Entry No.87e

IT Writers Awards

Geoff Crammond is effectively Mr Microprose Grand Prix. His vision has carried through the first two titles in the Grand Prix series to international success, and set the benchmark for all future efforts in the genre. Grand Prix 3 is slated to include the full data from this years FIA Formula One World Championship Season.

All the circuits, all the races, all the teams and all the cars are accurately reproduced in glorious digital form for this magnificent-looking title. Grand Prix 3 has a complete championship season, with qualifying and practice days, realistic pit stops, customisable car set-ups and full data logging analysis.

Neatly addressing the minor shortcomings of the other two games in the series, this title features full amateur driving assists to help even the most inexperienced racer have a good experience with Grand Prix 3. Besides the basic short race and non-championship competition, in five levels of difficulty the game can fully insulate the player from the scientific complexity of the race. Rookie players can be supplied with a default car layout that provides all-round performance, so they don't have to drill down to the nuts and bolts of car customisation. With eight driving aids including auto brakes, auto gears, self-correcting spin, indestructible mode, ideal line, suggested gear, throttle help and steering help, it can become playable for someone with almost no knowledge of the theory behind Formula One racing.

Grand Prix 3 is not compromising on the hardcore simulation either - the very advanced car set-up feature, with a a full reference guide, is minutely detailed with adjustments to springs, ride height, dampers, and anti-roll bars as well as the general front/rear wings, brake balance and gear ratio settings. And you will be able to finitely measure the results: Grand Prix 3 incorporates highly detailed vehicular performance analysis, with a wealth of information on each saved lap including speed, steering demand, RPMs, throttle, brake, gear usage, ride height and suspension travel for each wheel and longitudinal and lateral acceleration. What you couldn't surmise with such statistics, probably isn't worth knowing. Grand Prix 3 provides the measurement system used by experts - so you don't have to just "feel" the performance difference in the car after a tune-up - you can read all about it. If that wasn't enough to confirm the game's credentials, it is officially licensed by the Formula One Administration Limited. If this organisation puts their stamp on something you can guarantee there must be something right with it.

The graphics look set to redefine the genre once again, by providing an insane amount of camera views, as demanded by the series' fans. It even has a virtual cockpit option where you can rotate the driver's head inside the cockpit to get a real "in car" view. Wet weather races heighten excitement, as do the high quality sound, both in recording and playback during the gameplay. The Grand Prix 3 series has always had extraordinary sound - so no surprises there, more of a sigh of relief as we think to ourselves "oh good, they've kept that good bit".

In providing high quality graphics, Grand Prix 3 does not intend to exclude players who do not have a 3D accelerator, as many modern games do. Geoff's team has created a fast and polished software rendering mode for the game, that gives the player an equivalent level of graphical quality, while running on most recent PCs on the market. Finally, Grand Prix 3 will provide the opportunity for 2-4 players to race against each other over LAN.

Considering the outstanding track record of this developer and publisher together, we have very, very high hopes for Grand Prix 3. Put it on your wish list.

Copyright 2000 Gamespot Australia

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