User Rating: 9.4 | NASCAR Thunder 2004 PS2
By tdg113 | Review Date:
Of all the games I owned in the last year, NASCAR Thunder 2003 was the game I played the most. I really believe that this series makes one of the best console racing games ever. I haven't found a racing game that emulates it's sport better than EA's NASCAR Thunder series does. Having said that, NASCAR Thunder 2004 disappointed me at first. The handling is a little different. The car (without any adjustments) seems to stick to the track better, yet the car seems to handle more loosely from behind. It seems easier to turn this year and I'm not sure that tire wear plays as big of a role this time. Tires definitely wear out, but you don't seem to drift up in the corners as much as before. The cars seem to turn alot better, in fact, it doesn't take much movement on the analog stick to turn, which if you played NT2003, that is hard to get used to. I always used the Logitech wheel with NT2003, but I haven't managed to get the feel of it in NT2004, so I've been gone back to the standard Sony controller, so far. The graphics are very good, but I'm not sure if they are greatly improved over last years version. At times, the graphics seem almost monotone or even black and white (that's an exaggeration), but they are not bad at all, just not as colorful or as bright as the graphics in NT2003. What really disappointed me at first was the "gimmicky feel" to the new version. Everyone knows about the new "grudges and alliances" feature. When you are drafting off of someone, you can hit R2 and "share" the draft with the closest driver ahead of you if you can stay behind him. In doing so, you build an alliance with that driver and seemingly catch him and pass him a little quicker than normal. Conversely, if you hit someone or even bump someone, you make them mad and lose respect from them. In season mode or career mode, this is important since the drivers will remember how good or bad you race them. This is a good idea and a good feature, but I think the other drivers are too sensitive. Seeing as the cars are hard to control as it is (even in rookie mode), it looks like there would be more forgiveness for the "accidental bump". But, as it is, it is very easy to make another driver mad, especially on the short tracks. I'd just like to see a little more leniancy since it is just a video game, for crying out loud! Online play is a great addition and is very deep even though it's only peer to peer. Options are plentiful as you decide what kind of race you want to challenge someone with, and surprisingly, you will find alot of "clean" races online. Sure, you will get spun out intentionally occasionally, but it seems as though most folks want to race clean online (at least from my experience). There are stats that you can look at before you agree to race with someone, including disconnect percentage and disqualification percentage. Those are helpful in knowing what kind of person you are racing against. All in all, I am warming up to this game and I am glad I bought it. I will still keep NT2003 handy though! The bottom line is that if you are a NASCAR fan, you can't lose by buying this one.

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