The release of the Nascar 4 demo brings sim-racers around the world one step closer to the most realistic and exciting online racing ever. But will the game live up to expectations? After running quite a few laps around the two tracks included in the demo, (Michigan and Dover) many of the questions and concerns that were had about N4 were answered, and many more were raised.

In this review I'll resist the temptation to compare N4 to other racing sims, as I feel every game should stand on it's own merits. Never having driven a Winston Cup car in real life myself, I cannot fairly put the game's realism into question. I can however comment on what I think realism should be and whether N4 makes me feel as if I'm actually running laps in a 3400-pound, 750 horsepower stock car. Here's the good news.. it does! Gone are the days when a driver could slam on the brake, and then slam the accelerator. Nascar 4 will require a bit of finesse and skill to keep the car from spinning. Setups will be more important than ever, and the new garage gives the virtual crew chief many more options to tinker with. Those with an engineering degree or actual racing experience will definitely have the advantage here!

The garage isn't the only area that has new options. When the driver straps himself into the seat of his new virtual racecar, he has the choice of having a simulated steering wheel drawn or not. Not everyone will want to see a wheel on screen, but it is well done and accurately turns as you steer your car. A tall gearshift lever moves as well when you change gears, but I find it kind of spooky that it can move without a hand pushing it! Probably the biggest complaint I have about this game is the lack of visibility through the narrow windshield. This may or may not be realistic, but it takes away from the visual stimulations a computer racer needs to get the sensation of speed and also limits the driver's ability for good situational awareness.

The key to any good simulator's success is it's multiplayer capabilities. Unfortunately, I think that the structure of the Internet itself prevents us from having a totally warp-free racing environment. Papyrus makes a valiant attempt at giving us a chance to race side by side with their new multiplayer code, but until everyone is racing on a T1 line or better there will always be problems. The new physics engine requires much more information to be transmitted between users and servers, and this just increases the potential for problems. Still, there is plenty of good racing to be had online, and maybe someday a quality hosting service will be provided to us again.

Other issues that aren't actually "game play" related were handled well by Papyrus. The game runs just as well in D3D as it does in OpenGL. Graphics are leaps and bounds better than in previous versions. Menu options are clean and easy to understand, although the garage menu is divided into three sub-sections. This has always been a big no-no in the past because the user cannot see all setup options at the same time, but it isn't really a problem here. The screens have tabs to let you switch back and forth, so it is easy to navigate. Sound in the game is excellent, but there are still a few minor bugs that hopefully they'll have fixed by the time the full version is released. For example, a small hissing sound is heard while driving, probably to simulate the wind. When the car rubs the wall that hissing sound stops temporarily. Obviously this is a minor issue, but one that does need fixing.

This simulation is not the greatest thing since sliced bread; at least not in it's current demo state. It is however a huge improvement over what sim-racers have been driving for years. Papyrus had a difficult task in trying to appeal to both the die-hard sim-racers who live for close, realistic racing and the kids who watched Bobby Labonte win the Winston Cup championship on television this year and want to be just like him. Making money is still the name of the game for any software developer, and Papyrus is no different. They didn't sell out, but they did make a product that won't disappoint either group. So once again, Papyrus lives up to their reputation as the premier racing simulation developer.

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