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Gran Turismo 4 
Release date: 22 Feb 2004
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Mygamer review
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Are you gonna go my way?
Gran Turismo 3 was the definitive racing game to which all other games in the genre have since been compared to. After years of delays Gran Turismo 4 is finally here and loaded with new features for the latest trip around the track. Combining the best in graphics, physics and sound, Gran Turismo 4 is nothing short of breathtaking.
Prior to the main menu, a tutorial explains auto saving and how to carry over data from a Gran Turismo 3 save; a welcome backwards compatibility that most games lack. The downside is that the initial save consumes nearly two megs of space and grows as additional content such as replays, photos, and ghost car data is saved. Game options are overwhelming and you adjust music and sound effects separately for the racing, replay and slideshow segments of gameplay. Brightness, contrast, saturation and color balance can be adjusted separately for driver's view and replay view and progressive (480p), HDTV (1080i) and wide-screen are all supported in addition to Dolby Pro Logic II. You can even disable the opening movie, adjust the demo delay, and randomly run one of thirteen demo videos. Certain in-game displays are removable such as the map, but due to the HUD complexity further removal options would have been an addition nicety.
Arcade and Gran Turismo modes both offer standard A-Spec racing controls and the new B-Spec race management where commands are issued to a CPU driver. Displayed at the bottom of the screen are B-Spec's controls for adjusting between five levels of driving pace, overtaking other cars or stopping in the pit where you can switch back to A-Spec and drive manually. A choice of tires and an option to refuel appears while a fully rendered pit crew services the car. While there is more popup than in Gran Turismo 3 all things considered Gran Turismo 4 looks every bit as good. Convertibles come complete with driver models responding to your every command. Some track shadows are noticeably false but, overall, the lighting is quite beautiful, and rendered spectators occasionally run onto the track to take pictures.
Arcade offers single-race action, Time Trial, and multiplayer modes including 2P Battle and up to six players via Multi LAN Race. A minor, but innovative, new feature is the favorite car list used to speed up car selection and game setup. Both players can load garage data from memory card slot 1 or 2 and driving aids including traction control and/or active stability management are available, plus adjustable tire wear and lap numbers. Speed boost for trailing cars creates an effect similar to rubber band A.I., of which Gran Turismo 4 thankfully has none. Both users even get their own replay after the race. The only disappointment here is the lack of bots in 2P Battle.
Gran Turismo mode is the game's career simulation, with a World Map serving as a hub to all facets of the simulation including numerous racing events and car showrooms, Replay Theater, Photo Travel and Home. At Home you trade cars, track completed races and tests, print and manage photos, and view stats including percentage completed, money, mileage, etc. Home's garage lists you cars organized by power, weight, price, drivetrain, year and color in ascending or descending order. The car you ‘get in' is the car you currently race with, a picture of which appears on the Home screen. ‘L1' shortcuts to Home on the map screen. You can save here and on the main menu, but to load you must restart - a major inconvenience.
Countries on the World Map have showrooms with accompanying tune shops. To purchase parts for a Dodge Viper you must select USA and Dodge from the manufacturers list then Tune Shop. Having a separate shop for each company can be a nuisance, but on the map ‘R1' shortcuts to the country of the car you are currently using. Showrooms have new and classic cars and parts can be purchased for exhaust, suspension and brake systems as well as tires, nitrous and chassis upgrades. Used car showrooms sell older cars that appear randomly for low prices. Car models look fantastic, though control over car rotation would have helped when viewing color changes and spoiler applications - Note: After purchasing a car you can't change the color. Spoilers are only available in three colors, but each type of tire has a huge assortment of wheels that can be purchased.
Strangely, cars don't have reverse lights and although this doesn't affect gameplay it stands out against Gran Turismo 4's otherwise tremendous attention to detail. Scrolling text across the bottom of the screen throughout Gran Turismo mode details selected items either in tune shop or on the World Map. Though the text moves a little too quickly, it's usually quite helpful.
Parts can be adjusted, removed and even swapped if more than one of the same part is owned, such as a 1.5 way and 2 way limited-slip. Three different setting configurations can be saved allowing you to configure the same vehicle completely differently for different types of driving such as endurance, street or snow racing. Depending on which parts are installed you can also manually configure weight balance, TCS sensitivity, gear ratio to favor speed versus acceleration and cam angle (whatever that means). Unfortunately, tuning can only be done prior to a race and not in the tune shop or garage, and unless you're a gear head there isn't always enough information provided to properly configure a car. The racing flywheel's description recommends tuning the engine to increase torque but doesn't explain how. Other descriptions make reference to ‘naturally aspirated engines,' but give no indication as to which cars this applies to. In all aspects of Gran Turismo, supplied or amassed knowledge of cars in general is certainly helpful.
Races are broken down into Courses and Event Halls. Event Halls including Beginner, Professional and Extreme, and each have a group of events consisting of several races with different requirements for drivetrains, engines, cars or specific licenses. Cars are awarded when a first place is received for every race during an event - which is often easier said than done. One of Gran Turismo 4's drawbacks is that nothing but first place will suffice, and in order to complete every race all five licenses must first be earned in the License Center. Driving to work on the highway during a snowstorm is considerably easier than trying to earn the IA licenses, despite each test offering an explanation and a demo. For anyone who cares; when a car hits road-cones they flash - and eventually vanish. Nitpicking…granted. Even worse than failing an IA license test is hearing Yello's incessantly annoying ‘Oh Yeah' playing in the background, even after removing it from the play list! Adding further to the difficulty is the Special Condition event's five-second penalty for hitting walls or other cars. Isn't it enough that CPU opponents drive a perfect line through every race? Obviously not. Frequently, the dirt on the side of tracks limits speed to approximately 12mph, making it difficult to get back onto the track. A welcome improvement, however, is the ability to save in the middle of a championship race that requires consecutive victories.
Courses on the World Map include Dirt and Snow, City, and World. These events are groups of similar courses and offer Photo Drive mode - another new and welcome feature. Here, enter any track with any car and pause at any point during the replay to take a picture from any of sixty four angles. Zoom, aperture, focus and camera orientation are just some of the tools and options available. Photo Drive can also be accessed from the Replay Theater using demos or saved replays. Similar to Photo Drive is Photo Travel, selectable on the World Map. After choosing a famous location such as Times Square or the Grand Canyon, the left portion of the screen becomes a bird's eye view of the chosen location where the car and camera can be placed manually and the right side becomes the view from the camera. Tilt, pan, height and zoom can be altered as well as the front wheel angle.
Pictures can be saved to the card, a USB device, or printed on a compatible Epson printer. Home's Photo Lab allows for slideshow creation from saved pictures and Jukebox can create a playlist. Slideshow music plays in order or randomly, but the playlist order can't be changed. Gran Turismo 4 is one of very few games that looks good enough to warrant such a feature; the only drawback being the lack of music and annoying buzzing sound that plays any time the camera reaches the end of its range. There is also no music during a driving test demo, and no sound effects when scrolling between items in the Jukebox.
While cruising Gran Turismo 4's real global courses, on all types of terrain, and in all types of weather, you'll encounter over forty licensed musical tracks. These tracks range from James Brown to The Crystal Method to Jeff Beck; and slideshow music includes Mozart, Bach and other classical arrangements. Replays of races, tests, and demos can not only be saved and viewed in replay theater but can also be loaded into Photo Travel for taking pictures. Videogames of this caliber are only truly possible when all involved parties willingly provide the necessary time and attention to craft them. Anyone who declares the PS2 is teetering on the verge of ‘obsolete' is just plain wrong - Gran Turismo 4 proves that without a doubt.
Review by Dave Kaplan on 5 Mar 2005
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