By Paul Tomlinson
11 June 2002

At the time of writing, there is just two weeks to go until the fourth installment of the gp-series is released on to the PC; this game of course is Grand Prix 4.

For the first time in gp-series history, Grand Prix 4 will not be a PC-exclusive title, and will also be appearing on the Xbox just a week later, and the good news for racing-fans on the Xbox is that Microprose claim that the Xbox version will be exactly the same as the PC (unlike the awful version of EA's F1 2002 that that Xbox owners have to put up with).

As always, there is a PC version, but for perhaps the first time ever, Grand Prix 4 is going head to head with EA Sport's F1 2002, which was released earlier this week.

There's been a lot of debate, discussion and even flame wars on various Internet forums about which of these two games will be the best, but I believe that it's wise to simply "wait and see" what both titles have to offer, and at the end of the day it'll probably be down to simple taste as to which title you'll play more. GameStar, a German gaming magazine recently published a "F1 2002 vs. Grand Prix 4" article, and there were only 1% between the two titles (89% for F1 2002, and 88% for Grand Prix 4).

The main new additions to this installment of the gp-series are a vastly improved graphics engine, now supporting T&L and resolutions up to 1600x1200. The tracks are now created using GPS data, and Microprose now claim that even the bumps on the track are now accurately modeled, and finally each team will have an individual carshape.

Don't forget there is also going to be a new animated pit-crew. Of course the usual improvements are there as well, namely improved AI and improved physics, which we've come to expect from each incarnation of the gp-series.

Unfortunately there will not be any online multiplayer, due to FIA constraints which is a shame, but there will be the usual LAN / P2P play, as well as the "hotseat" mode.

There's no word on force feedback yet, but it will definitely be in there.

Well, it's all looking pretty promising, especially for fans of the gp-series. However, with F1 2002 providing pretty stiff competition, Grand Prix 4 has got to be something really special...

really special...