Myopic Refinement
User Rating: 8.6 | Gran Turismo 4 PS2
Gran Turismo has quite a legacy behind it and this game continues that legacy though there have been some egregious oversights. As far as racing simulators go gran turismo exists in the upper echelon with excellent car to tarmac physics, visuals, sound and content yet some aspects of this franchise have stagnated leaving its position threatened by compelling competitors. Note that I gave accolades to specifically the car to tarmac physics for that is primarily where the realism resides. This specificity of the physics engine is apparent in numerous aspects. For example its well known that cars are in this game are as impervious as the batmobile, but it should also be noted that these impervious boxes do not interact with each other or walls with any form of realism ie: When vying for position and a collision occurs the cars to not accurately convey the transfer of energy and its effect on each cars handling, also cars will slide along walls as though both interacting objects are coated with industrial grease thus for the most part ignoring kinetic friction. The representations of the cars and tarmac in this game have exceptional verisimilitude that I have yet to see surpassed. The way the light interacts with the road helps this emersion considerably and is what helps push this game past its higher polygon competitors in realism. The sound track in this game is mediocre at best and seems to be more of a “vehicle” (excuse the pun) to push sony’s lesser known acts into public consciousness. Yet once you turn off the sound track you will respect yet another aspect where this game excels… ambient sound. The sound of the engines, the wind noise, the screeching tiers should be commended as excellent (an aspect that is much enhanced if you have a doubly surround set up). With 700 cars to chose from the content factor of this game is almost overwhelming… a factor that is subdued a bit when you find that a decent chunk of the catalog consists of ecoboxs and redundancies. Items that need addressing for the next GT offering is a more comprehensive physics application, better AI, and of course online play but in the end this game is still one of the best in its class and is certainly worth your time. 
