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Beyond the new technical features, Papyrus made the game accessible to a much wider audience by including a number of options for adjusting gameplay. Most of these options make it much easier for newcomers to jump right into NASCAR Racing 4 and gradually learn all the finer points of racing before attempting to participate in any of the game's grueling events. Considering all these elements, NASCAR Racing 4 stands out not only as the best driving game of 2001, but also as one of the overall top PC
 
 

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The game's most notable achievement is in its incredibly lifelike titanic creatures that you, as a god, can raise from infancy to adulthood. The level of sophistication found in these creatures' artificial intelligence is uncanny. They seem curious about everything at first--whether they're tasting villagers, uprooting trees, or defecating on buildings--but they eventually learn to perform only the actions that you want them to through your positive and negative reinforcement. Over time, the creatures evolve into a reflection of you--if you encourage wicked behavior, your creature will morph into a grotesque version of its former self. If you teach kindness, the creature transforms into a beautiful specimen. Certainly, nothing like this has ever been attempted in gaming before, and it will probably be a long while before we see anything like it again.

Black & White's combination of game elements and play mechanics is completely unique. Perhaps some of these mechanics aren't as enjoyable as others are--some aspects of the game are even frustrating. But ultimately, Black & White, with its open-ended gameplay, is what you make of it--and you can make of it one of this year's most engaging, most memorable games, thanks to its beautiful environments, robust 3D engine, and spotless interface.