Sierra Sports: Grand Prix Legends

I have been fortunate to have had a ride around the old Kyalami GP track many years ago, before it was torn down, and playing legends was extremely realistic.....too realistic in fact, as i am sure that is the case with all the other tracks.

Driving the car, can only be enjoyed racing with all the computer aids (traction,Braking and steering help) disabled, with the car in GP mode. The cars are evil tank slapping sliding monsters with the tendency to bite you hard should you not treat it with respect. But get the car hooked up on a fast lap, and the adrenalin will flow with the force of a dam wall bursting.

Realism comes at a cost though as it is best enjoyed with a PII or faster with plenty memory and it has to have a 3D card.

I have networked and played Gp3 but legends networked with other machines makes for the greatest racing I have ever had.


The most added-to racing game of all time   May 10, 2001
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

In addition to a previous reviewer's note that there is a force-feedback patch out for "GPL" (which provides the best feedback you'll find anywhere), it should be noted that there's also a Direct3D patch, so every 3D accelerator card can be used now with the right patches from the web site of the game's developers, Papyrus.

Patches also exist to allow GPL to be used with the Act-Labs gated shifter unit. That company even produced a standalone shifter specifically to meet the demand of people who used other brands of steering wheels for GPL. They're also currently producing a standalone three-pedal unit for the same reasons, since GPL has a fully working clutch but no one had mass-produced the hardware to support it yet. Can you think of any other single game of any type that has been a significant influence for a hardware company to design controllers for it? This gives you an idea of how GPL makes people addicted to realism.

While you're getting patches, there are simply tons of third-party add-ons for this sim. There are as many new historic tracks out now as came with the game (e.g., Snetterton, Solitude, Crystal Palace, Goodwood, Bremgarten, Anderstorp, Keimola, Croft, Clermont-Ferrand) with several more in development. There are new car graphics, new track graphics, new car shapes (turn those fictional Coventry and Murasama cars into the real Cooper and Honda, and add 3D wheel shapes to all the cars). You can even run a patch that will allow a unique sound for each car, and there are several much better sounds available -- some, like ones I've made, come from actual recordings of the real cars.

Out of the box, GPL is quite dated (it was released in 1998). But with the official patches and the best of the third-party updates, it is transformed into something that looks like it came out today. It's just terribly unfortunate that its difficulty (hey, there's a reason only a handful of people could properly race these cars in real life) and its lack of Direct3D support out of the box gave it an initial bad impression, turning it into a commercial failure. Even magazine reviewers who panned GPL when it came out have been re-reviewing it a couple years later, saying how wrong they were and admitting that they're now addicted to it. You will be too. Your steering wheel may never leave your desk again.