|
|
View previous topic :: View next topic
|
| Author |
Message |
Gironika
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Dragon Range
|
 Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 12:28 pm Post subject: [FKW'07]Enthusia Professional Racing Week 2007 |
  |
|
| boojiboy7 wrote: |
| Should we both be around next february, Enthusia might be the FKW game of choice. I'm terrible at it, though I do love it, so I would be down for that. Conversely, we could do a half way celebration where everyone gets their Enthusia on. |
So be it then, I summon all petrolheads and want to kick off the FKW-Racing-Week. Ladies and Gentlemen, Start your engines.
Last year's FKW covered Enthusia a bit, with a second thread to follow, both of them having a different approach towards Enthusia.
Now it's time to take a new road and focus on some things that were absent from the other incarnations, so let's get this going then:
Now, we did talk about the physics and the game itself, how to gain levels with your ride and so on - though it's time to talk about something new right now, and I want to start with trying to "get" Enthusia.
Basically, Enthusia is not about racing and/or collecting cars, it's about celebrating your ride, or celebrating you driving the car of your choice.
You might not agree there (and honestly, why should you if you aren't a petrolhead?) but let's take a look at some things that do (should) come to your mind when playing Enthusia, some things which are actually the essence of that aforementioned claim.
First, let's take a look at the choice of rides.
As one might expect, there are the ever-so-mighty Skylines, Subarus and Lancer Evos, paired with a bunch of pure racing-cars, the Toyota GTOne, the Nissan R390 and some World Rally Championship-cars like the Focus, the Peugeot 206 and the Citroen.
It's the kind of choice you would have to make if you want to make a proper "racing game", imagine what a new Mariokart would feel like if you left out the question mark blocks and items in general. No Skyline, Impreza or Lancer Evo in a "real" racing game? Won't happen anytime soon.
And honestly, even I really expect to have the "usual" choice of cars, I want my Honda NSX, even better if it's the Type-R NA2. I really want the facelifted-version of that car to give it a quick spin, and so do many gamers - "get me that Skyline!" I would even go as far as to say it's mandatory to have these cars in your racing game or you're sure to get a bunch of "but the [enter Skyline, NSX, Subaru or Lancer Evo here] is missing!"-scores in reviews all over the interwebs.
Driving the Lancer Evos 'round some tracks, eventually winning some races and getting bored of the game, someone could stop here and put Enthusia back on the shelf ...
.. which would be a shame, to be true.
It's because there is a bunch of cars that might not make too much sense at first, which finally end up being the reason why Enthusia is a game that manages to outperform the current racing games available for the PS2 and XBox.
A question aimed at all the Enthusia-owners out there - did you, just once, take a spin with the MG MGB, the Austin Healey Sprite or the Smart ForTwo Cabrio?
Normally you wouldn't have done so - and hell, I can't blame you for not wanting to. GT4 tends to scare players away with it's small cars and it's ridiculous slow speeds. It doesn't feel like driving whereas it sometimes feels like you are punished for not having "pimped" your engine enough to go "faaaa~aaast" down the straights.
Enthusia has a fancy "speed-effect" which makes someone think that Konami wanted to make things more exciting - though I wonder, for what reason?
However, that rule doesn't exactly apply here. Take that R390 you can choose in Time Attack and try to trash it around the Nür. A bit too fast and hard to handle? Try your hands at the wheel of a Toyota MR2 then. Still going off at every corner? Welcome to Enthusia then.
It wants you to change your mind about the driving you usually do in racing games, and it's only there that Enthusias choice of cars starts to make sense.
Take the BMW 2002 turbo in GT4 and Enthusia (if you can choose that car, that is...) for a lap around Nür, driving aids off and using the very crappy and cheapest economy-tires, you'll notice that the car is a bit more likely to spin - well, at least it feels a bit more loose there. Enthusias BMW 2002 makes you spin off the track though, and if you push a bit too hard, off you go in turn 2/3.
A bunch of reviewers then is quick to criticise Enthusia for it's physics ...
| Quote: |
eurogamer (review) wrote:
After all, to begin with your car will be horribly underpowered, with syrupy steering, rubbish tyres and possibly no traction control or electronic stability assists to help you out when you start to wipe out.
(...)
For a start, many of the more powerful cars you win lack traction and stability control (pretty much essential to begin with), or worse might be rear-wheel drive. For reasons best known to Konami, these cars are hilariously uncontrollable and require levels of patience we simply don't possess to control, let alone master. |
Hell, someone should have told that Germans wrecking their cars on Nür in the Adenauer Forst corners that they are being cheated by "hilariously" unreal physics before they managed to flip their VW Beetles.
As you can see, ze Germanz are too stupid to keep their cars on the track although they are clearly not hindered by "syrupy steering", let alone "horribly underpowered" VW Beetles.
This is one of the best (and worst) examples I found on the web, since it's so wildly inaccurate (you can decide if you want to have driving aids right before you start the game) and features nearly every cliché you'll find in Enthusia reviews.
Strange choice of cars, uncontrollable RWD-cars, the AI-drivers are hitting you on purpose, an unbelievable bad soundtrack, Konami's completely useless VGS-system is crap, WTF car-lottery and so on.
Now, having seen that vid I posted up there, you'll probably see where Enthusia is more accurate than one would expect at first.
Take a look at your driving and you notice that some of these mistakes shown in that vid might happen to you frequently, especially if you're driving vintage cars, something where GT4 messes up horribly.
What's the point in recreating these cars then if they don't fishtail like cars used to do back then? These guys managed to flip a "horribly underpowered" VW Beetle as well as other cars there, some of them being all over the place.
Try to "reenact" that with GT4 ... and you'll notice it doesn't seem to bother. Of course, that flipping-cars-stuff doesn't work in Enthu as well, even if you equip the worst tires you can onto your car, it's only a bit more loose in GT4. But there isn't the feel of "danger" when driving this car. You might be able to keep it on the track most of the time just by locking the steering for a moment. It's only if you choose the fast cars that GT4 manages to make you think twice about cutting corners like crazy ...
... and Enthusia?
Nope, no flipping cars there, but if it's about spinning and leaving the track "unintentionally", it's the game of your choice. I have no idea if it's really all about that tire-stuff that Konami advertises on their website that, so they say, makes for the difference in driving.
But you'll have to admit that there IS a difference as soon as your car ends up in the guardrails after two or three corners. If you drive GT-like, of course, without the driving aids, most of the vintage cars makes you realise why people were killed in these cars - if you ever think about racing the Honda S800 down the Nür straight, you might want to break early.
Never heard of "snap oversteering"? Enthusia will teach you. Even applying the brakes in vintage cars is a tricky thing to do, you'll lock them up easily and they take years to slow you down - not so with GT4, as you might have already noticed.
It's that lack of realism that makes you not bother about cars in GT4, and it's that effort to be more accurate about driving cars that make Enthusia worth the while.
If it's that special tire-stuff Konami (obviously) is very proud of, they've done a good job so far. Keeping the Toyota Sports 800 on track can be a tricky task, not to mention the really quick cars. The moment you encounter that massive understeering of the Lotus Europe you are most probably caught off-guard and you're left wondering why the hell you crashed out there... however, since Enthusia is about racing after all, take the BMW CSL 3.0 racecar for a spin down Dragon Range or around Nür. Still no fun?
Trying to control these cars without using the driving aids can be a task that might seem tedious, but the moment when you manage to get a clean lap around a track you really like (well, if it isn't the Speedway), it really feels like it was worth the effort, you achieved something just by not not running out of talent. Now, imagine you can drive that CSL 3.0 fast and win some races ... I think you see where this is going.
It really feels like Konami/the game designer(s) really wanted you to appreciate the driving you do and have to do with these cars. In the end, it doesn't matter if you've won, the really good part about driving in Enthusia is doing it right. Hence that strange "lottery", where you have to win cars rather than buying them. And suddenly, the choice of some cars in Enthusia starts to make sense in that respect.
For example the Citroen DS23, being praised for it's ride quality and handling, is a brilliant choice insofar as it's a car that is still regarded as having one of the most refined suspensions for road cars back in the '50ies. If there's a driving game that tries to give you an impression how it felt to drive these (legendary) cars, it's THIS car you have to have in there.
You might want to watch a funky ad if you care as much about this car as I do.
Then there's a bunch of British sportscars that look "mostly harmless" but they really have pure racing genes - some of them were Le Mans-contenders, after all. The Austin-Healey Sprite and the MGB were racing each other in their prime years, the latter one being a magnificent car and a handfull as soon as you take it for a lap around Nür or down Dragon Range.
Now, to prevent this thread from becoming a shameless Enthusia-plugging-event, I have to throw in all the downsides I encountered in the last nine months playing Enthusia.
The FF-cars sometimes feel a bit too "grippy", though they might be quite down to the truth there in most of the cases. Coming from GT3/4, you naturally expect your FF-car to understeer heavily, whereas Enthusia is a bit more forgiving there.
The worst understeering FF-car I found is the Honda Mobilio, a car that is the worst FF-car I've encountered so far. It even can be fun to drive around with it every now and then ... anyway, this feels like a "proper" FF-car you'll know from GT3. Lots of understeering ...
No "RL"-tracks except Nür and Tsukuba.
I would have loved to race Suzuka, Motegi and Sebring, Road Atlanta and so on, though I don't mind all too much ... but people do, and if they don't buy Enthusia because "their" track is missing, well ... there you go.
Crappy Soundtrack.
Depends on your preferences, and it's probably the more arcade-inspirated approach people seem to dislike when they complain about the soundtrack. One track for every racetrack, exactly like games used to have back in the early PSOne days, but it seems that people want Kasabian or Sum4something.
Don't get me wrong there, I really like some of GT4s tracks, about 37 or so ... but Enthusias tracks kind of fit to the track. Like driving on Nür is made a bit more special and creates a special vibe when wrestling your car around the track.
But still, if you like "real music", you better turn off Enthusia's songs then, since you'll probably hate them after some days.
Well, enough for now, I suppose .... I'll continue with some more points later on, but for now I want to have a good ride and talk about the racing game that will "Change your Real".
_________________
 |
|
| Filter / Back to top |
|
 |
boojiboy7
narcissistic irony-laden twat
Joined: 04 Dec 2006
Location: take me on a blatant doom trip.
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 3:38 pm |
|
|
Man, I have so much Konami gaming for this week, but I will have to give Enthusia some loving. I haven't played a lot of it since last FKW, when I wrote that first thread, and wrote a lot on it, but yeah, i can renew my love with this game. You ae right about how this game wants you to love cars you wouldn't normally do. I can't remember what my final car was, but it was certainly not of the typical racing variety.
What a great game. |
|
| Filter / Back to top |
|
|
GcDiaz
Joined: 04 Dec 2006
Location: Clinton, MA
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 8:29 pm |
|
|
Recently spotted in Best Buy's bargain shelf for $10. I chuckled sadly. Definitely a great game; I couldn't have said it better myself.
_________________
Steam/PSN/Xbawks: GcDiaz
Let's bring sexy back!
 |
|
| Filter / Back to top |
|
|
Gironika
Joined: 05 Dec 2006
Location: Dragon Range
|
| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 5:32 pm |
|
|
So, later on I'll try my luck and get the race for the #1-position on. After six years and three months (which equal about 288 weeks and ... well, I suppose around 40 car-changes), it looks like I'll be able to grab the #1 spot ... FINALLY.
The constant swapping of cars made me go down out of the 30ies several times and two efforts with a car of my choice didn't pay off. Now I'm "stuck" with the Lotus esprit 2, powered it up to Lv. 10 after a win (a glorious race against a Viper on Löwenseering, docking 2440 points).
I have to see whether I can maintain that position to get the REAL ending and reward in the KotY-race, something I have been aiming for for some time now. If I can pull that stunt off, I'll report back then. Let's see if I can change my REAL!
_________________
|
|
| Filter / Back to top |
|
|
Iacus
Joined: 04 Dec 2006
Location: Stockholm
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 4:32 pm |
|
|
I bought this game a few months ago, and I love it. I was waiting fot FKW to talk about it too.
The comparison with a shooter is quite appropriate. The way the system is made really pushes you to become a better driver.
I was a bit surprised by the reviews quoted on the first post. I've "trained" myself driving FR cars, mostly and I can handle most of them just right. There are some fickle cars like the Pantera GTR or the TVRs but I can manage to win with those too. I've yet to drive any FF car, maybe when I finish the game.
I happen to think the VGS is one of the best features i've seen in a racing game, and think more games should "borrow" it. Before Enthusia I was only slightly interested in racing games, but now I'm more curious. Enthusia is my first racing sim. Now I want to play GT4 to see how it compares, yet everything i've read says Enthusia has better driving physics overall.
My favourite car is the RX-7 (FD3S) I have that and the FC maxed out. I'm now in spot 93 in the ranking and working my way up. This week I finally entered RI.
It's funny, because before RI I didn't like the music very much.
I don't like the elevator music of the menus, and only a few tracks stand out to me, but the music in Löwenseering and Nürburgring really sets the mood.
I'm still afraid to race in Tsukuba, but last day I finally managed to conquer Dragon Range. Now, to work on doing it fast.
I only see two flaws in the game. First, the cars you unlock in Enthusia Life should be available in the extra modes as well. I don't see the point in unlocking the cars all over again for Quick Race, Time attack and Two player mode.
Second, I should be able to test drive a car I've already picked. The game only lets you test a car if it's your current one, or if you never picked it, and I wonder why.
I'd love to see a sequel to Enthusia for the PS3 and 360. Just fix the little thing mentioned above, slap an online mode and put in some more new cars, don't touch the rest. It could become the best racing game of the new gen.
_________________
Guayaba 2600 |
|
| Filter / Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
