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NASCAR Racing 4

It was 14 years ago that Dave Kaemmer founded Papyrus Design Group and began development of what is generally regarded as the first realistic racing game for the PC, Indianapolis 500: The Simulation. Since then, Papyrus has almost single-handedly defined what an automobile racing simulation should be. Its latest project, NASCAR Racing 4, is the glorious culmination of years of experience and expertise. Though it has occasional quirks, it is far superior to recent installments and makes for an unquestionably outstanding racing experience for NASCAR fans.
NASCAR Racing 4 distinguishes itself from competing products in the same way Papyrus' simulations always have--through a faithful attention to realism. But NASCAR Racing 4 is far from just another upgrade. The game features a new and vastly improved vehicle physics model that makes the once impressive but now antiquated NASCAR Racing 2 and 3 cars seem like they were riding on rails. It benefits from a new graphics engine that renders everything prior obsolete. In fact, everything about NASCAR Racing 4 is state of the art, from the improved menu interfaces with pop-up tooltips to the enhanced computer-driver artificial intelligence, the top-quality audio, and much more.

Like earlier iterations, NASCAR Racing 4 showcases the world of top-level stock car racing, the Winston Cup series. It incorporates no fewer than 76 real-life drivers and cars, including such luminaries as Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin, and even the feared black #3 Goodwrench GM of Dale Earnhardt, whose untimely death followed the release of the game. It features last year's complete 21-track roster, including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the storied Daytona and Pocono circuits, which make their first-ever appearance in a Papyrus title. And in a real move forward for the venerable series, NASCAR Racing 4 offers all four body styles from the upcoming 2001 season--now you may choose from the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Pontiac Grand Prix, Ford Taurus, or the new kid on the block, Dodge's sleek Intrepid R/T. Each is modeled accurately from bumper to bumper.

For players new to the series, the latest NASCAR is less imposing than ever before. Rookies need merely select a car and head to the options menu to activate the game's massive allotment of driving aids. If any of the menu items seems confusing, a quick click of the right mouse button triggers a pop-up explanation. Choose a comparatively relaxed circuit such as Michigan, define the driving mode as "arcade," and keep the opponent strength to the default minimum of 70 percent.

Then it's off to the track, where you'll want to settle on a suitable viewing perspective before continuing. NASCAR Racing 4 offers a total of four points of view, including a superb new hood camera that eliminates the clutter of the cockpit interior while offering the subtle control of a true first-person view. This may well become the perspective of choice for most players. At any time, you can press the F key to check the frame rate or the V key to warp into an opponent's cockpit and watch the work of a seasoned pro. You may even want to access a midrace replay to fully understand why your driving line keeps propelling you into the wall. Unfortunately, Papyrus has inexplicably eliminated NASCAR Racing's instant restart feature, thereby forcing you to live with serious accidents or reload the entire event from the menu--a frustratingly lengthy process on any computer. Fortunately, such miscues are more than offset by the game's impressive list of graphical and practical upgrades.
When series veterans get behind the wheel, the first thing they'll notice isn't the revolutionary physics model, but the great new graphics engine. Papyrus has banished the boxy-looking cars of previous versions and replaced them with stunning true-3D models that move about as a collection of parts rather than as an inflexible mass. Now NASCAR Racing vehicles sport an active four-way suspension that visibly tilts the car when weight transfers from side to side. They feature source-sensitive lighting, awesome real-time shadows, and wheels and tires that look and behave like separate components.

In the event of a serious accident, NASCAR Racing 4 merges tried-and-true Papyrus damage modeling with new vertical physics to create an unforgettable show. Cars are ripped from the ground if propelled with sufficient force, authentically tumbling end-over-end or climbing safety fences before they finally return to the pavement. Hoods buckle, fenders and bumpers crush, and hunks of bodywork break off and violently fly about as they would in a real collision.

But even though the game handles its new airborne element exceptionally well--cars stay aloft only as long as real-world gravity would dictate--the carnage still isn't quite as convincing as it could be. Detached parts seemingly lose their mass once they've departed, thus letting oncoming vehicles drive right through them as if they weren't even there. The flames you'd expect to see erupt never materialize. And the game occasionally clips 3D objects through one another, merging cars with cars and cars with walls instead of catapulting them away from one another. It is not impossible to see a vehicle poke completely through a retaining wall or dip into the pavement as if that pavement were liquid, then suddenly reappear several yards away. Fortunately, such incidents seem limited only to severe collisions, which typically occur only if you go out of your way to create them.