Gran Turismo 4 – Review
If you haven’t got your driver license yet or don’t have the money to take driving lessons or to buy a nice, shiny car, do not worry. There’s an easy solution for your problems and it will only cost about $50.00 US, £29.99 or € 59,99. What am I talking about? Is it a big secret, is it something special? Come on, wake up, Gran Turismo 4 is out on the market! Experience very realistic cars and their behavior on multiple circuits around the world!
Start
Gran Turismo 4 is without any doubt one of the best racing game I’ve ever played and going to give it my best shot to get you motivated as well. As soon as you start the game a magnificent theme comes out of your speakers and a movie starts. It’s art! It’s the most impressing car presentation ever seen. But as any gamer, you won’t be paying enough attention to it as you want to race! A huge “world map” becomes visible which is the GT4 interface. There’s a home with the big garage, the license centre, tuning shop and of course the racing events. It’s a huge interface and the possibilities seem unlimited. Let’s give some facts to prove that Gran Turismo is one of the greatest, biggest and most detailed race game ever made; more then seven hundred cars are available and fifty-two tracks to challenge. The gamers can configure their preferences regarding the speed reproduction (miles or kilometers per hour), replay reproduction, arcade or Gran Turismo mode, the strength of the Artificial Intelligence, etc. Everything can be changed in the beginning of the game, as the gamer prefers it.
Gameplay
Just like the previous GT games you can choose between two modes; Arcade or Gran Turismo. Arcade mode is suitable for gamers, who want to have a quick race against five other GT opponents, race a time trial, split screen race against another real gamer or connect via LAN up to play with five other real gamers. The Gran Turismo mode includes all types of events and is the gaming mode. A couple of races are available in the beginning and it’s better to start of with passing the license tests. By winning the races and licenses you automatically unlock more circuits and cars plus you earn money to tune your beauties in the garage . If you’re wondering if GT4 includes an on-line feature, put your chin down and start crying as Sony hasn’t build in any on-line mode. But don’t be too disappointed as the game includes so many different features and guarantees the best racing experience ever on Playstation 2 for hours and hours and hours..
Graphics
Not only the graphics are very realistic but the handling of the car is amazingly realistic. Just like in real life, every car has its own behavior and looks of course. Due to an improved GT physics engine it offers enormous realism and has been designed to cover every inch and turn of your driving experience. One of my favorite cars was the Lotus Elise which had an excellent acceleration and down force. You can win cars by winning events or buy them. If you buy a car you can choose the color of it and the car will be presented in that color and so I decided to get a fast purple shining Lotus Elise. But as soon as I went with my new car on a track, the dealer probably made a mistake as the hard-top of the car was black instead of purple and I’m pretty sure that it was completely purple when I decided to buy that one. But ok, I switched fast over to driver look instead of seeing the ugly black hard-top. In that case you’ll only see a bit of the front of the car, the speed indicator and the status of your tires.
Tracks
Different kind of race tracks are available, from the street races to rally to snow covered circuits. Also very famous races can be challenged with different kind of cars. Actually the circuits are divided in a sections; original tracks, world renowned circuits, tracks around the world and dirt /snow. Drive and win the races on the Nurburgring, El Capitan, Suzuka, Grand Canyon or what to think of racing through the streets of Seattle? From the USA to Europe, from France to South Korea, no matter where you decide to race (if it’s unlocked in GT mode), you’ll love driving any of the tracks. Also tracks from previous Gran Turismo editions are available such as Apricot Hill and the Deep Forest raceway. Besides having opponents on the tracks, you’ll also see lots of spectators and they are really impressive this time. Designed in 3D they not only standing besides the tracks, oh no. Some of them are really dare-devils as they jump onto the road and try to snap a picture of you and then run back to their places. Even in corners they try to snap a picture. It’s distracting but you’ll get used to it and in the end it’s quite funny to see the public go mad.
Female Gaming Angle
Just like previous Gran Turismo editions, no female show off is in it like the Need for Speed racing games. Actually the only females would be the spectators, but who’s paying attention to that while racing? And even the carwash doesn’t include bikini girls, no that’s a job for the professional male car washers. Gran Turismo totally focused on a serious gaming race and any gamer girl who likes to race should defiantly get this game.
Sound
Maybe it’s just me but the first thing which pops out of my mind regarding sound is the moaning of the tires which isn’t the best sound to hear while racing. Besides the sound of the car(s) there’s of course one of the 25 background songs playing. One of my favorite song was “go with the flow” performed by Queen of the Stone Age. But happens if you shut down the music completely? Nothing except that you can concentrate even more on the game. All important details are visualized on screen like the status of the tires, when you need to start using your breaks, etc. What to think of doing the 1000 miles course with the same soundtrack over and over again, thanks but no thanks!
Finish
Gran Turismo 4 is THE racing game which pays off. It’s a top quality game and worth every penny. So many hours of fun or frustration if you’re not able to win a certain race, great reply value, realistic car behavior, beautiful environments and one of the most addictive aspects not to forget; the rewarding system. As soon as you win a race or an event you’ll be rewarded not only with a cash prize but also some kind of car which can be sold or used on other races. This rewarding and checking out the complete status of the game will keep you motivated to keep on playing, besides the excellent gameplay off course. And if anybody needs to buy a new car, I would recommend you to test the car first on GT4 then take the PS2 to the car dealer and let the salesperson play with it while you state that this the car you want! Nothing more nothing less. Is GT that realistic? Yes it is!
Review by Wencke
Thumb Bandits European Correspondent & manager of GGU.
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Just wanted to say nice review.
That’s all really o_O