head to head
vs
DescentvsGran Turismo 4
Descent leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Gran Turismo 4 leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
DescentGran Turismo 4
Axis by axis
Execution8 vs 8
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance2 vs 1
Descent leans harder on variance: Mine layouts fixed; ambushes surprise only once
Optimization6 vs 7
Gran Turismo 4 leans harder on optimization: Event-by-event car and tune selection is deeply solvable
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.