Gran Turismo 4

Written by Adam Woolcott  on February 28, 2005

Review: The Drive of Your Life? Hell, enough hours with this game and you won't even have a life.

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GT4 as always is not just about racing, but also about tuning and customization. Now, it's not a requirement or anything, since you can pretty much slap parts on, upgrade your car, and go, but the car geeks get into tuning a car's transmission to shift better and faster, adjust suspension to better handle their own driving style, fiddle with the brakes to get more out of them, etc. Some cars are hiding their potential behind some needed tweaks, so if a car just doesn't seem to perform right, perhaps some time in the tuning menus will unlock their best qualities. GT4's parts and tuning options are actually more in-depth than before, meaning even experts may find themselves learning new things to get the most out of their cars. But again, aside from buying upgrades to make your car faster, lighter, shift faster, and brake better, little is required unless something you've bought has actually screwed up your car (and it does happen).

For the most part, GT4's racing gameplay is flawless technically Ц the cars handle great if they're tuned right, the sense of speed is as good as it's ever been, and the challenging tracks test your ability to drive them. Yet...in 4 installments of the franchise, the AI has likely never been attended to. I have a saying that AI like this is far more artificial than it is intelligent, and GT4 proves it. Now, the cars are pretty tough and you tend to not win races going away unless you have an overpowering beast (and hey, if you suck, you'll get your ass kicked by them), but the AI vehicles run in the same damn patterns that place them squarely inside a little world to themselves where you don't exist on the track at all. They demonstrate zero unique actions other than occasionally flubbing a turn or going around a corner too slow, leaving you to deal with them as they ignorantly ram into you while they drive in their preset patterns. Though it could be worse (such as say the rubberband AI that many arcade racers use), it really does need help; even Sega GT 2002's AI shows more brains than GT4's. It's a good thing the racing part is so damn good or the AI would stick out even worse than before. They have a good idea in mind of having decently smart racers opposing you, but let's get these guys to acknowledge your existence and execute some defensive driving techniques next time around.

The issue of car damage is a very polarized one. On one hand, the addition of damage would add realism, but at the same time, the game still has to be fun, and mangled cars that lose their potency would be somewhat annoying (though the Colin McRae Rally series does a fine job) to that extent. Me, I'm in the middle Ц car damage like Project Gotham would be fine, but it would hurt the realism trademark that Gran Turismo strives for if it doesn't hamper performance. It's a delicate balance. Yet, something has to be done, considering you can pretty much bounce off walls instead of braking sometimes, or knock cars around to pass them. Granted, on many courses, even going offroad can be killer since the cars become extremely slow on dirt, rocks, grass, etc. They experiment with a system of punishment in rally races, with a 5 second penalty where you can only go about 35 MPH, but that in itself is very dubious since the hit detection is so shoddy Ц sometimes you graze a wall and get nailed, other times you slam the hell into the same wall with no punishment. Even touching a car hard can result in a penaltyЕat least if the dumb AI hits you, they're punished. The only thing I can think that might work is a variant of Sega GT's Сdamage' system that takes away from your victory payout the more expensive the Сrepairs' are. It at least has a punishment system in place, making you drive better instead of recklessly. Especially if the game goes online someday Ц wall-rubbers and dirty drivers will feast upon these Сbreaks' extensively.

Still, you may be wondering how all the complaints and flaws can lead to the score it's received. It's simple Ц despite all that still needs work, it's still the exact same thing that makes the Gran Turismo series so beloved, to the nth degree. You shall find no other Ц I repeat Ц no other racing sim that has as much depth as GT4, and that in itself is an incredible achievement. As long as you can realize that GT4 is an un-evolved game, one that was still fresh in 2001 but now is standard procedure, the staggering amount of things to do will keep you addicted and happy for months, if not years. This is truly a fan's game Ц if you're not a GT fan, you just won't get how a game can be a mere fine-tuning and huge expansion, yet be so damn good at the same time. Yes, things need work, and it's likely that PD and Sony will do something special for the first PS3 edition. Cynics wonder why this game has been delayed so much since it's a beefed up GT3; I'd say the addition of hundreds of races, 700 cars, and over 100 tracks is a good enough reason. Does it make up entirely for the things that haven't been fixed? Perhaps not, but GT4 is still in a class of its own, and until something comes along that's better, it will stay that way. Perhaps it will be Forza Motorsport on the Xbox, perhaps not. Until then, Gran Turismo 4 is the king of racing simulations, and that's why all the shortcomings can be forgiven Ц because nothing has topped it yet.

Visually, Gran Turismo 4 grabs you from the opening cinematic Ц which is stunning Ц and doesn't let go. The cars are so realistic looking that when you take a picture in photo-mode, it looks like the real deal; you could probably Photoshop a picture of yourself next to a car and nobody would doubt its authenticity. The tracks are designed with the utmost care, especially the real-life tracks that include all the sights and unique trademarks of them. Many courses have incredible backdrops that were Сpre-rendered' through the use of photographs, but phony or not, they add a layer of quality to visuals that seriously push the PS2. For the HDTV users, GT4 runs in 480p and a form of 1080i hi-def, and looks amazing. It has some rough edges like shimmering and jagged edges in places, but it goes away once you get into the game Ц the faster you go, the less time you have to notice them. One thing that's a bit strange is the fans they place in many spots; they're very cardboard-like. It's especially easy to notice when you're doing a rally and the usual crazies are in front if youЕit looks very fake. And it's too bad you can't ram them down and end their cardboard lives.

The sounds of loud engines and screeches introduce you to the sound of GT4. Like always, many cars at the outset sound like the real deals, though as you tack on new parts and whatnot, they all fall into the same generic loud engine noise. It all sounds great though, as the engines growl and whimper when you accelerate and brake, respectively. At the same time, it's all too similar to Gran Turismo 3; but then, there's not much you can do when you're trying to emulate realistic sound effects. On the opposite end, GT4 has the usual good soundtrack, with GT4's being quite the loaded one, with a ton of variety. Old-school stuff like Joe Satriani (СSummer Song' is a perfect fit), nu-metal like Papa Roach, really old-school Earth, Wind, and Fire with a СGT Remix' of СGetaway' to throwback rock like The Donnas. Almost every genre is represented and you can go into the jukebox and turn on and off whatever you want. A downside is the music is fairly muffled by default, with the on-track effects taking precedence over the tunes. Which is likely how it was planned, since this *is* a racing game.