G1 Jockey 4 2008 Review

Written by: Steve Martin Posted: 27th January 2009

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Ever fancied being a Jockey?

G1 Jockey 4 2008 Details:

	Sports
	PlayStation 3
	Koei
	Koei

Out Now

1-2

For the record, I have no interest in horse-racing what-so-ever and so this review of G1 Jockey 4 2008 maybe slightly biased.

This game sees you shrinking and losing weight as you take on the role of a jockey where you will train and race on many noble steeds, hopefully to victory.
These games have had huge success in Japan and have started to appear in the shops over here. Is now the time to change our opinions on horse-racing? Can gaming achieve the impossible and make this “sport” entertaining and enjoyable? The answer is a resounding no, actually it more like a “No” uttered by a man falling off the side of a cliff, which is usually followed by a large “splat” sound.

The control system is very tough to get to grips with, I even struggled to get off to a good start from the starting gates. There are many different techniques involving different button presses or different rhythms using the analogue sticks to whip or encourage your horse to go faster. All these action have different effects on the 101 attributes of your horse, ranging from its stamina to its potential and its momentum. All this is displayed in a small HUD in the centre of your screen, but is difficult to understand even after going through the training mode, the best feedback is when your horse is dying from exhaustion which you’ve already realised because you are bringing up the rear again!

The races themselves lack any excitement, and mostly boil down to the correct timing of your final sprint for the finish line, time it wrong and you won’t win! If you stick with it, you should be able to play the game to a satisfactory level after a while, if you can put up with it for that long.

The career mode is nothing short of shambolic, you are overwhelmed by information on a constant basis through tedious cut-scenes involving static characters and on-screen text, which are typical stuck-up jockey-types who you want to punch in the face! The game is negotiated through the use of bland menu screens, which are presented badly and there are so many stats that it reminds me of Football Manager! It’s great to see the depth that this game has, hundreds of jockeys all with different attributes and skills, and endless lists of horses to ride on with again reels of stats to peruse and select your fine steed from. The problem is all the stuff you need to learn and figure out to play the game properly is far too complex, especially for new people to the sport or series of games, it scared me away in a couple of hours and I have found it difficult to muster the courage to try again since that original brain-melting start!

Graphically, for this PS3, this is the ugliest duckling that would be picked on mercilessly until it took its own life! As mentioned before, the bland menus and static cut-scenes will make you weep tears of sadness. The races are the best looking part of the game and even they are bland, on the positive side the frame-rate is good and there’s never any slowdown, hardly surprising seeing as there is very little going on on-screen.

The sound effects range from horses galloping to horses galloping, so a little limited there I suppose, no voice-acting to comment on and some uninspiring menu music makes this is a redundant category for assessment.

Overall, I recommend you to steer well clear unless you have a vetted interest in horse-racing and statistical analysis and have the patience to take the time to mount the steep learning curve that the game throws at you from the very beginning.