Gran Turismo 4

The Drive Of Your Life

Published on February 27, 2005 By Ravenblack In Playstation

I had spent a chunk of my weekend playing Gran Turismo 4 (Link). Managed to get my B-licence and am now working on getting my A-licence - these are in-game licences to race (you might think of them as tutorials). Messed around in a few of the races and found out how much I sucked at driving. (I don't drive in real life so the public is safe.)

This game just blows my mind. The graphics and the sound is just incredible. And I would shut off the background music just to listen to car engines. The content wows. Lots of tracks, a variety of race types. There's lots of cars to buy from the start, all you need is the credits to buy it. (Check out the full car list at the official site: Link. ) So I need to play more races to earn them. It's the first GT game I've played.

There are complaints about no damage modelling to the cars and sub-par AI. The game is still challanging for a beginner like me. No damage modelling? Who cares? If you want damage modelling, play Burnout 3 (Link). IMHO, you should have both games if you can afforded it. GT4 if you feel like driving seriously and have the concentration to do so, Burnout 3 for taking out your frustration on days when you feel like you need to destroy things. Burnout 3 is an arcade game, GT4 is a driving simulator.

It really does take concentration to drive well in GT4. Unlike other racing games, you can't use gamey tactics like sliding round corners. When you drift you really lose a lot of speed and precious seconds trying to get back in line again. You can't bump cars off the track, you will lose speed. It's easy to lose control if you drive recklessly.

I'll probably journal more about this game soon. I'll just leave you with this pic I took using the in-game photo mode which lets you take your cars to various locations around the world and snap a shot of them - you can save these on a USB storage device (or print them out directly on an Epson printer). This is first car I won from completing the B-licence with mostly bronze times. It's a Volkswagon Lupo '02 on the backdrop of The Grand Canyon. Definetly looking forward to taking more pics in the photo mode.

Comments

pmgrady

on Feb 27, 2005

cool!!!

greywar

on Feb 27, 2005

I love this whole series but the damage modelling thing does get to me as you quickly find out that the easiest way to corner and win is to put your bumper into the midbody of your competitors car as they go into the turns. They crash, you maintain your speed and pass with no damage done to you whatsoever.

historyishere

on Feb 27, 2005

I hope they made the licencing tests harder again and increased the size of the garage. Those were things that disappointed me about the sequels to the original.

greywar

on Feb 27, 2005

I hope they made the licencing tests harder again

Harder? Damn you are a hell of a lot bettr at the test than I am! I threw 2 controllers into the wall doing the higher level tests on the old ones.

historyishere

on Feb 27, 2005

Well, when you compare the tests in GT1(which you had to really work for) and GT2(which were a lot easier), I found that harder was better, because a) when you beat them, you actually felt like you accomplished something, and

it meant the game lasted a bit longer as well.

Danny Bassette

on Feb 27, 2005

That's an ingame screenshot? I am impressed, almost looks real. Safe driving to you

Ravenblack

on Feb 28, 2005

Greywar and History,

I've read on some forums that players found the licence tests in GT4 harder than GT3's. (Of course, there are those who disagree.)

It'll probably be a breeze for veterans of the series. I think they are easy up till International A licence and S Licence. All the tests in the S licence are full lap runs. I'm aiming for all silver, then maybe when I've had more practice, I'll try for all gold. I'm a complete newbie as I've never played the earlier versions of GT.

The garage is for 1000 cars.

Danny, that is indeed an in-game shot. It's also possible take pics in the replays - although camera positions are limited.

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