Published: Wednesday, 15th July, 2009 11:54am

G1 Jockey 4

by Steff Parry

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Playstation 3

The thrill of the track, exciting commentary, crisp HD visuals and great gambling mini games. Sadly, these are all things totally absent from Koei's latest Horse em Up.

To clarify, I admit that a horse racing simulator is not my preferred game genre and I have no doubt that for fans of the franchise, this title will represent lots of value. My concern is that the execution is below par, irrespective of the subject.

The game is not without its strengths. A comprehensive tutorial system does its best to cover the baffling amount of options and features. The level of written detail is staggering, statistics fans will be at home with all the information available here. The menus are sharp and easily navigated and the Japanese style 2D characters, together with oil painting artwork, make for some attractive visuals. The plot, centred around a rookie jockey working his way up, can be involving at times.

Unfortunately, this is not enough to make an engrossing and enjoyable game and G1 trips at every other jump on the course. Racing graphics are dull in palette and very low in detail. Dialogue is never spoken, making for text heavy conversations and the jazz soundtrack grates almost immediately. Furthermore, the control system is flawed and far too complicated. There's just too much to think about in the heat of the moment.

This does become more manageable with time but that's G1's biggest flaw, it doesn't make you want to play it, as it's not much fun. This is something that is inexcusable in any game, no matter the genre.

There are surely purists who would rate this title but it's certainly not one for the casual gamer. With a poor audio and video presentation, coupled with a steep learning curve, I'm afraid it's the knackers yard for this old mare.

1.5 stars.