If you are a fan of Gran Turismo, this game will for sure satisfy your racing urge, and delivers as the best one yet!!!
First of all, the graphics used in Gran Turismo 3 were awesome in that time… and still very well done now. But with GT4… they are taken to the next level. Each and every racing venue has been aesthetically freshened, and finely detailed. The cars reflect the many effects used, which include all the trees, the road, other cars… Not to mention the particle effects used in rally races, and the filtering effects of sunlight used in forest tracks… and with HD support... you're expensive HDTV won't be lonely.
All the cars handle realistically, if a bit too realistic. The first thing I noticed after playing GT3 for so long is that the suspension acts much more like in real life. When a car lands after a big change in elevation, like in the Seattle Circuit, the car tilts slightly forward and bounces realistically. And now, when you impact anything, a blurring effect is used to indicate the power of the hit…
In the sound department, the game delivers. With support for Dolby Pro Logic, your surround sound system won’t be unused. The engine sounds of each vehicle are taken directly from the actual cars themselves… so you won’t hear any synthesized engine noises here. The music used is the music you’d come to expect… with a few exceptions. I found myself shocked when I heard this sort of country like theme playing during one of the replays… it honestly doesn’t fit the game at all. But the rest of the music is pretty good, but that’s just my taste.
The user interface now has a welcomed new look… and if you come from GT3 you’ll feel right at home. And it won’t be hard for someone new to jump right in… the only complaint I have is that to buy parts for your car, you have to search around the large map for the country of your car, and go into the individual manufacturer… but otherwise its all good. There is a huge variety of cars to choose from, which include all the major players and lots of other cars, while may be no good in a true racing event, are just extras placed in the game. I found myself thoroughly surprised when I unlocked this car made by, get this: Nike. The shoe company… and pretty sleek looking thing that seems to have the year “2022” on it…
Overall, if you are a fan of Gran Turismo, this game will for sure satisfy your racing urge. If you happen to be simply branching out toward this genre, this would be a good choice to start out with. It has lots of replay value… with LAN battles, an arcade mode, dozens and dozens of races and objectives to do in Gran Turismo mode… you’ll always have something to do!!!