Game Description

Test Drive 4 lets you race five modern sports cars and five muscle cars from the past as you prove once and for all who's the fastest driver. The list of cars are as follows: Jaguar XJ 220, Dodge Viper GTS, TVR Cerbera, Chevrolet Corvette, Nissan 300ZX, Shelby Cobra 427, '69 Chevrolet Corvette 427, '70 Chevrolet Chavelle SS 454, '69 Chevrolet Camero ZL1 and the '71 Plymouth Hemi Cuda. Five tracks will have you racing all over the world, even dodging traffic and avoiding police cars! You'll be able to speed your way through the following locales: San Francisco; Washington D.C.; Keswick, England; Bern, Switzerland; and Kyoto City, Japan as you challenge five computer racers for fastest time. Players can compete in a straightforward Single Race or test out their vehicles in a Drag Race, where they'll put the pedal to the metal down a 1/4 mile stretch!

There are also four Cups to try to win (Challenge Cup, Championship Cup, Pitbull Cup and Masters Cup), all of which involve racing five computer opponents for a minimum of five tracks: the Challenge Cup goes to the player with the lowest time after five races; the Championship Cup is a competition for the most points after ten races (five of which are mirror tracks); the Pitbull Cup is earned by placing first on all five tracks; and the Masters Cup consists of ten races where the object is to challenge each of the ten cars for fastest cumulative time. Options include turning traffic on or off, checkpoints on or off, and choosing either automatic or manual transmission. Test Drive 4 supports analog control as well as the Link Cable for head-to-head racing on two different television screens. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Review: Enjoyment

The game should have went the pure, unadulterated arcade route. Play up the Road Rash element of high speed chases through the busy city streets and let players ram into other vehicles! As a racing game, the amount of play modes is impressive but the control could use some improvement. There are only five tracks (not including mirror versions) which seems too low. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Production Credits

THE PITBULL SYNDICATE, LTD.

Programming: Chris Kirby, James Parr, Michael Troughton

2D Artwork: Kevin Preston, David Taylor

3D Artwork: Richard Beston, Steve Dietz, Jonathan Kay, Gareth Pugh

Photography: Slade Anderson, Richard Beston, Steve Dietz, David Taylor, Brian Wannamaker, Chris Downsend

Sound Engineer: Peter Hewitson

Quality Assurance: Darren Kelly, Steven Hancock

ACCOLADE, INC.

Executive Producer: Chris Downend

Associate Producer: Slade Anderson

Assistant Producer: Jeff Gregg

USA Mastering Supervisor: Luis Rivas

International Liaison: Alisa Schaefbauer

Test Manager: Alex V. Cabal

Lead Tester: Matt Guzenda

Product Marketing Manager: Steve Allison

Licensing Specialist: Gabrielle Benham

Introductory Cinematic: Mondo Media

Introductory Cinematic Sound Design: Rick Kelly

Documentation: W.D. Robinson

Additional Sound Effects: Tommy Tallarico Studios ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

The Test Drive series has always been about driving real cars (not just any cars, we're talking Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Porsches) down long stretches of highway. There are no laps to worry about, no pit stops, and you'll have to keep an eye on more than just the road and competition: "little" things like pedestrian cars unaware of your need to race past them! Test Drive basically puts you in the fantasy situation of slipping into a criminally expensive automobile and letting 'er rip without concern for anything but making it from one point to the next in as fast a time as possible. Oh yeah, there's one more thing called the police to contend with--yet another distinguishing feature of the series.

Test Drive 4 upholds the tradition of including high performance vehicles, racing through a series of stages instead of laps, and avoiding both citizens and police in its debut on the PlayStation. The game modes offer plenty of racing action and courses are based on real locales from cities across the globe. Graphically speaking, the game delivers nice touches such as billowing smoke, sparks whenever your car scrapes against walls, visible skid marks after peeling out, raindrops pelting toward the screen, and even flips when you hit other vehicles. The cars look exceptional as well, and you'll notice details such as working brake lights and racing stripes. While scenery pop-up is noticeable, it's been kept to a minimum and you'll learn to forget about it once you start concentrating on the road ahead of you.

Perhaps the best aspect of the game is the feeling you get while racing down the steep San Franciscan streets as you swerve to avoid traffic moving left to right. At times it will make you think you're starring in The French Connection or a Dirty Harry movie as the rush of putting the pedal to the metal through busy traffic is almost too strong to ignore. Yet moments like this are too few and far between. The game sometimes has a tendency to bog down with an uneven frame rate and cars don't seem to be going as fast as what the speedometer would lead you to believe.

Control is also an acquired taste as all of the cars seem unresponsive, even though each handles differently. You can't tweak the individual settings or purchase upgrades to change the performance of your vehicle, a feature that's sorely missed. It's also too easy to flip your car over as you try to negotiate corners on the narrow tracks, which can be very frustrating when you're trying to win against the nearly infallible computer drivers. Yet at the same time you can brush against walls without any affect on your speed!? So is Test Drive 4 an arcade experience or a simulation? Good question. It tries to straddle the line between the two and doesn't deliver enough of either element to please pure arcade or simulation fans. Yet those who like a little of both should enjoy this game for what it is: a solid racer offering a lot of challenging play modes. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Review: Graphics

The graphics are detailed with realistic looking environments and cars, but they're not very colorful. Fans expecting to race from a dashboard view will have to settle for a first-person vantage point instead. Pop-up is noticeable but not as bad as other racers on the system. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Review: Sound

The ambient sound effects take a back seat to the music in this game, which is disappointing. While the songs have a catchy beat, there are no vocals and they all start sounding the same after awhile. The pedestrians should be honking their horns and yelling obscenities at you! Even the police won't say anything after pulling you over. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Review: Replay Value

The different Cup challenges are a nice feature, although you can only race against five other computer racers. For an added challenge you can turn on the police cars and pedestrian traffic! Unfortunately, there is no split-screen racing mode to challenge a friend. The only way to play with a second player is to have two televisions, two PlayStations and a link cable. Not a viable option for most racing fans! ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Review: Documentation

The instruction manual explains the different game modes and options worth adjusting. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide