When the warez verion of GP3 came out, I, like many others, downloaded
it because I just couldn't for the official release (much like F1
2000). Initially, I was very disappointed with it, thinking it was
nothing more than GP2 with some slightly better graphics (and worse
than most other racing titles out there). However, after playing it
quite a bit, I began to think maybe it wasn't so bad after all. Many
people hear were saying, "just give it a while...it'll grow on you!"
Indeed, I began to feel the same way. Or at least, I did feel the
same way until I fired up F12K for the first time after playing GP3
extensively. After another go-round with F12K,I have come to the
conclusion that it really is superior in most ways to GP3.
Graphics - F1 2000's graphics just blow GP3 out the window. While
GP3's graphics are very clear and crisp looking, they just look very
plain, and everything looks very, I don't know....small. In F12K,
buildings, overhead bridges and such just look bigger....like real
buildings and stuff. Everything looks like it's done to scale, not
just the same size square with some different texture slapped on it.
And the buildings themselves look more detailed. They have antannaes
and other various structures on them that make them look like real
buildings. For instance, the overhead bridge at San Marino has a
working clock on it, and the building at the entrance to the pitlane
in Magny-Cours has girders and stuff on top...it's not just a plain,
flat square like GP3. The track surface, too, looks better in F12K.
While GP3's tracks are just plain, grey pavement, F12K's tracks are
adorned with things like sponsor emblems, extra track markings
indicating the pits and such, and various others (like the writing on
the track at San Marino. And in GP3, everything just looks generic,
as if all the tracks were created with some cookie cutter editor.
For example, unlike F12K, where the curbing at different tracks not
only varies in color, but also in the width and height department, the
curbing in GP3 is exactly the same from track to track, save for
different colored stripes, and slight variations in width. And the
brake markers in GP3 are also exactly the same from venue to venue
while in F12K, they vary from track to track, just like in real life.
At Indy, for example, they're black on white, and positioned on the
ground while at Magny-Cours, they're red on black, and suspended from
the air. It's hard to explain, but the whole execution of the tracks
is done better in F12K....they look more individualized and not just
the same buildings/bridges/curbing dropped onto a different track
layout. Granted, you need a more powerful system to run F12K, but it
just has a more "real" look to it, although like I said earlier, GP3
does have a very clean, unblurry look to it...just not a very detailed
look.
Sound - This is going to be short as neither game has great sound,
as far as I'm concerned. The engine note of the car in F12K is pretty
pathetic, and the sound of the cars from the TV replay view is even
worse! But with add ons, it sounds pretty good. GP3 on the other
hand, has a better sounding engine (which isn't saying much when
compared with F12K's stock sounds), but it's the same sound as from
GP2! Yuck!
Replay - I thought I would add this in as I can't figure out why GP3
still has only a 20 second replay. This is abso-friggin-lutely
ridiculous and is a big sign of laziness on the part of Geoff
Crammond. While other games (F12K included) are allowing you to save
entire races, which can be saved and viewed using convenient VCR style
controls, I guess Mr. Crammond figured it would be ok to go with the
same 20sec replay of four years ago, which can't be fast forwarded, or
rewound, or stepped ahead, or even saved!! And yes, I know you can
save "hot laps," but that's a pathetic work around....and you still
can't control the hot lap replay, other than starting and stopping it.
Big wow.
Driving/Realism - Here is another area where I feel F12K leaves it's
newest rival in the dust. In F12K, it just feels sooo much more like
a real car than GP3. In GP3, the car feels totally dead....not at all
like I would imagine a race car to be. In F12K, the cars feel twitchy
and nervous - exactly how I would imagine a 700HP, 1100lb car to
handle. drive onto the curbs and the car gets unsettled. And when
you DO put the wheels onto the curbs, you can see the wheel get pushed
up as a result. Compare this with GP3, where driving onto the curbs
seems to have zero effect on the car's handling. Not only can you put
a wheel up onto the curb with no ill effect on the car, you can put
BOTH wheels past the curb, onto the grass INSIDE the curb, and still
not affect the car in any way. And driving onto the grass is the
same. Drive onto the grass (at any speed) in GP3 and the car keeps
going merrily along, like you're still on the track. In F12K, the
tracks themselves are not flat, but have bumps, banking and camber
changes. While driving over these bumps in F12K, again, you can see
the wheels bounce up and down as they hit the bumps, and if the bumps
happen to be right before a corner, it has a very noticeable effect on
the car, making it very nervous. Example: at Indy, heading into the
first corner, there's a big bump as the car transitions from the oval
straightaway onto the infiled section. If you hit this bump the wrong
way, the car will get all out of shape - you really have to
concentrate on getting the right angle of entry. Also, when you come
over the crest of a hill, the car in F12K feels lighter, while heading
into a downhill corner requires slightly more braking as the car feels
a little heavier. It just seems that in F12K, you always have to be
on your toes while driving as the car's handling changes throughout
the lap as you hit the various imperfections in the track and
negotiate the various corners. Contrast this with GP3, in which the
tracks have no bumps whatsoever....it's as if you're driving on glass,
which is just not realistic. Watch any GP and you can see the cars
bumping up and down while heading down the straights. Watch the
driver's heads and you can see them being jostled around as the car
moves...even in a straight line. The real tracks are definitely not
flat! Also, there seems to be very little elevation in any of GP3's
tracks, and when there is elevation, it's so slight, it's hard to
notice. Maybe in some cases, elevation is overdone in F12K, but for
the most part, I think it's handled better than GP3. And as for
camber, while there is camber and banking modelled at some tracks in
GP3, it has absolutely ZERO effect on the handling of the car....it
may as well not even be there. Never mind the fact that when the AI
cars drive through banked corners, they never tilt to follow the
track, so it appears they round the corner with two wheels off the
ground. Pathetic!! It just seems that the car in GP3 has no life to
it. It always handles as it's on rails unless you do something
extreme like coming out of a corner with all the wheels in the grass
and mashing the gas, or slamming hard on the brakes while slicing into
the corner. And what's up with the damage model in GP3. You can slam
into a wall at over 100mph and not damage the car in any way. I've
touched wheels with another car going over 180mph, flown through the
air end over end, and hit the ground with not so much as a scratch
while I've flipped end over end going only 120mph or so and the car
completely comes apart!! And if you do lose a wheel (or the rear
wing), you can just head into the pit and it's magically repaired in
about 10secs or so. Incredible! In F12K, you don't have to hit
something nearly as hard to incur damage, and when you do get damage,
it may just bend the suspension (with visible results) rather than
rend the wheel from the car. As well, the body can become bent from
an impact. And when you do pit to repair damage, the pit crew will
not repair the rear wing. And a wobbly tire will still be wobbly
after it's replaced as suspension damage can not be repaired. F12K
just feels so much more alive and life like to drive as compared with
GP3. Oh yeah, one more "realism" thing in F12K's favor is the fact
it's based on the 2000 season. All the correct tracks and driver
names, unlike GP3.
AI - I won't get into the AI as once again, neither game excels in
this department (not to mention the fact I'm getting sick and tired of
typing!!).
In GP3's defence, I will say that the weather effect is very well
done and adds much strategy to the races. The rest of the game
though, is generally of such sub standard quality, that the wonderful
weather element is just being wasted. I think another reason I'm so
disappointed is just the fact that this game was supposedly being
worked on for four years and this is the best that could be done.
It's nothing more than a mostly cosmetic update to a four year old
game. And while that four year old game might have been the best
there was at the time, four years later, it's beginning to show it's
age, as does it's new sequel by virtue of the fact it bears such a
strong rsemblence to it's predecessor. I'm also disappointed by all
the people who say, "yeah, I know it's GP2.5, but I'm happy with
that." After four years, I would think that people had slightly
higher expectations. If everyone is simply content with minor
improvements to games, software companies will have little incentive
to actully improve their games, which is bad for all of us. I frankly
don't see how anyone can in all honesty say they are satisfied by the
mostly minor improvements of GP3...especially after such a long
development time. Anyways, I think EA is to be commended for F1 2000
as it's truly a good game in it's own right, and light years ahead of
most other EA Sports racing games.