Not much, apparently.
If you’ve played any of the previous games in the series, you will be right at home in GT4. The game is split into two main modes; arcade racing for a quick fix with a large selection of cars or some two player/LAN action, and Gran Turismo mode, where the bulk of the game lies.
An R34 Skyline and a S15 battle it out.
For those unfamiliar, the goal of this mode is to win races so you can modify your car with a host of extra parts – or even buy a new car – which you can then use to win bigger races and get even more money. Simple, really. Thankfully, those with either a GT3 or GT4: Prologue save on their memory card can import 100,000 credits to bring a car up to speed, rather than the measly 10,000 you start with initially.
Collecting cars will take an incredibly long time too, as there are simply far too many to count, from all corners of the globe. 700 is the claimed number, which is certainly more than enough in anyone’s book. However, one has to wonder about the point of this. The majority of the game’s development would have been taken up with modeling the cars, and, well, a lot of them don’t really need to be here. Seriously, who is going to want to drive a Ford Ka or a Volkswagen Beetle 1100 when they can be driving anything else? Maybe for five seconds as a novelty, but not much longer.
Thankfully, there are a horde of new tracks – some real, some made up – for your enjoyment. Most are brilliant designed too, with fast sweeping bends and tight hairpins. After the lack of new tracks in GT3 this is a much needed breath of fresh air.
The license tests are still here, and really, there are simply too many of them. Two or three would be fine, but five? Painful. Getting them is a lengthy and irritating process after the first two – especially for those of us who have done it many times before.
There are some new additions to the GT mode. The most widely promoted is the photo mode and, really, it's nothing more than a gimmick. You can take any car you own, position it on various different environments, turn the car around, and then get a snapshot of it. From there you can move it to a flash drive, and print it out if you want. Yup, that’s it.
Then there is the new B-spec mode, where you take on the role of race director. You can tune the car, then send someone else out driving it. From there, you tell them how fast to go on a scale of 1 to 5, and whether to overtake or pit. Worth a go once or twice, but really, it is just an excuse to watch the pretty replay mode, rather than any substantial innovation.
As far as new additions to the actual gameplay, the most promising are the driving missions. While they start out as basically elaborate license tests (‘pass this car in two corners’), they get more difficult (‘beat that fast car with this woeful car’) and are a worthy addition to the game. They’re a lot like a scenario mode, if you will.
The biggest mode addition to the gameplay is in the special conditions area, which is made up of mostly dirt and snow tracks. Basically, if you hit a wall too hard, or the opposition, you will incur a five second penalty, which limits your speed. It’s an interesting idea, but, really, it’s a poor attempt at filling the void left by no damage system. This is something other big names are doing – Project Gotham Racing 2, TOCA Pro Race Driver 2 – so the old excuse of manufactures not wanting to wreck their cars in a game is out the door, especially when PGR2 will let you destroy an Enzo of all things. For the self-proclaimed ‘real driving simulator’ not to have it after so many years is ridiculous.
Win some, lose some
Those who played GT3 will be delighted to hear that Polyphony have drastically sped up the feel of the game. Rejoice! While most stock cars don’t feel quite as fast as they should, only a few modifications will see them tearing through the track at high speed. And you will feel it, jumping between the acceleration and brake buttons/pedals. So that’s one of the biggest problems of GT3 resolved, then.
Unfortunately, the other is present. Yup, that’s right – the artificial intelligence is apparently still out to lunch. The computer controlled opponents are totally oblivious to your presence, often turning straight into you off the grid, let alone a corner. They don’t offer any real challenge to any half decent drivers at all. Why Polyphony didn’t rectify this is beyond us, as it has been the Achilles heel of the series since inception.
Let’s get physical! …Ugh
The driving physics in Gran Turismo have always been up there with the best, and this hasn’t changed. All cars, amazingly, handle just that bit differently, and will cause you to use as many vehicles as possible in order to find one you love. Everything just feels a bit tighter than in GT3, and more polished, creating a more realistic and enjoyable experience. The dirt physics have been overhauled, with a much more violent and bumpier feel. Cars no longer glide around long corners, but viciously fight to make you earn it – indeed, if you have a force feedback steering wheel, your hands will still be shaking after the race.
And really, if you buy this game, then you should definitely invest in a wheel to get the most out of it. Ideally, you would use the latest Logitech wheel, but it is rather pricey. The previous model is nothing to be sneezed at, though. They are infinitely more enjoyable to use than the dual shock when you get the hang of them, and result in more precise driving – and, with physics like these, isn’t that the point?
Unfortunately, poor collision detection threatens to bring this area down. Not only do cars show signs of contact when there are several inches of daylight between them, when they react they can be plain ridiculous and unpredictable. Cars can bounce off walls harmlessly, or up onto two wheels and lose all speed. Some tracks even have invisible walls – something that should have died out with the previous generation.
…It’s a game…?
GT4 is quite possibly the best looking game on the PS2. Cars have been modeled with ridiculous accuracy, all instantly recognizable to their real life counterparts – car fanatics will have a tough time trying to pick out any errors on them. It’s amazing, especially when you consider the sheer number of cars in the game. All tracks have been lovingly detailed, with most textures – particularly those of the tarmac – looking unbelievable. They however are usually upstaged by the life around the track. Despite the occasional bare circuit, most are surrounded by beautiful structures, active spectators who will jump out onto the track for a quick snapshot, and, in some cases, even the Grand Canyon.
…Why exactly are we using the picture of an average Mazda?
The dreaded jaggies have been significantly reduced this time around, making it look much more polished than GT3. They haven’t been eliminated though, and some tracks highlight this more than others. Still, it is hard to imagine how to improve them given the hardware limitations. The best graphical feature though is just how damn smooth it all is, with a constant 60 frames per second throughout. Slowdown is incredibly rare, and barely noticeable when it does happen. It’s hard to imagine how Polyphony could have squeezed anything else out of the dated PS2.
The only real flaw in this area isn’t really a graphical one. The fact that there is only one chase view of the game – and it isn’t particularly good – is a bit of a shame, but not a significant issue.
As good as the real thing… Nearly
Carrying on from the high standards set by previous games, GT4 has some of the best engine noises you will find in a game. Apparently all cars were recorded from inside the cars themselves, and you can tell. Turbochargers spool up, V8s scream through their midrange and older cars buzz along like they are on their last breath. It’s all absolutely tremendous, and a delight to the ears of any car fan.
There is a huge range of music in the game, from artists such as Van Halen, to Queens of the Stone Age and Judas Priest. Most people should find at least a few songs that they like, or at least can tolerate. The big problem here is that, like GT3, you can’t actually choose a song during the race. This is particularly irritating, as typically you get stuck with the songs you don’t like during the ten minute races, and the ones you love during the twenty second license tests. Grr. You can queue up your own play list though, so all is not lost. This is the only downside on what would otherwise be a brilliant audio effort.
Online? Hello?
GT4 goes on seemingly forever, with a horde of standard, endurance and special condition races – not forgetting the huge number of driving missions in Gran Turismo mode alone. Most will only do half, as there is simply too much for the average gamer to do. Then there is the arcade mode, which throws another bucket of races to complete at you. Two-player mode is also available, along with LAN play, which are both great fun.
But, criminally, there is no online mode. The fact that Polyphony have been promising it for years – even delaying the game from last December on the basis of the online component not being finished – only to remove it is downright insulting. It is probably the biggest fault with the game, as it would have truly made GT4 worth the cash on its own.
At times, the line between reality and the game blurs.
Three years for this?
After over three years since the arrival of GT3, the result of GT4 is disappointing. The B-spec and photo modes are basically gimmicks, not the big game altering features that Polyphony were going on about. The new gameplay modes that were added are incredibly small, and are hardly worth discussing. We can see that the game is trying to be a car encyclopedia of sorts, but does any game really need 700 cars, especially when they impact so heavily on development time? The fact that the same flaws – non-existent AI and no damage model – are still present is really ridiculous after over three years development time. So is the fact that online was taken out at the last minute, after years of promising it.
So, what we have here is basically a gigantic expansion pack with some slight tweaking, a host of new cars and tracks, minor gameplay additions and a few gimmicks. If you love GT3, then you will probably love GT4 – largely because it is basically the same game. It is a good – great, even – game, but the fact is, we’ve seen it three times before. It’s time for Polyphony to get serious about fixing the problems, or move on to something else.
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