first and foremost, to get gp4 running with all the graphicical nicetys you'll need a very good video card
i had to switch off all the reflections, shadows, bump mapping, enviroment mapping to get it running smoothly.
but when you get into the game its very good, but not the leap forward i was expecting, but thats just my opinion.
you start in the pit garage, and when you select leave the pits, nothing happend which i thought was strange.
until a mechanic walks from the garage in to the pit lane and looks to see if theres any cars coming down pitlane, then a 2nd mechanic walks into front of you with the car jack and proceeds to lower the car down on the ground (all very well animated too) then you proceed down the pitlane.......
what struck me first was how narrow some of the circuits are, particularly suzuka, but i was gobsmacked when i took a quick lap of monaco, fantastic!!!!! they could'nt have made it any different from gp3 if they tried
one thing that did disapoint me was there seems to be no rumble effect yet again when traversing the saw tooth kerbs
yet stray off the edge of the circuit and the wheel bangs about so why not over the kerbing?
the animated pitcrew is awesome, the way they buzz around the car is brilliant to watch,
another dissapointment is the pitradio, it would seem that its the same as in gp3 2000 again.
the car handling is somewhat different too, you can tell the physics have been changed, the car spins a lot more easier and the torque seems sharper,
the sound is better, but IMHO not as good as f12002,
the circuits are definately a massive improvement, and i have been on gp4 for about an hour now and have only scratched the surface of this new sim
i may change my mind about a few other things in time, but this was just my inital impression of it
gotta go, gp4 beckons
LS's Tip of the weekESSENTIAL OILS aren't essential unless you're an engine, a gearbox or a twat