Graphically the game is astounding! This is easily the best-looking racing title on the PC this year. Fantastic lighting, colors, car and track designs show the developer's undying forethought of displaying an amazing attention to detail. A major example is when playing in the cockpit view (which I must under no circumstances) when you turn on the rear view mirror you notice not only the cars following you, but the interior of your car as well shows up in the mirror. Authenticity like this has never been displayed and is a welcome addition. While some may want to dumb down this graphical effect, as it can distract, I prefer to have it for realism. There is no denying the beauty this game represents and I'm happy for my co-worker (Ryan) for sending me this gem.

Audio, while magnificent in the sound effects department, kind of falters in the commentary and pit crew effects areas. Engine sounds are well orchestrated and accurate to their real life counterparts. Having not only a great PC with 3D car isn't the only essential peripheral to own, get a great sound card and speakers to fully enjoy this title. Roaring engines, crowd response and gut wrenching crashes have never been captured more devilishly. On the down side, your pit crew is very repetitive when they speak, but are quiet more often than not. I'm still waiting for that TV style commentary to support my races as well. Overall the sounds are done superbly.

Game play is another fine tuned aspect to this year's version. This is mainly due to the very convincing A.I. who will fight you from the green flag to the checkered and feel no remorse when smashing you into the wall. Finally, I don't necessarily have to go online for a good challenge. Using my Pro Digital 2 wheel, I was feeling the emotion of each race with pleasure and pain. The game controlled terrific with no real modifications on my part. Pick up and play was there, but I still tend to tweak things to fit my ever-fickle needs. Believe me, this game will have your hands clamping onto the wheel after a matter of heart-stopping minutes.

Pleasantly there is a sim and an arcade mode. I prefer the sim aspect not only for realism, but to improve my racing game. NASCAR 4 gives plenty of options to keep any fan happy. Multiplayer was also a joy, but DSL or Cable modems are expected, as is with most of your PC titles these days. I tried with a 56K and lag was a dreadful party crasher. I tried the game online at my girlfriend's home on a DSL connection, and I was once again enjoying silky smooth racing glory. I can see myself playing this for the next few months, which is a plus as I get sick of games rather quickly in this business.

All in all I can't really say much in a bad way about my experience with NASCAR 4. If you pick this up, get those nasty bugs out of the way and you're in for a treat. I do strongly recommend exceeding the "preferred" requirements to enjoy this title. Other than that, have fun and I'll see you on the racetrack. Look out for the Boogeyman…he's gonna get ya!