REVIEW: Grand Prix Legends
I dont think Im up to this. Perhaps I need to learn a couple of new
adjectives. You know, something better than outstanding, something more
descriptive than jaw-dropping. You see, I have to review this game, and
it is beyond my meager ability to describe.
PROs CONs
Incredible feel; beautiful tracks; nuts-and-bolts realism.
Steep processor requirements.
The game is Grand Prix Legends, and it is simply the best racing
simulation ever to grace a computers hard drive. Designed by the
legendary David Kaemmer and the folks at Papyrus Design Group, Grand Prix
Legends replicates the 1967 Formula One Grand Prix season. It was a
special era, when some of the greatest drivers of our time ?Jimmy Clark,
Jack Brabham, and Dan Gurney? wrestled 425 horsepower, 1100 pound rockets
around beatific, gut-wrenching race courses the world over.
The game includes eleven of the eras tracks. From the neck-straining
bends at Monza to the lush tree-lined straights at Mosport there is
pavement to push every driver and nostalgia galore. But the beauty
doesnt stop with the tracks, the box is stuffed with famous cars such as
the Ferrari 312, Lotus 49, and the Eagle T1G ?the only American car to
ever win a Grand Prix. But this game is about more than bucolic tracks,
more than legendary cars, it is about the "feel" of racing.
Grand Prix Legends uses a brand-new engine to replicate the sensation of
driving these nearly untamable cars. The game models ?in minute detail?
the physics acting on each part of the chassis. Nothing is "hard-wired"
into the code. If your rear wheels break loose on the exit to Monte
Carlos *** Corner it is because the intersection of your throttle
application, coefficient of friction, and mother natures lateral G-
forces broke them loose, not because a coder said they should break loose
at 7000 RPMs in a sharp turn.
The GPL experience is nearly indescribable. Ive raced open-wheeled cars
and this is as close as a computer gets. You can sense the chassis taking
a set as you blast through Monzas Curva Grande or feel the rear tires
searching for traction as you accelerate onto Watkins Glens front
straight.
Of course the graphic beauty, coupled with the game engines
sophisticated AI, eats up a lot of processing power. Minimum requirements
are an accelerated P166, but it will take an accelerated P266 to run full
fields at a decent resolution.
Nevertheless, processor requirement aside, GPL is a shoo-in for racing
sim of the year. Heck, in my book, its a serious contender for game of
year. I just wish I had the words to describe it.
-- Mark H. Walker
Mark H. Walker is a longtime electronic entertainment journalist. He has
written tons of computer game reviews, and has authored 10 computer
entertainment books. He welcomes visitors to his website at
[link lost in import]
