Grand Prix 4 Preview
Geoff Crammond's next F1 game is almost finished. Check out our in-depth preview for all the details on the upcoming racer.
It was nearly 10 years ago that Britain-based software designer and programmer Geoff Crammond and his small band of associates completed work on one of the first true racing simulations ever to appear on the computer, the groundbreaking World Circuit. Like Papyrus Design Group's IndyCar Racing, also released in 1993, World Circuit flirted with authenticity and helped establish virtual racing as something other than a joystick-bashing action-fest developed primarily for the kiddies. The PC has since seen a variety of quasi-realistic racing games from a variety of sources, each of which has attempted to re-create the experience of driving a real-life car. Yet it was Crammond and David Kaemmer's Papyrus that ultimately got the ball rolling with two titles that have since served as the inspiration for all other "realistic" racing games that have followed.
But while Papyrus has since taken on a variety of racing disciplines with award-winning games such as Grand Prix Legends and the acclaimed NASCAR Racing series, Crammond has instead kept a tightly knit group and remained focused on the world of modern-day Formula 1. In 1996 came the worthy successor to World Circuit, Grand Prix II, at a time when most every other Formula 1-styled game (Domark's Formula 1, for example) was little more than a coin-op refugee. Grand Prix II pushed the realism envelope once again and introduced such concepts as textured SVGA graphics and sentient software-controlled competition. Revered even today as a landmark open-wheeled sim, Grand Prix II was beautiful to behold even when you were hurtling through the air after a head-on collision.
It would be four more years before Crammond and Hasbro (having enveloped original publisher MicroProse) would release the third installment in the series, Grand Prix 3. Still a strong game but ultimately not the quantum leap forward many had expected, Grand Prix 3 arrived in the midst of a sudden and unexpected glut of quality F1 simulations. Titles such as Ubi Soft's superb F1 Racing Sim and Electronic Arts' flawed but promising F1 2000 had emerged from out of the blue to challenge Grand Prix II for leadership of the virtual F1 world. Though it now sported unprecedented dynamic weather effects and several welcome tweaks, Grand Prix simply wasn't the automatic lock it once was.
Now, Crammond and his newly organized Simergy design team are preparing to debut their next-generation racing game in a North American market that has just witnessed the release of Grand Prix's most worthy F1 challenger to date, EA's effectively convincing F1 2002. Scheduled to be published by Infogrames this September, the latest in the Grand Prix series concerns itself with the 2001 Formula 1 season and promises upgrades all around. We had a chance to take a nearly finalized prerelease version of the game for a spin.
Like its immediate predecessor, Grand Prix 4 looks to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. It won't sport wholly revamped physics modeling or any truly incredible innovations, and it quite probably will not put a dagger through the heart of its strongest rival. It will be, however, a considerably more impressive game than Grand Prix 3 was, in both a visual and audible sense. It will feature numerous new perks and refinements and certainly should be of significant interest to any serious open-wheeled enthusiast and, in particular, fans of the venerated Crammond style.
As an official product of the 2001 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, Grand Prix 4 will not examine the current season, but instead the events and teams of 2001. All drivers that participated in the final race of the season are included, as are all 17 circuits (Melbourne, Sepang, Interlagos, Imola, Barcelona, A1-Ring, Monte Carlo, Montreal, Nurburgring, Magny-Cours, Silverstone, Hockenheim, Hungaroring, Spa-Francorchamps, Monza, Indianapolis, and Suzuka). Purists should note that the game authentically exhibits the high-speed 2001 edition of Hockenheim rather than the altered and considerably more technical version constructed for 2002 and included in EA's F1 2002.
- GameSpot Score8.0great
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Geoff Crammond's Grand Prix 4 Video Review
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- Sep 11, 2002
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- Release: Sep 10, 2002 »
- ESRB: Everyone
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