Gran Turismo 4

"Left behind at the starting line"

The Gran Turismo series has always been Sony's premier racer, dating all the way back to the PSone days (the first two installments). Each subsequent release has received more and more hype. However, the past few years have seen releases of other worthwhile racers, esp. on the XBox (most notably the Project Gotham Racing series). How does this one stack up?

Graphics: Keeping in mind this game was originally released in 2004...they're somewhere south of horrible. The cars themselves look nice...until you actually start racing. Many of the cars appear rather blocky and/or boxy. The scenery is nicely detailed and gorgeous...until you get close up. The off-road races are the worst, as dust/dirt (and snow) pass right through the rear of the car, and occasionally though the tires. The tires...yikes. On many of the cars, the tires look like they weren't even connected to the cars, instead floating in their own space. During races, this isn't a problem, but becomes noticeable during the replays. Pop-up/draw-in is a huge problem, esp. if you accidentally veer off the track (which happens a lot-see below for details).Most annoying is a horrible glitch that makes the screen shake like a Polaroid picture (tm Outkast) before each race and upon collisions.
3/10

Sound: The cars all sound much like their real-world counterpoints (although many cars-esp. muscle cars) sound tinny and muted. The soundtrack isn't too bad, although many of the tracks are recorded at too low of a volume (esp. the classical(!) music). Sadly, unlike the previous iteration, there isn't a juke box option to select which tracks you'd like to hear. L-a-a-a-a-m-m-m-m-e-e-e-e.
7/10

Car list: The only reason to buy this game. Nearly every major car (and a whole bunch of minor ones!) you can think of is included. Confusingly, some of the car names are different from the American models, i.e. the Volkswagen Jetta is in here, but is listed under its European name ("Bora"). Also, some of the manufacturers' more popular cars are missing. That said, this is a car enthusiast's wet dream.
10/10

Gameplay/AI: Well...many of the cars handle somewhat realistically...or at least it seems that way at first. Sadly, once you start playing this game for a long period of time, you slowly begin to realize that many of the cars feel the same, with only a palette swap to differentiate between the different models. Also, the cars feel "floaty" (for lack of a better word). They may move realistically, but don't really feel "connected" to the ground. The AI cars...*shudder*. If you lose control and get off track, just go ahead and restart the race because unless you have, say, a 280+ HP car and are racing a Daihatsu (lol), you won't be getting back in that race. Nope. Why not? Well...let me put it like this. Did you ever race slot cars as a kid? Really, the only thing that "wins" a race is if the other cars fall off the track, since they're basically magnetically stuck to the track. This game is like that. The AI cars are "magnetized" to the road, and will follow their programmed line around the track...and yours isn't. Don't believe me? Try to ram them when the race starts,or better yet, get in front of one and stop. It'll just plow into you, and keep going. Worse yet, due to the aforementioned "floaty" mechanics, you never really feel any sense of speed. Racing soon becomes a vapid, soulless experience. Luckily there's the B-Spec mode, which lets you have the cpu race for you, and you get the money if you win. So, you get to sit back and watch magnetized cars float through a course with numerous graphic glitches while you sit back and drink a Heiniken, and repeat the process until you get enough money to get the car you want...and then do it all over again. Of course, you'll have to keep running the same races again, breaking the monotony (somewhat) by taking license tests so you can access other glitchy, buggy tracks. Lucky you.
3/10

Summary: This series gets by on its name recognition. Once upon a time, it was the best of its class. Sadly, much like other formerly great series Final Fantasy, I'm looking at YOU), it has gradually gone down in quality over the years, despite improving graphics. Of course, two years down the line, those graphics no longer look as good, forcing you to REALLY look at the gameplay, which is sadly broken. But hey, at least the cars themselves still look nice! Who cares if the game itself isn't any fun to play?

Meh. I've had this game for a year now, and I'm quite frankly bored with it. Once you get all the cars you want, this game rapidly loses its fun due to the problems mentioned in the gameplay section. If you want to look at/admire over 700 cars, go to Google Images , type in the name of a car, and stare. If you want a fun racer, though, steer clear of this one.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 10/06/06