game of the Year. Right? In the immortal words of Lee Corso, "Not so fast, my friend!" You see, it's only May right now, and with more than half a year to go, there's still plenty of two- and four-wheeled action to be seen before we start making any rash predictions. Though it's too early to say for sure, Bizarre Creations' Project Gotham 3 (working title) is sure to take the Xbox 360 by storm, and if the third game in the Project Gotham series is anything like its predecessors, we're in for a fast-moving, fine-looking, fully Xbox Live-integrated joyride.

Then there's TOCA Race Driver 2006, the latest in a series that has evolved from a hammy cutscene-fueled racing game to one of the more complete racing games around. It's set to feature loads of obscure, but no-less-thrilling, race series, such as DTM and Formula Fords. It will also offer more real-life tracks than you can shake a dipstick at, and it will have some of the best online racing around. TOCA 2006 will look to up the ante significantly with more cars, tracks, and race series than ever before. The very idea of racing BMW-Williams F1 cars around Suzuka gets our heart pumping quicker.

Finally, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention two other racing titles on the horizon that should certainly make splashes when they hit retail stores. The first, THQ's MotoGP 3, is the sequel to the brilliant MotoGP 2, which justly earned GameSpot's Driving Game of 2003. In addition to all the tracks from the real 2004 MotoGP season, the game will also feature an entirely new mode, dubbed extreme mode, that will present brand-new tracks based on real-world locales. And, of course, you can expect loads of online racing goodies (including the ability to watch races as they happen, even if you aren't participating in them). Top it off with a great sense of speed and the same responsive controls that have made previous MotoGP entries such hits, and you have a highly anticipated two-wheel racing package that just may give the rest of these games a run for the money.

Finally we have Burnout Revenge, the sequel to the best driving game of last year, Burnout 3: Takedown. We don't have a lot in the way of details for the next Burnout beyond a few tantalizing concepts, such as traffic "checks" (essentially going Eric Lindros on any car to take it out) and, of course, the central theme: revenge. We're anxious to see exactly how this revenge factor will work, so we hope to see more of it in action at E3. However, we're certain it will make for a wild ride. GameSpot will have coverage on these games--and everything else racing related--as we continue through what may well be the best year for racing games in video game history.