Enthusia Professional Racing

Written by Adam Woolcott  on July 15, 2005

Review: It's Gran Turismo for people who hate Gran Turismo.

Tweet

Comments

Though technically Enthusia Professional Racing is a driving simulation, those who are experienced in the genre will be quite surprised to find a very different feeling game compared to the Gran Turismos of the world. The thing everyone will notice is how heavy the cars feel Ц it's like a Viper has the weight of a tank. This really puts emphasis on how you handle a car in a turn or around a chicane Ц there's no barreling through since the cars are too heavy to stop that fast...and after all, you can barely stop dead to take a 90 degree turn in real life at pretty much any speed in a couple seconds, much less in the 100s. Each class of cars feels very different Ц front-wheel drive cars take turns very well and have the overall best initial feel when you first try one, 4WD cars are heavier feeling and tend to be good at corners and handling though sometimes can be prone to understeer, but rear-wheel drive cars have absolutely ridiculous oversteering problems, making even minor turns result in spin-outs the first time you take one out for a drive. Considering many of the best cars in the game are of the rear-wheeled variety, this may bother those frustrated by the slippery handling, but there are thankfully plenty of solid front-wheel drive cars that can get you deep into Enthusia Life without having to worry about these beasts. The surface you drive on alters performance even more Ц though racing on wet tracks isn't as extreme as it was when the concept debuted with Gran Turismo 3, when you hit the snowy tracks cars become slippery (especially those pesky RWD cars), and the rally tracks are slightly different than being on a normal track. Actually the rally side of things is disappointing in this regard Ц rally games are usually wild affairs but Enthusia's seems a little dull regardless of how cool the random desert track is.



In an attempt to help out players, Konami put in a feature called VGS Ц or Visual Gravity System. VGS is basically a visual monitor of what's going on with your car, such as the traction of your tires and the weight transfering during turning or passing motions. The idea obviously is to let a player slowly learn how much or how little pressure they need to put on when they're making moves on a track, though sometimes it seems fairly useless because you can learn the same thing on your own via practice. Thankfully it can be turned off. It all comes down to the reality Ц though it may not appear to be, Enthusia has a steep learning curve if you're going to take a chance on the high-powered rides once you unlock a few and hope you can master the awkward physics of the rear-wheeled cars. It can be done, but it simply takes a lot of practice, which is why I recommend starting off with one as soon as possible when the races are simple and full of poor drivers in the novice cups...before you get blasted in the higher classes and knocked down a few ranks due to poor performance.

Enthusia's AI is better than GT4's lifeless take on it, but sometimes it's simply not fun when the CPU cars are borderline psycho and will ram the hell out of you constantly, which as mentioned takes away Enthu Points which can force you out of the next race due to running out of EP. On the other hand, the AI is designed in a way that unless you're way outclassed on a track, you have a chance to win just as long as your car is leveled and your driver level is high, thus winning by driving skills rather than speed. You'd be surprised at how well you can do in a seemingly unwinnable race as long as you drive perfectly with the perfect lines and flawless cornering. Considering how many racing games are based on pure speed and not technical skill, this is a nice departure from the norm and actually feels like playing real human competition Ц if the guy driving the high-speed car sucks and can't keep it under control, he won't win, and the one who keeps a good speed with good overall driving skills can win even if his car can't compete in pure horsepower terms. Which of course brings up the disappointing lack of online play, something that hopefully will appear in a possible sequel if Konami sticks with it.

As it is, Enthusia is an innovative take on racing simulations that is flawed but innovative and shows a lot of promise if there's any future for the game. Keeping in mind this is Konami's first try at this genre, they did a really good job making something different from what you'd expect. Some may say the lack of upgrading parts and basic tuning options replaced by a leveling system is a copout, but it could be seen that Konami is merely simplifying the game and making it accessible for those who don't have the patience or tolerance for a game like Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport and its pressure to keep your cars full of upgrades and endlessly repeating races to make enough coin to move on. It's like someone took the basic ideas in Need for Speed Underground (i.e. the minor upgrading options, just considered basic level-ups like an RPG) and built a simulation around it instead of an arcade-style racer. It could use some more work but Enthusia is a surprisingly good racer and hopefully will garner a following so more can be made as Konami learns the craft.

Visually Enthusia looks sharp in almost every way. The cars are reproduced from the real things almost perfectly, almost up there with the high-quality versions in Gran Turismo 4. The fantasy tracks designed by the Konami team (all based on real areas, such as the Pacific Northwest, France, the UK, etc) are excellent in all regards (though none are so outstanding that they feel like one of the opponents in the game, as other racers have managed to do here and there), while licensed circuits are recreated very well. It all runs at a 60 FPS clip without any slowdown or choppiness, which is the most vital part of any racing game visual engine. Enthusia's clean presentation within the game menus helps balance the complicated systems setup for the career mode as well, making it easy to get around and learn the basics of the game. Something different should have been done about the introduction scene of the game when you first boot it up though Ц the FMV is about as random and stupid as it gets, with bizarre references and visuals that don't even make any sense in a racing game. Whatever happened to a nice CG video like any other racing game?

The audio is both good and disappointing. Important things like engine sounds and tires screeching are generic and are drowned out by the music playing, though perhaps it's by design seeing that little was done apparently to create engine effects unique from vehicle to vehicle. The sounds of cars smacking into each other (something you hear all too often due to the kamikaze AI) isn't too bad, but when you smack walls it isn't quite as good. On the other hand, there's a really nice original soundtrack that fortunately wasn't swapped out for some licensed drivel; the jazzy but uptempo and occasional techno compositions are unique from track to track and most fit the theme of said track perfectly. These are the kinds of tunes we'd get in Gran Turismo if Sony didn't see fit to put in a soundtrack that appealed to a different breed of gamer. Those who've played a lot of Ridge Racer games will know what to expect, since Enthusia's soundtrack is similar to that franchise.