Released: 19990324 Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: EA Canada Genre: Racing

Review by: NickB

Well well, what have we here? 
No sooner do I get done stomping a mudhole in EA for foisting the execrable
Rushdown on us, then they do a complete about-face and make me look quite
the fool by releasing a perfectly great game like this.  It’s only
natural that all publishers should be given to some degree of inconsistency,
but this is just ridiculous.  How, in the span of a mere fortnight,
can anyone put out two titles of such disparate quality?  It seems….unnatural. 
Ah well, all the better for us, I suppose, because NFS4 is the one of the
most enjoyable PlayStation games I’ve seen this year so far.

Graphics

Much like last year’s model
(Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit), the graphics are really quite good. 
The car models are accurately and minutely detailed.  All of the vehicles
look just like they do in real life, which is a real treat to an aficionado
like myself.  In fact, you can even see the driver inside, which is
a pretty rare feat for racing games.  Furthermore, there is visible
car damage, which is almost unheard of in racers with production vehicles! 
The environments look really good, and there are all sort of neat lighting
and atmospheric effects.  There are a fair number of non-player vehicles
and objects moving around in the surroundings of each course, such as trains
and hot air balloons, which are fun to watch and add immeasurably to the
ambience of each track.  The tracks themselves are well laid out and
appealing to the eye.  On the whole, I would rate the game’s visuals
as about on par with Namco’s much-vaunted Ridge Racer Type 4.  It
just looks good, no two ways about it.  

Now for the downsides. 
Need For Speed 4’s menu system is hit-or-miss.  By and large it’s
quite stylish, in a sort of Psygnosis-like futuristic kind of way, but
the scrolling menu selections are a pain the in ass.  Perhaps they
look cool, but I could do without them.  There are some other nagging
issues, like the presence of a good deal of low-resolution textures. 
Also disappointing (albeit in a small way), is the uninspired nature of
the race replays.  They don’t really look bad, per se, but Gran Turismo
really set a new standard for replays, with its near-FMV quality cars,
and NFS4 fails to belly up to the bar in this area.

The only real problem, though,
is a somewhat less-than-stellar framerate, a drawback shared by almost
all of EA’s recent games.  It’s really not that bad, however, and
doesn’t interfere with gameplay.  The only time the framerate drop
is perceptible is when there are a good number of cars and other moving
objects (e.g. the aforementioned train) on screen, and even then the game
is totally playable.  NFS4 never descends to anywhere near the horrible
slideshow proportions of, say, NHL 99.  

Sound

Hoo-wah, this game has some great sound effects! 
The exhaust rumble of the mighty small block V8 on the Corvette is enough
to make a baby grunt.  Each of the sports cars, from the Jag to the
911 to the F-bodies, emits its own unique pitch and tone.  Even those
with untrained ears will be able to make out the no-so-subtle differences
between the sounds of the 2.8L BMW Z3 roadster and the more robust, muscular
5.7L Pontiac Firebird.  Perhaps this sort of thing is lost on most
people, but car lovers will thoroughly enjoy it.  I know I do. 
The car sound effects are just superb.  The engine, for example, will
start to really roar as you rev it up to redline (there is a functional
tach, by the way!), and when you drop the clutch at 5500RPM, the high-pitched
squeal of rubber on concrete is exhilarating.  

The racing sounds are quite
authentic, too, and it’s obvious EA spent some time and care making sure
it got everything right.  Your car shudders and shakes loudly as you
driver over rough cobblestone streets, and effect which, when mated to
the Dual Shock’s rumble feature, is immensely cool.  The grinding
of metal on metal as you sideswipe a guardrail, the howl of police sirens,
etc., they’re all here, and they sound pretty good.  The voice-over
work of the radio traffic on your police band scanner is great, too. 
Very realistic, and very fun.

Even the music, one area
where most racers come up woefully short (i.e. Gran Turismo) is pretty
good.  Mostly rock and psuedo-techno, its not about to set the world
on fire, but it’s not bad either.  More importantly, it really fits
the theme and action of the game perfectly, so even though this type of
music isn’t my favorite, I really can’t find fault with it.

Gameplay

The gameplay is much improved
over last year’s version.  Doubtless taking a queue from Digital Polyphony’s
masterpiece, Gran Turismo, NFS4 incorporates some new modes and features
that lend themselves to a greater amount of interaction and challenge,
which ultimately makes for a deeper game.  New to NFS4 are such disciplines
as the Special Events mode the Tournament mode, wherein you compete with
other drivers in a series of races.  You’re allotted a small amount
of cash to begin with, which you must use to buy a low-end car (if the
BMW Z3 or Mercedes SLK roadsters can truly be called “low-end”). 
This will tap out your account right away, so you must place well in your
races in order to win money with which to make upgrades and eventually
buy new machines.  Sound familiar?  I thought so.  Imitation
is the sincerest form of flattery, they say, so Polyphony should be feeling
pretty honored right about now.  

This is not to say that the
game is a derivative GT-ripoff, because it’s not.  At its blessed
little high-octane heart, NFS4 is most assuredly an arcade-style racer. 
It plays like one, and it controls like one.  The control, while I’m
mentioning it, is spot-on.  With the Dual Shock employed (and if you
don’t have one by now, you should ask yourself why), steering is blissfully
precise and intuitive.  Driving a Camaro in NFS4 actually feels something
like driving one in real life.  No, it’s not the same thing, but it’s
about as close as I’ve seen yet.  At any rate, there is no odious
oversteer or understeer, like that found in NFS: V-Rally, which makes the
game easy to pick up and fun to play.  

The game’s piece de resistance,
the pursuit mode, is back with a vengeance.  EA has really done a
nice spit ‘n polish job on this part, which made its debut in last year’s
NFS3, because the chases in NFS4 are better on virtually every level. 
The cops drive more aggressively now, but they’re also smarter.  They
coordinate a lot better, they are more cunning about setting up roadblocks
and spikestrips in narrow passageways, and they will hunt down your opponent
just as zealously as they hunt you.  My only big gripe is that they
seem to have developed a nasty new habit of playing chicken with you, and
they won’t back off.  I don’t know of any cops who’d ram head-on into
a Porsche travelling at 170mph, so this seems a little silly.

About the only real gripe
here is that the number of available cars and tracks is a bit on the slim
side.  Sure, they are all great cars, All-American and European beasts
(you’ll find no Demio Aspecs here, my friend), and I can’t complain about
what’s there, but it would have been nice if they threw in some more. 
I know there aren’t a whole of other exotic production cars available,
but maybe EA could have sifted through the sands of time and added some
great rides from the past, like the Shelby Cobra or the Ford GT40. 
It would have been really cool.  Still, the inclusion of the ultra-exotic (and unaffordable)
McLaren F1 supercar alone is almost enough to make me forget about
this shortcoming.

Funfactor

When it comes right down
to it, what do you really play videogames for?  Sure, for relaxation,
a brief reprieve from external stresses, for fun, I know, but what is the
core reason?  For me, I think it’s to do things I simply can’t do
in real life, or things that I could do, but would be prohibitively expensive
or suicidal.  You get a sort of vicarious thrill by living out your
adventures or fantasies on the screen.  I think this holds true for
most people.  Neo-cubists get a kick out of Klonoa, James Bond wannabes
play Goldeneye or Metal Gear Solid, kids who grew up on Star Wars or The
Last Starfighter indulge themselves with Colony Wars, etc.  

Well, like many kids, I always
wanted to be a race car driver.  I grew up watching Ayrton Senna and
AJ Foyt and guys like that tear up the track.  God were they ever
smooth.  Racing, however, is not a cheap hobby, nor is it one for
which desire alone is sufficient.  Sure, you can buy yourself a hot
little GT3000 or Mustang GT or something and pretend, but then you have
to worry about the "over enthusiastic" State Patrol coming down on your
ass, just because you were having a little fun tearing down I-90 at speeds
well in excess of the legal limit.  Doh!  

Well, if this is the case
with you, too, then you’ve found your therapy in NFS4.  This little
firecracker is pure, distilled fun for all of you gearheads out there without
the time or pockets necessary to join your regional dirt track or rally
league.  It’s deep, it’s easy to get into, it’s got real cars that
look, sound, and handle like real cars, and best of all, you can flee from
the cops, or run them off the road, without fear of reprisals.  I
love it.

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