Enthusia Professional Racing
Perhaps a bit too professional.
Published: May 25, 2005
You know, there are people out there that just plain don't like Gran Turismo. I know, it's shocking and for some amounts to sacrilege against God and St. Yamauchi and so on, but it's true. And, after looking back on how much of my life was sucked away by what amounts to menial challenges and, at times, tedious races, I can completely understand how it would turn someone off. I guess I'm just wired to like that kind of grind -- it's probably why I enjoy leveling up so much in RPGs.
The problem is, tucked inside the folds of all that tediousness and insanely hard license tests lies an incredibly fun racing game that stays true to the core of racing, and will probably teach you more about driving than you ever thought a video game could teach you. It's because of a strict adherence to the real-world performance of these cars, most of which we'll never get to drive that makes the game so fun, but there's also a careful, guided hand that makes sure the game doesn't get too sim-like.
Enthusia matches nearly everything about what makes Gran Turismo a brilliant driving simulation. It duplicates the handling of real cars down to an almost ridiculous level with a fantastic way of displaying the g-forces exerted during turns and the level of grip on your tires, it offers a combination of real and fantasy tracks for plenty of variety, it looks friggin' amazing and it offers a nice cross-section of different cars from quite a few manufacturers. It's also incredibly tough, and while it tries to avoid the race-and-upgrade grind of GT, some of the game's more innovative concepts also become the game's downfall.
The core of the game, Enthusia Life, is almost religiously dedicated to the idea of odds, chance, and risk vs. reward. Laid out almost like a role-playing game, you're given a certain number of Enthu Points that are basically your "life" when they run out, you have to sit out a week from your races -- a bad thing considering your rank in the game is determined by your points won over the past nine out of 12 weeks.
Those points are directly tied into the odds system. Your car, zippy or underpowered as it may be, is only part of the equation. All races factor in the speed of your car vs. the other racers, and the more beefed up the other cars are, the better your chance of taking home some big points bonuses for finishing even in fourth place.
As you win races and gain those points, they're applied to your Skill Level and Tuning Level, which determine how many Enthu Points you max out at or how much you regain after each race and how much you can push the limits of your stock car to get more performance out of the engine, tires and so on.
It's not really a complicated system, but it does use a whole hell of a lot of math to determine how many points you take home at the end of the race, and it can seem like there's either more or less depth than is on the surface until you figure out how to balance putting your crappy car you just got up against some beefy machines in the hopes of unlocking them in the roulette-style bonus round if you place fourth or better vs. sticking to lower races and consistently winning to boost your car's performance and level up for more Enthu Points.
The problem is, tucked inside the folds of all that tediousness and insanely hard license tests lies an incredibly fun racing game that stays true to the core of racing, and will probably teach you more about driving than you ever thought a video game could teach you. It's because of a strict adherence to the real-world performance of these cars, most of which we'll never get to drive that makes the game so fun, but there's also a careful, guided hand that makes sure the game doesn't get too sim-like.
Enthusia matches nearly everything about what makes Gran Turismo a brilliant driving simulation. It duplicates the handling of real cars down to an almost ridiculous level with a fantastic way of displaying the g-forces exerted during turns and the level of grip on your tires, it offers a combination of real and fantasy tracks for plenty of variety, it looks friggin' amazing and it offers a nice cross-section of different cars from quite a few manufacturers. It's also incredibly tough, and while it tries to avoid the race-and-upgrade grind of GT, some of the game's more innovative concepts also become the game's downfall.
The core of the game, Enthusia Life, is almost religiously dedicated to the idea of odds, chance, and risk vs. reward. Laid out almost like a role-playing game, you're given a certain number of Enthu Points that are basically your "life" when they run out, you have to sit out a week from your races -- a bad thing considering your rank in the game is determined by your points won over the past nine out of 12 weeks.
Those points are directly tied into the odds system. Your car, zippy or underpowered as it may be, is only part of the equation. All races factor in the speed of your car vs. the other racers, and the more beefed up the other cars are, the better your chance of taking home some big points bonuses for finishing even in fourth place.
As you win races and gain those points, they're applied to your Skill Level and Tuning Level, which determine how many Enthu Points you max out at or how much you regain after each race and how much you can push the limits of your stock car to get more performance out of the engine, tires and so on.
It's not really a complicated system, but it does use a whole hell of a lot of math to determine how many points you take home at the end of the race, and it can seem like there's either more or less depth than is on the surface until you figure out how to balance putting your crappy car you just got up against some beefy machines in the hopes of unlocking them in the roulette-style bonus round if you place fourth or better vs. sticking to lower races and consistently winning to boost your car's performance and level up for more Enthu Points.
