Gran Turismo 4

When someone talks about Racing games (Especially on the PS2), I usually cover my ears. Lets face it: Racing games, for the most part, involve nothing but mindless driving. Recently there has been an outcropping of decent racing games, but for the most part, the best you get is usually "TRUCK RACING 2005!" with no realism whatsoever.

Gran Turismo isnt really the driving simulator for the masses. First of all, for the first part of the real (Gran Turismo) mode, you will not be TOUCHING a nice, shiny, fun car. Hell, you won't be touching a NEW car for quite a while. Essentially, this means that anyone who wants to pop this game in, install spinners, and hit the gas pedal pinballing off other racers better go get Project Gotham Racing or something. In the start of my game, I (Foolishly) picked a '95(?) Honda Civic Type-R and effectively got my ass kicked. A few tweaks and a new game later, I'm driving a '90 Lancer Evolution that quickly became useless. Now, I'm driving a '95 Nisan Skyline with a shiny paint and a newly-installed Racing Chip installed (Note: I started a new game, so that explains why I havent broken the 21st century mark yet). While these cars wouldnt ever fall into the catagory of "Beater Car with a bad transmission and bald tires", it breaks it pretty close.



The other parts of Gran Turismo mode that make it fun is the endless endless mini management of the cars. You see, kids, I actually have more fun on this game managing my cars than I do racing (And that's impressive, because the car driving is hella fun). I'll sit there mulling over car lists going "Okay, Daihatsu can kiss my ass, but that Toyota Camry, while looking like it got pissed on, actually might drive well, the specs are nice..." etc etc. Overall, it is a very fun addition to the game. With at least 40+ manufacturers and tons of cars on a staggering number of tracks, you're never going to get bored of this.

The driving itself is, of course, the real deal. All the cars feel different depending on the car make, upgrades, year, everything. It isnt like some cheap car sims that just let you basically do a 0-point-turn whenever you feel like it as a "Turning Upgrade", this game makes you feel the cars out. Spin too much in your s*** Mazda? Shift the weight to the back so it doesnt fly around like it's got wings on it. When I say "Fly around" like that, I'm pretty serious, because even the littlest problems can be noticed in this game, it is THAT detailed. For example, stepping into a small Audi means your whole break distance, turning degrees, and overall speed change from, say, stepping out of a Pontiac GTO.



The game, of course, looks beautiful. I've never seen a car sim that so effectively makes me go "Wow". While I do notice some horrible AntiAliasing problems, as there are some on every game on the PS2, I still don't notice that as much as I notice the sheer detail on each car and track. Literally, the whole game is "To Scale", meaning that you eventually get an idea of how much 100 meters is in the game, etc. Every track is amazingly rendered for the PS2, so driving on them just looks GOOD.

Something needs to be said about all the cars in this game. You'll get your nice racing cars that are seemingly featured in every racing game (Mitsubishi Lancer series?), your wierder cars no-one likes driving (The british Mini, Dihatsu), and your d*** obsessive car geek (Spoon Sports custom tuned Honda Civics, anyone?). So basically, in the normal driving mode for two player, you could effectively handicap yourself if you're THAT good (Like giving your friend a custom-tune and you the original), or you could majorly screw your friend over by convincing him or her they have a "Cool Car" (Give them a BMW and you take the far superior Skyline, haha). Plus, with all the modification modes in Gran Turismo mode, you'll have a freaking orgasm over it. Plus, I forgot to mention they also have "Classic" cars from the 80's and such- they even have a Jay Leno car. Now, I wouldnt race in the thing for any amount of money, but it is cool that they have such a crazy amount of cars, and car years.



Also, new to Gran Turismo 4 is the B-Spec mode, which essetially means you manage the cars. If you're extremely bored, this might be a good thing to mess with one day, but I think of it more as a bad add-on. Unless you know good and well you are going to win with the superior car, it usually ends up keeping you in 6th place or the like, and the "Overtake" option really is a joke. However, if you don't like driving but you like managing, that's always out for you.

I only have two issues with this game. The first issue is the Gran Turismo Licence tests. Yes, to drive in some races you must gain a licence, which requires a series of tests. While you can take these tests over and over again, the timed pace car tests (Like getting under 3:00 in one raceway) can be a chore in and of itself. I personally don't want to drive for three minutes on the game then find out I was 42 milliseconds off and have to do the track all over again, just because I overcompensated a turn. However, something has to be said about the game being somewhat realistic, just... jesus christ.

The second issue is the loading time. This really shows the PS2's age- it takes maybe 10 seconds to get from the "Select a Race" menu to the "Select a Track" so the old PS2 can generate the demo maps. While this isnt TOO bad, it does get on my nerves, especially when managing cars, because I sometimes just want to find out what the track looks like, etc etc. Basically, its a minor problem, but the loading takes just enough time to piss you off.



Other than that, I have no complaints. This game does NOT feature a Real Time Damage system (Because the car manufacturers don't want people crushing their cars virtually, especially if Gran Turismo was realistic and made those shiny sportscar bodies crush like paper), you can somewhat "Pinball" your way to first place. However, only PUSSIES do that, so if you want to be a gaping wuss, go ahead and pinball in the game. If you're cool like me, you just wait untill the opposing racers slow down in curves and blow by them like a crazed Mario Andretti.

If you're a car fan, get this game, NOW. Even if you're not a car fan, but you're reasonably interested in becoming one (Me), this game is a blast. I just wouldn't recommend this to anyone with the "Arcade" love of driving, mainly because this is just THAT anal about your driving habits and management. Even as someone who wouldnt really call myself a car fan, even I've got a bad car fever now (PS: Japanese Cars > American Cars. My Mitsubishis will take your Toyotas to the cleaners any day.)

5 star(s) out of 5

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